Ontario Military Records

Research Guide

 * Militia and Military Records Archives of Ontario. This describes the collections available at the Archives of Ontario.
 * These military records can be searched at the Archives of Ontario, requested in interlibrary loan for use in your local library, or you can hire a researcher from the provided list of individuals who are certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists or who are members of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
 * Prepare for Your Visit to the Archives of Ontario.
 * For information and request forms for interlibrary loans, see What is the Microfilm Interloan Service?
 * Genealogical Researchers in Ontario

Loyalists
Many of the Loyalists who arrived in Ontario beginning in 1784 had served in militia units attached to the British army. See, Loyalists

Militia
During the 19th century, Ontario men between 16 and 60 years of age served in reserve units of local militia organized by county. Men reporting for militia duty were listed on annual muster rolls. Militia units were organized on a county basis. This system was replaced in 1855 with an active volunteer militia. It became the basis for the Canadian army. Militia members fought in military actions such as the War of 1812, the 1837 Rebellion, and the Fenian Raid of 1867, but records are few.
 * Men of Upper Canada: militia nominal rolls, 1828-1829 (Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 1995) Family History Library, WorldCat: This volume reproduces the province-wide 1828-1829 muster roll — the most complete that was undertaken (the original records are held by Library and Archives Canada as RG 9, Series 1-B-2, vols. 29-31).
 * The Archives of Ontario has some muster rolls and militia records and published transcripts of muster rolls.
 * Some have been published in periodicals and books such as:
 * Bull, Stewart H. ''The Queen's York Rangers: An Historic Regiment', Erin, Ontario: The Boston Mills Press, 1984.  . WorldCat  Includes lists of officers of the York County militia in 1798, 1812, and 1837.
 * Additional militia returns are in the periodical articles listed in Brenda Dougall Merriman's Genealogy in Ontario, pages 184-85.(, WorldCat

War of 1812

 * War of 1812: Upper Canada Returns, Nominal Rolls and Paylists, RG 9 1B7, digitized images.

South African War, 1899-1902

 * South African War, 1899-1902 - Service Files, Medals and Land Applications
 * The South African War (1899-1902) is a key event in the military history of Canada. It was the first time in its history that Canada dispatched troops to an overseas war. In October 1899, the tensions between Dutch South Africans, known as Boers, and British South Africans erupted into open warfare. The government of Canada eventually responded to the crisis by recruiting, equipping and transporting two contingents of volunteers to serve with the British forces in South Africa. The British War Office paid all other costs, including pay and return transport. Later contingents were financed completely by the British War Office, with the exception of one recruited and paid for by Lord Strathcona.
 * Canadians participated in nine important battles between the November 1899 arrival of the first contingent in South Africa, and the end of the war in May 1902.
 * A total of 7,368 Canadians and 12 Nursing Sisters served in South Africa. This database brings together three groups of records pertaining to the South African War: the service files, medal registers and land grant applications.

World War I (1914-1918)

 * Personnel Records of the First World War, digital online.
 * Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) service records are available through the Personnel Records Unit of the National Archives of Canada. These service records contain detailed information from enlistment to discharge. Information may include each person's date and pace of birth, address at time of enlistment, name and address of next of kin, marital status, occupation, personal description (eye and hair color, height, weight, distinctive marks or scars), and religion.

World War II

 * Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, 1939-1947
 * Ontario statistics overseas--deaths, 1939-1947 index and images. Death certificates of Ontario military personnel (all branches) who died while on overseas duty. In order by year only. Certificate numbers begin over with each year.
 * Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948, index and images ($). These registrations document the deaths of Ontario residents overseas (mostly during military operations) during and immediately after World War II.