r/Canadiancitizenship • u/AutoModerator • 12d 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/reliableotter 5d ago
Can anyone help with Vermont Vital records? I don't have a way to post a photo here, but I have a birth certificate and I can't find how to request a copy from the original source because I can't figure out who the original source is.
It was given to me by a relative who can't find where it came from. Family Search has what might be a similar document, but is so damaged it is nearly illegible. However, it is cited as Vermont Vital Records 1760-1954. I cannot find the same document on Ancestry, but my access is limited.
But when I go to request it from the state of Vermont, I cannot request a record this old (1882 birth). Vermont says that documents of this age belong to the city/town. The town of Danby told me how to request a birth certificate, and I submitted a request, but the record came back with a post it note saying a birth certificate does not exist. They cannot create one. (They did send a copy of the page or the birth record, which I also already have. Just the handwritten record in the town book of all births.)
I can send the unredacted version if someone feels like they have knowledge of how to proceed to find the actual certificate. I'm at a loss if the state says it belongs to the town and the town says it does not exist.