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Genealogy Research Tips

General Websites

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet

FamilySearch

CKPL is a FamilySearch affiliate library. Visit any branch of CKPL to get access to FamilySearch digital records not available outside a family history center or an affiliate library. These digital records include images and names indexes. Currently, there are about 400 million original records available in a digital format that affiliate libraries have access to.


Federal Government Resources

National Archives

Library and Archives Canada Genealogy Services
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON  K1A 0N4
Telephone: 613-996-5115 or 866-578-7777 (toll free in Canada and the US)
Fax: 613-995-6274
Website: www.bac-lac.gc.ca

Citizenship and Immigration

Records of Entry 1865-1935
Library and Archives Canada holds immigration records up to and including 1935 for arrivals at ocean and border ports.  Library and Archives Canada has digitized many of these records.
More information on the passenger list databases and the border entry databases can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website.
Post-1935 Immigration Records
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Access to Information and Privacy Division
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1
(no telephone inquiries; mail only)
(proof that the individual being searched has been deceased for 20 years is required)

More information can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website.

Naturalization Pre-1915
Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Access to Information and Privacy Division
Ottawa, ON  K1A 1L1

(card index only)

More information can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website.

Naturalization Records 1915-1951
A database of naturalization records from 1915-1951 can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website. References found in these digitized lists can be used to request copies of naturalization records held by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. For information requests through Citizenship and Immigration Canada, proof of death is required.

Divorce Records – 1867-1968

Senate of Canada
Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
Room 1310
13th Floor
40 Elgin Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A4
Telephone: 613-992-2416

More information can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website.

Heraldry

Chief Herald of Canada
Canadian Heraldic Authority
Rideau Hall, 1 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, ON  K1A 041
Telephone: 800-465-6890

More information can be found on the Governor General of Canada's website

Pre-WWI, WWI, WWII (Killed in Action) Military Records

Military records created before 1918 as well as records for military personnel killed in action in WWII are open records. Library and Archives Canada has an extensive collection of online resources available on its website. 

Post-1919 Military Records

Library and Archives Canada
Access to Information, Privacy and Personnel Records Office

395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Fax: 613-947-8456

More information regarding these requests can be found on the Library and Archives Canada website.

War Pensions

Access to Information and Privacy 

Veterans Affairs Canada
Box 7700
Charlottetown, PEI  C1A 8M9
Telephone: 877-566-8609
Email: VAC.ATIP-AIPRP.ACC@vac-acc.gc.ca


Provincial Government Resources

Provincial Archives

Archives of Ontario
134 Ian Macdonald Boulevard
Toronto, ON  M7A 2C5
Telephone: 416-327-1600 or 800-668-9933
Fax: 416-327-1999
Email: reference@ontario.ca
Website: www.archives.gov.on.ca

Registrar General

Office of the Registrar General
Box 4600, 189 Red River Road, 3rd Floor
Thunder Bay, ON  P7B 6L8
Telephone: 800-461-2156
Website: www.serviceontario.ca 

Adoption

Telephone: 800-461-2156
Website: www.ontario.ca/page/search-adoption-records 

Patents

The Canadian Intellectual Property Office’s Canadian Patent Database allows you to search and access 149 years worth of patent information.

Court Records

Court records are held by the Archives of Ontario. 
More information can be found on its website.


Religious, Professional, and Non-Governmental Repositories

Please refer to Brenda Dougall Merriman’s Genealogy in Ontario: searching the records for a comprehensive list.


Other Genealogical and Historical Societies

General Historical Societies

The Ontario Historical Society
34 Parkview Avenue
Willowdale, ON  M2N 3Y2
Telephone: 866-955-2755
Fax: 416-226-2740
Email: ohs@ontariohistoricalsociety.ca
Website: www.ontariohistoricalsociety.ca

Multicultural History Society of Ontario
901 Lawrence Ave West, Suite 307
Toronto, ON M6A 1C3
Telephone: 416-979-2973
Fax: 416-979-7947
Email: info@mhso.ca
Website: www.mhso.ca

Great Lakes Historical Society
1701 Front Street
Toledo, OH 43605 (USA)
Telephone: 419-214-5000
Website: nmgl.org/great-lakes-historical-society/

Black History

Ontario Black History Society
Ontario Heritage Centre
Suite 402, 10 Adelaide Street East
Toronto, ON  M5C 1J3
Telephone: 416-867-9420
Fax: 416-867-8691
Email: admin@blackhistorysociety.ca
Website: www.blackhistorysociety.ca

Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society
177 King Street East
Chatham, ON  N7M 3N1
Telephone: 519-352-3565
Fax: 519-354-2642
Email: info@ckblackhistoricalsociety.ca
Website: www.ckblackhistoricalsociety.org

North Star: A Portal for Black History in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent
Leddy Library, University of Windsor
401 Sunset Ave
Windsor, ON N9B 3P4
Email: archive@uwindsor.ca
Website: https://collections.uwindsor.ca/omeka-s/sw-ontario-black-history/Introduction

First Nations History

Walpole Island Heritage Centre
Walpole Island First Nation
R.R. #3
Wallaceburg, ON  N8A 4K9
Telephone: 519-627-1475
Email: eva.thomas@wifn.org

Franco-Ontarian History

Réseau du patrimoine franco-ontarien (RPFO)
267 Dalhousie Rd
Ottawa, ON  K1G 6C3
Telephone: 613-729-5769 or 866-307-9995
Website: mes-racines.ca

Jewish History

Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada
P.O. Box 91006, 2901 Bayview Avenue
Toronto, ON  M2K 2Y6
Email: info@jgstoronto.ca
Website: www.jgstoronto.ca

Please refer to Brenda Dougall Merriman’s Genealogy in Ontario: searching the records for a more comprehensive list.


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