British Columbia Newspapers

Online Digital Records and indexes

 * Historical Canadian Newspapers Online: British Columbia
 * 1858-1921 - Victoria Newspapers
 * 1858-1951 - The British Colonist Online Edition, Victoria
 * 1861-1875 - Genealogical Extracts from BC Newspapers, 1861 to 1875


 * 1878-1886 - Canadian Deaths 1878-1886 Abstracted from The Dominion Annual Register and Review
 * 1911-1990 - Central Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, Newspaper Birth, Marriage & Death Indexes, 1911-1990 at Ancestry ($)
 * 1901-1939 - "British Columbia, Victoria Times Birth, Marriage and Death Notices, 1901-1939." Images. FamilySearch.
 * Prince George Newspapers Project
 * See the British Columbia Genealogical Society's BC Newspapers, Obituaries page for an up to date list of on-line historical newspapers from British Columbia.

Newspaper Directories

 * George Allan Affleck.Paper trails: a history of British Columbia and Yukon community newspapers. Vancouver: Arch Communications, 1999.


 * Hana Komorous. Union Catalogue of British Columbia Newspapers. Microfiche edition. Vancouver: British Columbia Library Association, 1987. The original version was in three volumes: v.1. title listing; v.2. place listing; v.3. type of newspaper. It lists ethnic and Native newspapers in languages other than English. Includes a list of indexed newspapers, locales, names of editors and publishers.


 * British Columbia newspapers: register of microform masters. Vancouver: British Columbia Library Association, 1987. Also available in a microfiche edition; compiled as part of the British Columbia Newspapers Project.


 * Ruell Smith. Canadian newspapers in the University of British Columbia Library. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Library, 1974. There is no newer version.


 * Guide to British Columbia newspaper collections. 1988. [Somewhat rare, but a copy is available in the Special Collections area of the Vancouver Public Library.]

Library and Archives Canada
If you cannot visit the library, these research options are available:
 * Geographical Index List: British Columbia Newspapers
 * Ask Us a Question
 * Copy services at Library and Archives Canada
 * Microfilms available at other institutions
 * Hire a Freelance Researcher

City of Vancouver Archives

 * City of Vancouver Archives
 * Genealogy Reference Guide
 * Newspapers Reference Guide
 * We have news clippings from 1886 to the present, located in the Reading Room on microfiche. Use news clippings for information about individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations, industries, issues, and more. There are four sets of microfiche, each with its own alphabetical index. Record details:
 * JSM News Clippings (1886 – 1970): Card index
 * CVA News Clippings (1972 – present): Card index
 * Pacific Press I (circa 1930 – 1980): Pacific Press binder
 * Pacific Press II (circa 1930 – 1985): Pacific Press binder

City of Vancouver Archives 1150 Chestnut Street Vancouver B.C. V6J 3J9 Canada Phone:604-736-8561 Email: archives@vancouver.ca Website

Royal British Columbia Museum (Provincial Archives

 * British Columbia Community Newspapers on Microfilm at BC Archives
 * “The collection does not include the major 20th century Vancouver and Victoria daily newspapers; researchers are advised to contact public libraries, university libraries, or the Legislative Library of British Columbia for these materials.”

Other Libraries
Major microfilm newspaper collections for British Columbia are at the sources listed below. Other larger public and academic libraries may hold significant collections. And many local British Columbia archives, libraries and museums have collections of local area newspapers.

Contact information for these sources is given in the British Columbia Archives and Libraries section of the wiki.
 * Greater Victoria Public Library
 * New Westminster Public Library
 * Simon Fraser University W.A.C. Bennett Library
 * University of British Columbia Koerner Library
 * College of New Caledonia

Indexes

 * Birth, marriage and death references from the Campbell River Upper Islander. WorldCat Campbell River: Campbell River Genealogy Club, 2000-(ongoing). Published so far, v.1. 1964-1975–v.2. 1977-1990.
 * Birth, marriage and death references from the Campbell River Courier. WorldCat Campbell River: Campbell River Genealogy Club, 1998-(ongoing). Published so far, v.1. 1947-1959–v. 2. 1960-1974.
 * British Columbia vital statistics from newspapers, 1858-1872: including, in an appendix, vital statistics from diaries 1852-1857, by Brian J. Porter &amp; the British Columbia Genealogical Society. Richmond: British Columbia Genealogical Society, 1994.
 * Name index of the births, marriages, deaths published in the Nanaimo Free Press, April 1874 to December 1899''. Nanaimo: Nanaimo Family History Society, 1991.
 * British Columbia Vital Statistics From Newspapers 1858-1872, Including Vital Statistics From Diaries WorldCat by Brian J. Porter (British Columbia Genealogical Society, 1994).
 * Index of Newspapers 1902-1914 in Delta, British Columbia by Donalda J. James, Delta Diggers Genealogy Group (1998).
 * Community Portrait, Abstract of Biographical Details From the Ladner Optimist Newspaper Columns 1951-196, a finding Aid WorldCatby Donalda J. James.
 * Brides and grooms of the 1950's : marriage information published in The Ladner Optimist newspaper during the decade of the 1950's WorldCat by Donalda J. James (British Columbia Genealogical Sociery, 1999).
 * Brides and grooms of the 1960's: marriage information published in The Ladner Optimist newspaper during the decade of the 1960's  by Donalda J. James (British Columbia Genealogical Sociery, 2002).
 * Index to: Rambling column, South Delta today and Delta optimist newspapers, 1989-2000by journalist/historian Edgar Dunning by Donalda J. James (2001).
 * Campbell River Birth, Marriage and Death Extractions from the Comox Argus Newspaper 1917-1945 by the Campbell River Genealogy Club (1996).