British Columbia Civil Registration
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Online Collections with Images
- BC Archives (Royal British Columbia Museum) indexes to births (1854-1903), marriages (1871-1944), deaths (1872-1999), colonial marriages (1859-1872) and baptisms (1836-1888)
- British Columbia Birth Registrations, 1854-1903: Records include birth registrations, delayed birth registrations, and delayed registrations of Native American births.
- British Columbia Marriage Registrations, 1859-1932; 1937-1938
- British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993: These registrations include overseas casualties, delayed death registrations, and delayed registrations of Native American deaths.
- British Columbia, Victoria Times Birth, Marriage and Death Notices, 1901-1939 collection offers newspaper clipping substitutes for original birth, marriage, and death records. The collection is described as follows: "Newspaper clippings pasted onto cards and arranged chronologically. Includes the date (year, month, day) and page number on each card. The newspaper was variously known as the Victoria Times, Victoria Weekly Times, and Victoria Daily Times."
- Pre-confederation marriage records, 1859-1872
Online Index Collections
Ancestry.com and FindMyPast collections can be searched free-of-cost at a Family History Center near you.
- British Columbia, Canada, Birth Index, 1851-1903: ($) "The Vital Statistics Agency has released registrations of births that are at least 100 years old..."
- British Columbia, Canada, Marriage Index, 1872-1935: ($) "The Vital Statistics Agency has released registrations of marriages that are at least 75 years old..."
- British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1990: ($) "The Vital Statistics Agency has released registrations of deaths that are at least 20 years old..."
- British Columbia, Canada, Death Index, 1872-1992 ($)
- Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948 ($) The collection can be browsed by province.
- Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-2015: ($) This collection of substitute vital information was compiled from hundreds of newspapers.
- Central Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, Newspaper Birth, Marriage & Death Indexes, 1911-1990: ($) This substitute vital information was extracted from three newspapers serving the Campbell River, British Columbia, area in central Vancouver Island.
British Columbia indexes are also found in the FamilySearch Canada Births and Baptisms, 1661-1959 collection.
Background Information
A government civil registration and vital statistics system usually registers all births, marriages, and deaths for citizens and residents, issues certificates for each, and compiles the resulting vital statistics. Also included may be name changes, divorces, and adoptions. In British Columbia, this responsibility lies with the Vital Statistics Agency of the Ministry of Health. British Columbia became a province of Canada in 1871 and began civil registration in 1872. However, Vital Statistics Agency records also include some delayed registration of pre-1872 events, colonial period marriages, and overseas war casualties.
What Can these Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in birth and baptisms records:
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Ordering Register Copies from the Vital Statistics Agency
British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency
PO Box 9657, Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, BC
V8W 9P3
Telephone: (Victoria & Outside B.C.) 250 952-2681, (within B.C.) 1 888 876-1633
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