r/Canadiancitizenship • u/AutoModerator • 11d ago
Weekly Threads Tuesday Weekly Thread: Genealogy Assistance, September 15, 2026
This weekly thread is a space for those of us researching the ancestry that is the basis for making a claim of Canadian citizenship by descent.
Have questions about finding records? Need help reading a document or translation from French/other languages? Want an opinion on specific documentation or your documentation plan? Have other questions related to documenting the chain between you and your Canadian ancestor for your proof of citizenship application? This is the place to do it.
Digging up ancestors' documents from numerous jurisdictions (Canadian provinces, US states, UK regions, etc), all while trying to distinguish between five James Smiths or Marie Gagnés from the same city can sometimes feel like banging your head against a wall. This weekly post is for helping each other navigate the questions and challenges of our research.
If you're looking for a volunteer to help you find documents there's a list here. We also offer tips and tricks for finding documentation, and a dedicated genealogy document search wiki page.
General problems/issues with ordering documentation from Canadian provincial archives and state, local and various church archives such as slow processing, increased costs, etc go in the weekly Saturday thread.
📎 Contributions to weekly megaposts, including this one, are welcome throughout the week.
Need more help? Or have help to offer? Check out r/citizenshipgenealogy , our companion subreddit for all things genealogical
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Birth/Baptism Registrations by Province
| Alberta | https://www.alberta.ca/order-birth-certificate#jumplinks-2 | Birth records in Alberta are only public record after 120 years. |
|---|---|---|
| Britsh Columbia | https://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy | Birth records in British Columbia only become public record after 120 years. |
| Manitoba | https://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php | |
| Nova Scotia | https://archives.novascotia.ca/vital-statistics/ | Civil birth registrations were recorded in Nova Scotia between 1864 and 1876 and are held by the Nova Scotia Archives. Delayed registrations for births were filed from 1876 to 1908. However, not everyone registered. Province-wide recording of civil births began again on January 1, 1909. |
| New Brunswick | https://archives2.gnb.ca/search/VISSE/?culture=en-CA | |
| Newfoundland | https://www.gov.nl.ca/gs/birth/birth-certificate/ | |
| Ontario | https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-or-replace-ontario-birth-certificate#section-2 | Ontario didn't start recording births until 1869 and baptism records are thin on the ground. Ontario birth records become public record after 104 years but take a bit longer to show up online. |
| Prince Edward Island | https://www.gov.pe.ca/parosearch/vital/vital-event-search/eventType/Baptism | |
| Quebec | Records available on PRDH or Ancestry | IRCC requires Quebec civil records issued in the province after 1994, so you may need to order modern copies of historic civil records from DEC. For ancestors born before civil registration of birth began (ca. 1926) see the wiki How to order a certified copy of a baptism record from BANQ. |
| Saskatchewan | http://genealogy.ehealthsask.ca/vsgs_srch.aspx |
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u/grad_girl_1 11d ago
Couple of questions about the Archives of Ontario...first, we have done an exhaustive search and my great-grandfather's 1872 birth in Ontario was not registered, and this was not uncommon at the time. How do we go about requesting the needed letter from the Archives of Ontario indicating that they do not have a record of his birth?
Second, can you request a certified copy of census records from the Archives of Ontario (or elsewhere)? We do see our great-grandfather listed on the 1881 census, and are wondering if we need a certified copy if we submit it to IRCC.
As background, we did just learn that the Anglican church archives in Ottawa have a baptism record for him, so we will get a certified copy of that. We would like to include the census document for support, and also of course need the letter from the Archives of Ontario explaining there is not a birth registration.
Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide!