Ship registrations and related records
Intended as a method of keeping track of ownership/interests, ship registrations are now used as an important source of information about marine history, including the shipbuilding industry, trade, wrecks/sinkings, and family history.
On this page
Before you start
Gather as much information as possible, such as:
- name of ship
- year of registration
- type of vessel
- where the vessel was built (city/town/other; province/state; country)
- date of construction
- gross and net tonnage
- official number
Places to look
Archival sources
Nearly all the archival sources on ship registrations deal with “closed-out” ships. Closing out a ship, or the closure of a ship, is when the ship has its registration closed. This can happen when the ship is sold outside of Canada, changes its category (such as commercial to private, or vice versa), or is otherwise no longer in service (e.g., shipwreck or loss).
Ship registrations, 1787 to 1966, RG 42, Series E-1 and RG 12, Series B-15
The Ship Registration Index is a research tool created from three finding aids from LAC’s records. The index contains information about ships that were no longer in service in Canada (“closed out”) between 1787 and 1966 (plus some information from 1763). There are more than 78,000 entries.
The index can provide basic information about ships and can point you to the records but doesn’t include the records themselves. You’ll need to look up the actual documents separately. Each entry in the index will tell you which microfilm reel contains the original documents. Some of these are available in digital format, but many are only available in print or on microfilm.
Ships closing out service, 1904 to 1983
If you are looking for information on a ship that was closed out from 1904 to 1983, these records have been digitized and are available online in Collection search. The documents were taken directly from archival records from a sub-series of the Department of Transport fonds (RG12), Registers and Ledger Cards of Ships Closed Out.
Department of Transport fonds (RG12)
The Department of Transport fonds contains records for all kinds of transportation, taking over responsibility from the Department of the Marine (RG42) in 1936. This includes ship registrations but also many other types of documents.
The Ship Registration Division series of the Department of Transport fonds contains the Shipping Register books from 1767 until the 2000s. It is the only source of information about closed-out ships.
There were two types of Shipping Register books:
- Ledger books: Large bound ledger books, some very thick and heavy, maintained and added to by each Port of Registry. These books were the official Canadian Register of Vessels until the 1980s.
- Blue binders: Copies of the data from the official TC Ship Registry Information System (SRIS) database. These binders were phased out in the late 2000s as digital records became the norm.
Shipping Register books contain
- the name of the vessel
- the official number
- the date and port of registry
- official measurements
- information on the original owner
- a summary of official actions that happened on a ship
- mortgages
- survey information on the nature of the ship
- and more
New ships would be entered by date; after each book was filled, a new one was opened.
Information relating to ship registration can also be found in the following types of records:
- Transaction books, also known as Supplemental Transaction books, were used when there was no more space in the official Shipping Register book.
- Appropriations books tracked official numbers being assigned to the Ports of Registry by the head office located either in Britain (in earlier years) or Canada.
- Register of Deeds, also known as a Deeds book, tracked correspondence for a Port of Registry about issues regarding the registration and ownership of ships.
- Construction books, also known as Record Books for Ships Being Built, recorded details about ships that were registered but had not yet been built.
- Ship dockets, originally kept in small cardboard sleeves, comprised the original documents about a ship submitted to a Port of Registry as part of the registration process. Records they held include proof of ownership, certificates of inspection, survey reports, and mortgage notices.
Transport Canada also maintained a card index arranged in alphabetical order by name of ship (not in chronological order) for the years 1965–1983, which contains the same information as the chronological registers mentioned above.
Published sources
There are lists of registered ships published by various pre-Confederation governments going back to 1787. These can be challenging to search. They can often be found as appendices to the Journals of the Legislative Assembly. For help with this kind of search, please ask us a question.
From 1874 to 2003, the federal government published the List of Shipping, which was a snapshot of all the ships on the register at the time of publication. It came out every two to three years up to 1902, when it became a yearly publication. In 2003, print publication stopped, and this data became available online only through Transport Canada’s database.
Print versions are available from 1874 to 2003:
- “List of Shipping. Liste des navires.” Canada. Transport Canada. 1874–1984.: Dept. of Transport.
- “List of Ships = Nomenclature Des Navires.” Canada Transport Canada. 1985–2003.
Online versions are available through these two sources:
- Internet Archive: Sessional Papers by Title: List of Shipping
- HathiTrust: List of shipping. Nomenclature des navires.
Another source is Lloyd’s Register, which is an international publication that includes information about Canadian vessels:
- Lloyd’s Register of Ships online: 1764 to 1998:
- “Register of Ships.” Lloyd’s Register of Shipping (Firm: 1914-). 1966/1967–2009/2010. “London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping.
These two books are also very useful and easy-to-use lists compiled from primary sources:
- Mills, John M. 1979. Canadian Coastal and Inland Steam Vessels, 1809–1930. Providence, Rhode Island: Steamship Historical Society of America.
- Wallace, Frederick William. 1929. Record of Canadian Shipping: A list of square-rigged vessels, mainly 500 tons and over, built in the eastern provinces of British North America from the year 1786 to 1920. Toronto: Musson Book Co. Online version.
Other places to look
Some other resources include
- Vessel Registration Query System. Transport Canada modern records. This database provides information about ships that were still active in 1984 and any ships registered between 1984 and the present day.
- LR ships in class - Online register of classed ships: The current Lloyd’s Register:
Access the collections
Archival records
Digitized records
If you find a record of interest, there may be a digital image. Some of these are available through Collection search. Others, particularly digitized microforms, are available through Héritage Canadiana.
Non-digitized records
References in Collection search show if a record is open (access code 90) or restricted (access code 32). To find the access code in an item description, click on Ordering and Viewing Options, then Conditions of access.
If the item is restricted, use the ATIP tool to request a copy.
For records that are not digitized and not restricted, you'll need to see them in person. If you can't visit us in person, you can order copies or hire a researcher.
Publications
Some publications can be consulted online through the Internet Archive, Canadiana, or other sources. See the Published section for instructions on how to access online publications.
Non-digitized publications need to be viewed in person. Consult Order published material in Ottawa for instructions on how to order publications.