Canada Archives and Libraries

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Canada

Archives and Libraries

Western Archives Entrance.JPG

This section describes major repositories of Canada’s genealogical and historical records.

• Archives collect and preserve original documents created by organizations such as churches or governments. Many archives have Websites.
• Libraries generally collect published books, maps, microfilms, and other sources.

Archives

In Canada, these archives have records for genealogical research:

• Library and Archives Canada (LAC)
• Provincial archives and county and local museums
• Municipal local government offices
• Church archives and parish offices
• Public and academic libraries
• Historical and genealogical societies

The Family History Library has digitized or microfilmed records from:

• the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (formerly known as the National Archives of Canada (NAC); and earlier known as the Public Archives of Canada (PAC)), *the provincial archives in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario,
• vital records and probate records from British Columbia,
• homestead applications from Saskatchewan,
• land and property and probate records from Newfoundland, and
• probate records from Manitoba.

Before visiting an archive, contact it and ask for information about its collection, hours, services, and fees.

Interlibrary Loans

Copies of many Library and Archives Canada records are available at public or university libraries in the United States. These libraries may request interlibrary loans of up to three rolls of film at a time from:

Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N3
Canada
Telephone: 613-996-7458
Fax: 613-995-6274
Websites: http://www.collectionscanada.ca

http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx; particularly "Online Research" and "Discover the Collection".

Library and Archives Canada, formerly the National Library of Canada

Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Canada
Telephone: 613-995-9481
Fax: 613-943-1112
Website: http://www.collectionscanada.ca

The Canadian government collects records about Canadian history, culture, and people. Their collection includes census, military records, immigration lists, land records, and some church records.

Provincial Archives

Each province has its own archives that are separate from those of the national government. These repositories have many records valuable for genealogical research in their particular area.

In eastern Canada, provincial archives have:

• Some birth, marriage, and death records
• Some census records
• Many land records
• Some probate records
• Some church records

In western Canada, provincial archives have:

• Many land records
• Some probate records
• Specialized documents about the history of their area

Archives and Libraries by Province or Territory

Alberta British Columbia Manitoba New Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Nunavut

Ontario Prince Edward Island Quebec Saskatchewan Yukon

Municipal Government Offices

Municipal offices in Canada, comparable to county courthouses and town halls in the United States, cannot legally provide copies of their vital records. Names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the municipal governments are in:

Canadian Almanac and Directory. Toronto: Canadian Almanac and Directory Publishing Co., annual. (Family History Library book 971 E4ca)

Canadian Sourcebook. Don Mills, Ont.: Southam Inc., annual. (Family History Library book 971 B5c) Editions before 1998 were called:

Corpus Almanac & Canadian Sourcebook. Don Mills, Ont.: Corpus Information Services, annual. (Family History Library book 971 B5c)

For a description of municipal records for genealogical research, see:

Walsh, Mark. “Municipal Archives and Genealogy,” In Footsteps of the Habitants. ed. Debra Butler Honor, 67–75. Toronto: The Ontario Genealogical Society, 1986. (Family History Library book 971.3 D2o)

Other Archives and Libraries

Some records are also available in major libraries and special archives in Canada and in the United States. Contact these libraries and archives to ask about their collections, hours, services, and fees.

Many marriage indexes, church records, and vital records for French Canadians in North America are at the Salle Gagnon of the city library of Montreal. That address is:

Collection Gagnon
Bibliothèque de la Ville de Montréal
1210 rue Sherbrooke est
Montreal, QC H2L 1L9
Canada
Telephone: 514-872-5923
Fax: 514-872-1626

The Centre d’études acadiennes holds records of French Acadians and their descendants located anywhere in the world. You can visit:

Centre d’études acadiennes
Université de Moncton
Moncton, NB E1A 3E9
Canada
Telephone: 506-858-4085

For collections specific to a province, see the Wiki articles for that province.

Some libraries, historical and genealogical societies in the United States and Canada have valuable collections of Canadian records. These include:

New England Historic Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116-3087
USA
Telephone: 617-536-5740
Fax: 617-536-7307
Web site: http://www.americanancestors.org

The State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Library Division
816 State Street
Madison, WI 53706
USA
Telephone: 608-264-6534
Fax: 608-264-6520
Web site: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org

Allen County Public Library
900 Webster Street
P. O. Box 2270
Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
USA
Telephone: 219-421-1200
Fax: 219-422-9688
Web site: http://www.acpl.lib.in.us

Burton Historical Collection
Detroit Public Library
5201 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202-4093
USA
Telephone: 313-833-1480
Fax: 313-833-5039
Web site: http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/featuredcollection/burton-historical-collection

In Britain and France, many archives and libraries have information on Canadians. Records in France about early French Canadian and Acadian families are listed in:

Bernard, Gildas. Guide des recherches sur l’histoire des familles (Guide to Research in Family History). Paris: Archives Nationales, 1981. (Family History Library book 944 D27b)

Inventories, Registers, Catalogs

A few archives have catalogs or guides that describe their records and how to use them. If possible, study these guides before you visit an archive so that you can use your time more effectively.

For names and addresses of provincial, church, and other archives and for brief descriptions of their collections and services, see:

Directory of Canadian Archives. 5th ed. Ottawa: Association of Canadian Archivists, 1990. (Family History Library book 971 J54d 1990)

The Official Directory of Canadian Museums and Related Institutions, 1987–1988. Ottawa: Canadian Museums Association, 1987. (Family History Library book 971 J54dc)

For more detailed descriptions of some archive collections, see Genealogist’s Handbook for Atlantic Canada Research, by Terrence M. Punch.

For a list of some 26,000 collections of significant records at national, provincial, and local archives of Canada, see:

Gordon, Robert S., and E. Grace Maurice, eds. Union List of Manuscripts in Canadian Repositories (ULM). 2 vols., rev. Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada, 1975. (Family History Library book 971 A3cp 1975; film 1036731 items 1 and 2) The Family History Library has some of the supplements to this book that have been published since 1975.

A few Canadian and United States libraries with Canadian genealogical collections are named in:

Filby, P. William. Directory of American Libraries with Genealogy or Local History Collections. Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Inc., 1988. (Family History Library book 973 A3fi) Pages 257 to 284 list Canadian libraries.

The following handbooks describe the collections of many local libraries in Canada.

Baxter, Angus. In Search of Your Canadian Roots. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994. (Family History Library book Ref 971 D27ba 2000)

Barclay-Lapointe, Elizabeth. Sourcing Canada.: Genealogy Addresses. 1997 ed. Buckingham, Que.: Buckingham Press, 1997. (Family History Library book 971 D24b)

Addresses of major archives and libraries in Canada are in:

Canadian Almanac and Directory. Toronto: Canadian Almanac and Directory Publishing Co., annual. (Family History Library book 971 E4ca)

Canadian Sourcebook. Don Mills, Ont.: Southam Inc., annual. (Family History Library book 971 B5c) Editions before 1998 were called:

Corpus Almanac & Canadian Sourcebook. Don Mills, Ont.: Corpus Information Services, annual. (Family History Library book 971 B5c)

Addresses of most Canadian libraries are in:

Franco, Guida, ed. Directory of Libraries in Canada. Toronto: Micromedia Limited, 1996.

Public, academic, government, and special libraries in Canada are also listed in:

American Library Directory. New Providence, N.J.: R. R. Bowker Co., annual. (Family History Library book 025.524 Am35)

The Family History Library has a few published inventories, guides, and directories to libraries. See the catalog under:

CANADA - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES

CANADA, [PROVINCE] - ARCHIVES AND LIBRARIES

Internet Sources and Bulletin Boards

The Internet can be useful obtaining information from selected archives and libraries. Websites for family history can help:

• Search collections and information for archives and libraries
• Search large databases
• Locate other researchers
• Post queries
• Join in computer chat and lecture sessions

You can find computerized research tips and information about ancestors from Canada in many sources at local, provincial, national, and international levels. The list of sources is growing rapidly. Most information is available at no cost.

The web site of the Library and Archives Canada contains the index to the 1871 census of Ontario and the index to the Canadian Expeditionary Force service records from World War I. The address is

• http://www.collectionscanada.ca

The National Library of Canada Web site at http://www.archives.ca provides access to their online catalog. The Web site links to a list of 2,300 Canadian newspapers in microform. Public libraries can borrow most of these microfilms through interlibrary loan.

The following are a few sites that link to a lot of information on the Internet.

That's My Family

• http://www.thatsmyfamily.info

Search engine for information on Canadian ancestors across multiple genealogy databases hosted by federal, provincial, and territorial archives and libraries.

Canada GenWeb

• http://www.geneofun.on.ca/canadagenweb/

A cooperative effort by many volunteers to list genealogical databases, libraries, bulletin boards, and other resources available on the Internet for each province.

Roots-L

• https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.canada/mb.ashx

A wiki article describing this collection is found at:

• Newfoundland, Vital Statistics - FamilySearch Historical Records