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Canada Research Outline |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Records Of The Family History Library
The Family History Library Catalog
Access To Family History Library Periodicals
Using This Outline
Canadian Search Strategies
Step 1. Identify What You Know About Your Family
Step 2. Decide What You Want To Learn
Step 3. Select A Record To Search
Step 4. Find And Search The Record
Step 5. Use The Information
Map Of Canada
Archives And Libraries
National Archives And Library
Biography
Business Records And Commerce
Cemeteries
Census
Church Records
General Historical Background
Record-keeping Practices
Records
Locating Church Records
Court Records
Provincial Courts
Federal Courts
Directories
Emigration And Immigration
Finding The Emigrant’s Town Of Origin
Emigration From Canada
Records Of Canadian Emigrants In The United States
Gazetteers
Genealogy
Historical Geography
History
Land And Property
Language And Languages
Maps
Military Records
Military History
Military Records
Minorities
Names, Personal
Native Races
Naturalization And Citizenship
Newspapers
Notarial Records
Obituaries
Periodicals
Probate Records
Societies
Vital Records
General Historical Background
Information In Vital Records
Locating Vital Records
Other Records
For Further Reading
Comments And Suggestions
NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP Naturalization is the process of granting citizenship to foreign-born residents. Naturalization papers are an important source of an immigrant’s place of origin, foreign and “Anglicized” names, residence, and date of arrival. Post-1915 records are more detailed and may include birth dates, birthplaces, and other immigration information about the immigrant and members of his family.
Immigrants to Canada have never been required to apply for citizenship. Some nationalities were more likely to naturalize than others. Until 1947, settlers from Britain were considered citizens of Canada without needing to naturalize. Of those from other countries who applied, some did not complete the requirements for citizenship. Evidence that an immigrant completed citizenship requirements can be found in censuses, court minutes, homestead records, passports, voting registers, and military papers.
Citizenship has been reported in Canadian censuses beginning in 1901, but information on individuals is not available from censuses after 1901. See the “Census” section of this outline.
The requirements and process of naturalization have changed many times. Major laws and circumstances that have affected naturalization requirements are described below.
Before Canada Became a Nation (pre-1867): Naturalization was completed in accordance with the laws of the provinces or with British law. Between 1763 and 1947, non-alien residents of Canada were considered British subjects. Settlers from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales had no need to naturalize in Canada. Naturalization in Canada conferred British subject status on immigrants from other countries, but only for Canada.
Prior to the War of 1812: There was no naturalization process in British North America, although some colonies had laws that required aliens to declare the length of their residence and the nature of their business. Some immigrants had to take loyalty oaths when applying for land grants; copies of early oaths of allegiance and later naturalization papers were sometimes filed with land records. See the “Land and Property” section of this outline.
After the War of 1812: The first naturalization laws for the colonies of British North America were an eventual result of the War of 1812. In New Brunswick, certificates of naturalization date from 1817. In Upper Canada (Ontario) the law did not take effect until 1828. Laws for the other provinces were enacted later, although some documents had been made under British law.
After Confederation (1867): Most naturalization was a federal process, although provinces retained some jurisdiction over immigrants. Since 1867, certificates of naturalization have normally been granted by the office of the Secretary of State for Canada. Petitions for citizenship were received by judicial courts, which forwarded them to the Secretary of State’s office for approval. Certificates of naturalization were returned to the courts, where they were delivered to the applicants after they had taken an oath of citizenship.
In 1947: Canadian citizenship was established separate from British.
A historical survey of earlier laws and policies is in:
Finkelman, J., “Aliens,” in the Encyclopedia of Canada. Toronto: University Associates of Canada, 1935. 1:43–53. (FHL book 971 A5w; computer number 28905.)
For more information about the naturalization process, write Citizenship and Immigration Canada at the address below.
Naturalization proceedings were conducted by any executive office or judicial court that had the authority to grant citizenship. Naturalization records may be at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, in the courts, or in archives. The individual should have received a certificate when he finally became naturalized.
Citizenship or naturalization records are valuable for non-British immigrants. These records begin with some aliens’ declarations taken in Lower Canada (Quebec) in the 1790s. Records from other eastern provinces date from the early or middle 1800s.
The Family History Library has many naturalization records of Canadians coming to the United States, but only a few such records for Canada. See the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:
[PROVINCE] - NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP [PROVINCE], [COUNTY] - NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP
The National Archives of Canada in Ottawa has microfilm copies of naturalization papers for Upper Canada (Ontario) dated 1828 to 1850. These are on two rolls of microfilm at the Family History Library:
Upper Canada. Provincial Secretary’s Office. Naturalization Returns, 1828–1850. Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada, 1980. (FHL microfilms 1631550–551; computer number 547872.) This source contains about 3,000 entries, which include the immigrants’ names, occupations, residences, and dates of naturalization.
An index to the Naturalization Returns, 1828–1850 is:
McKenzie, Donald A. Upper Canada Naturalization Records, 1828–1850. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 1991. (FHL book 971.3 P42m; computer number 656151.)
Records made for Canada by the Department of the Secretary of State between 1854 and 1917 were destroyed. There is still an index with information such as name, residence, and court of certification at:
Naturalization records of Canadians who moved to the United States may be an excellent source for the town or city where your ancestor was born (especially records after 1906). See United States Research Outline, “Naturalization and Citizenship.” A high percentage of those named in the Index to New England Naturalization Petitions, 1791–1906 are of Canadian origin. Film numbers of the 117 microfilms (FHL microfilms 1429671–1429787; computer number 305194) are in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under any New England state, such as:
CONNECTICUT - NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP
For more information, See the “Emigration and Immigration” section of this outline.
Newspaper publication usually began soon after the initial settlement of a place. Since civil registration of vital records began quite late in many parts of Canada, newspapers can be an excellent alternate source of family information. They may have notices of births, marriages, and deaths; obituaries; and local news. To find information, you will need the place and approximate date of the event. If no newspaper was published in the community at the time, check the newspaper of a nearby town. Canada also had some denominational newspapers that listed births, marriages, and deaths of church members who lived in many parts of the country.
Newspapers can also give other clues about your ancestor in biographical sketches, local history columns, and lists of incoming ships and passengers. You may find it helpful to place a notice in a current local newspaper to contact others who have information about your family.
A description of the newspaper collections at larger archives and libraries in the provinces of Canada is in Angus Baxter’s In Search of Your Canadian Roots (see the "For Further Reading" section of this outline). The National Library of Canada, the provincial archives, and many large public and university libraries have some newspapers on microfilm.
Canadian Newspapers on Microform Held by the National Library is an electronic publication, which is organized by province and city. It lists more than 2,300 titles, most of which are available through the interlibrary loan system to public libraries. It is at the National Library of Canada and available on the Internet.
Find names and locations of newspapers in these printed sources available at many libraries in North America:
Newspapers in Microform: Foreign Countries. . . . Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1984. (FHL book 011.35 N479f 1983; seven microfiche 6085887; computer number 496878.) This lists, by geographic location, newspapers on microform and about 210 Canadian repositories where they are available. Most can be borrowed through interlibrary loan.
Union List of Canadian Newspapers Held by Canadian Libraries. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1977. (FHL book 971 B35u; computer number 52636.) This lists 5,000 Canadian original and microform versions of newspapers and 125 Canadian libraries where the newspapers are available.
Gale Directory of Publications: An Annual Guide to Newspapers, Magazines, Journals, and Related Publications (formerly Ayer Directory of Publications). Annual. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1869–. (FHL book 970 B34a; computer number 445926.) This lists newspapers currently published in Canada and the United States. Most newspaper publishers will not search their files for you, but some will copy an article if you give a specific date and event.
Names and addresses of current Canadian daily and weekly newspapers are also in:
Canadian Almanac and Directory. Toronto: Canadian Almanac and Directory Publishing Co., annual. (FHL book 971 E4ca; computer number 160632.)
Canadian Sourcebook. Don Mills, Ont.: Southam Inc., annual. (FHL book 971 B5c; computer number 819162.) Editions before 1998 were called:
Corpus Almanac & Canadian Sourcebook. Don Mills, Ont.: Corpus Information Services, annual. (FHL book 971 B5c; computer number 490918.)
For the location in Canada and content of various newspaper indexes, see:
Burrows, Sandra, and Franceen Gaudet. Checklist of Indexes to Canadian Newspapers=Liste de contrôle des index de journaux canadiens. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1987. (FHL book 971 B32b; computer number 451604.)
Most provinces have guides to newspapers and the archives and libraries that hold them. The Family History Library does not collect Canadian newspapers but does acquire published indexes and abstracts of obituaries, marriages, and other vital information found in newspapers. Newspaper indexes and abstracts are listed in the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:
[PROVINCE] - NEWSPAPERS [PROVINCE], [COUNTY], [CITY] - NEWSPAPERS [PROVINCE], [CITY] - NEWSPAPERS
Abstracts are also listed under VITAL RECORDS, and some have been published in indexed periodicals (see “Periodicals”).
Notarial records (actes notariés or minutes de notaire) are records prepared by a notary (notaire or protonotaire, but sometimes tabellion or scrivener). Notaries are important officials in Quebec, Louisiana, France, and other countries where a civil code based on Roman law is in force. Among other matters, notarial records deal with estates and inheritances. They are somewhat equivalent to probate records of North American states and provinces outside Louisiana and Quebec, but they include more document types. See the “Probate Records” section of this outline.
In many countries where French is spoken, the legal profession is divided into notaires (notaries) and avocats (lawyers). Lawyers handle legal disputes, but notaries prepare acts and contracts and certify authentic copies of them. Some important notarial records are:
Less common are actes de tutelle (guardianship agreements) providing for the care of minor children at the death of one or both spouses. In many of these documents, names and relationships of all family members and friends present at the drafting are given.
Notarial records for each notary are usually arranged chronologically, so records of most value to the family historian are mixed with other written agreements, including conveyances of land and other property, bonds for the payment of money, and deeds of partnership, to name just a few. Some early marriage contracts were prepared by priests and may not be in the notarial records.
Notarial records or their equivalent were made in Quebec and all areas of French settlement, but few records from early western settlements exist. Notaries began practicing in French Canada about 1640. They ceased functioning in Acadia (Nova Scotia) by 1758 when Louisbourg fell but performed their traditional functions in Quebec after the British conquest. A list of early records in French North America outside Quebec is in:
Roy, Joseph-Edmond. “The Notariate in the Western Settlements on the Mississippi, in Acadia, at Ile Royale, and Newfoundland,” French Canadian and Acadian Genealogical Review. Winter 1972, 198–207. (FHL periodical 971 B2f; computer number 44120.)
Records of notaries in Quebec whose practices began before 1850 are being filmed by the Family History Library. See the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under the counties belonging to the judicial district where the notary lived (which may not include all the counties where the notary practiced). For example, you could look in the catalog under:
QUEBEC, STANSTEAD - NOTARIAL RECORDS
See also the Family History Library Catalog, Author/Title section, under the name of the notary. See Quebec Research Outline for more about notarial records from that province.
Obituaries are newspaper articles published near the time of a person’s death. They include biographical information such as a person’s date and place of birth, dates of immigration, marriage dates, community service, and names and locations of surviving relatives. Long obituaries for pioneers and prominent people are often found several pages away from the brief death notices in vital statistics columns. If you know the approximate death date of your ancestor, search the entire newspaper for several dates.
Local genealogical and historical societies, public libraries, and some newspaper publishers maintain clipping files of obituaries. Printed abstracts of obituaries can also be found in various published sources, such as genealogical periodicals. A few Canadian published sources are listed in:
Jarboe, Betty M. Obituaries: A Guide to Sources. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1982. (FHL book 973 V43j; computer number 151429.)
See also “Newspapers,” “Periodicals,” and “Vital Records.”
The Family History Library has a few published lists of obituaries. See the Locality Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:
[PROVINCE] or [COUNTY] or [CITY] - OBITUARIES
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Requirements for Naturalization
Locating Naturalization Records
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
The same office holds records created after 1917. These records are more detailed and include a person’s family name, given name, date and place of birth, date of entry into Canada, and sometimes the spouse’s or children’s names. To obtain naturalization records, a resident or citizen of Canada must submit an Access to Information Request Form, available at Canadian post offices.
Public Rights Administration
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Canada
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NEWSPAPERS
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NOTARIAL RECORDS
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OBITUARIES
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Version of Data: 6/8/2001]