Birth, marriage, death and divorce records

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) holds a small collection of historic birth, marriage, death and divorce records. Learn what’s available and how to access them.

Search Birth, marriage, death and divorce records

LAC does not hold the following records, as they are the responsibility of provincial, territorial, or religious authorities:

most birth, marriage, or death records, including recent records (also known as civil registration or vital statistics)
adoption records
most wills, probate, and estate records

You will need to search various locations for these types of records. See Records not held at LAC for tips on how to find these records.

This database indexes selected records from a few LAC genealogy collections collected over time.

Search tips

Searching by name

Try searching by last name only. Some entries include only an initial for the given names.
Use the wildcard “*”. For example, Fran* for Frank, Francis, François, Franz, František, and Francisco. You can place the wildcard at the beginning, end or in the middle of a name.

Searching by date

Try widening your search to a range of dates. Dates may not be the exact date a child was born or a person died.

Most parents baptized their children soon after birth, but sometimes it might be months or even years late, or not at all.
Errors or discrepancies can happen in dates recorded after an event. For example, information on tombstones may be incorrect, particularly when the stone was erected years after the person’s death.

Searching by place

Start searching within a community, then move outwards. The location listed on a record may not be the exact place where the event happened. For example:

Not all communities had churches, so a family may have had to travel to a church or attend a different denomination.
An Anglican couple might baptize their children at a Methodist church if there was no Anglican church in their community.
A name on a tombstone could be a memorial rather than a burial place.
In some cases, a minister or missionary would travel to various communities in a region to baptize children and marry couples. They were sometimes called circuit riders.

Searching by religion

It is helpful to know the family’s religious denomination. In Canada, religious denomination was indicated on most census returns.

Sometimes individuals had to convert religions to be married within their spouses’ religions.
Keep in mind that not everyone attended a church or belonged to a religious denomination.

General tips

If you find information in an index, try to get a copy of the original record. It will usually have more information than what is in the index. Check the author’s notes to see where they found the original records.
Older records have less information in them or may have been lost over time. Some people may not have been recorded at all.
The entries are in the original language of those records.
Some of the documents are difficult to read, therefore some information may be incorrect or incomplete.

About the index

This database contains indexed records from the following LAC collections. Some images are attached, others you will need to consult separately, most likely on microfilm.

Marriage bonds and licenses

Search Marriage bonds and licences, 1779-1858

LAC holds about 8,000 bonds and 900 lists of marriage licences for the early 1800s in Upper and Lower Canada.

Some couples married by bonds or licence rather than in a place of worship. Bonds were a guarantee that the marriage was lawful, while licenses were permits to wed. Bonds were usually issued a few days prior to the actual wedding ceremony; they can provide an indication of the approximate date and place of marriage. The actual marriage licence was given to the couple.

Couples who were to be married in the Church of England (Anglican) or Roman Catholic Church did not need a licence or a marriage bond. A marriage licence was required if the marriage was performed by any other clergy, by a justice of the peace, or if the couple married outside their home parish.

The collection includes references from the following series:

Marriage bonds:

Lower Canada and Canada East (now Quebec), 1779–1858 (RG4-B28, volumes 29 to 41A, microfilm H-1129 to H-1132). This series also includes about 13 bonds from 1860 and 1861.
Upper Canada and Canada West (now Ontario), 1803–1845 RG5-B9, volumes 13 to 44, microfilm C-6777 to C-6791). This series also includes about 10 bonds from 1858 to 1861.

The bonds have been digitized and are available in Collection search. Note that image quality may be poor.

Marriage licences lists:

Lower Canada (now Québec), register of licences issued through the Prerogative Court, 1835–1837 (RG4-B28, volume 46)
Upper Canada (now Ontario), statements of licences issued, 1803, 1808, and 1819–1841 (RG5-B9, volumes 6, 7 and 8)

These records are not digitized.

Since the images may be difficult to read online, a marriage bond includes the following information:

name of the future husband
name of the future wife
name of the future wife
names of the sureties
date and place where the bond was issued

The lists of licenses typically include:

date of issue
name of future husband
name of future wife
amount paid (usually one pound)

Birth, marriage and death records

Search Birth, marriage and death records

Kipling Collection, MG25-G62

Part of the Kipling Collection consists of about 4,000 index cards transcribed into this database. They were prepared by Clarence Kipling from the following three parish registers of the Red River area of Manitoba:

St. John's Anglican Church (some marriages and burials between 1820 and 1882)
St. Andrew's Anglican Church (some marriages and burials between 1835 and 1884)
St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church (some baptisms, marriages and burials between 1824 and 1834)

The cards were digitized on reel H-1344. The actual parish registers are not held by LAC. The Anglican records are held by the Archives of the Diocese of Rupert's Land, and the Roman Catholic records by the Centre du patrimoine – La Société historique de Saint-Boniface (available in French only).

The collection also contains over 600 genealogical studies for Red River settlers, original fur traders, and servants of the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company (1749–1884). Consult Finding Aid 1368 for an alphabetical list of the families listed.

Joseph E. and Arthur Gravelle Fonds

This index (Fichier Gravelle) is part of the Gravelle fonds. It contains information about individuals from a variety of sources.

Ontario: Arnprior, Astorville, Bonfield, Corbeil, Huntley, Packenham, Renfrew County (Eganville, Killaloe, etc.) and St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Ottawa
Quebec: Bouchette, Buckingham, Hull and Pontiac County (Bristol, Clarendon, Shawville, etc.)

The cards with this information (part of Finding Aid1180) were transcribed into the database. Not all cards were transcribed. Some last names were missed during transcription.

Sources were not indicated on the cards, so to continue your research, try our other Genealogy and family history pages to learn where and how to access different types of records.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Williamstown, Ontario MG9-D7-14

This index has about 1500 references from the register of baptisms and marriages performed between 1779 and 1817 by Reverend John Bethune.

The register is digitized on microfilm reel C-3030, starting on image number 321.

W.J. (Bill) Miller Collection

This collection contains genealogies compiled by Bill Miller relating to 1,200 families of Leeds County, Ontario, gathered from newspaper obituaries, census returns, church records and other local sources. The entries in this database are not from those individual pages, but from Finding Aid 1470, which contains the last names found in the collection.

There is a page for each individual, with information and sources. In some cases, copies of correspondence, certificates, and newspaper clippings such as announcements or death notices are also included.
The page number(s) provided in the database can be used to locate the actual pages that include the full names and available details.
The pages are arranged alphabetically.

These microfilms have been digitized on Héritage.

Yukon Territorial Records, Applications for Marriage Licenses

This index has about 750 references to applications received by the Issuer of Licenses of the Yukon Territory from 1901 to 1917. The Yukon Archives holds the original records and some collections of church records.

Each application contains the names and ages of the couple, as well as the date of issue and the place.

LAC has a copy on microfilm reel M-2883; however it has not been digitized. To order copies online, include the archival reference as follows: RG91-B-4, volume 76, names, license number, microfilm M-2883.

Acts of Divorce, 1841–1968

Search Acts of Divorce, 1841-1968

This index contains about 15,000 entries for Parliamentary divorces documented in government sources held at LAC. The entries include c x passed from 1841 to 1963, and Senate resolutions approved from 1964 to 1968. Each entry includes:

the full names of the petitioner and their spouse
the publication where the document appears
the year of publication
the chapter or reference number of the act or resolution

With that information, look for the publication online:

Digitized acts and resolutions

Find the digitized acts or resolutions on the free websites Canadiana and Internet Archive. Coverage includes:

Each act or resolution usually includes:

the names of the petitioner and their spouse
their place(s) of residence
the date and place of marriage
the grounds under which the divorce was being requested

If you cannot find an act online

For the publications that are not digitized, many libraries across Canada hold copies of official publications that contain the acts or resolutions. Each act or resolution usually consists of one page.

Use our Aurora catalogue to find out which libraries hold copies of specific publications. Click on a publication below to open the catalogue entry, then scroll down to Libraries Worldwide.

Use the table below to determine where to find acts or resolutions from different years.

Date range	Publication	OCLC number
1841–1866	Statutes of the Province of Canada	9318743
1841–1866	Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada	221522077
1867–1872	Statutes of Canada	9037029
1873–1951	Acts of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada (Statutes of Canada)	6349676
1952–1963	Acts of the Parliament of Canada (Statutes of Canada)	2247204
1964–1968	Journals of the Senate of Canada	2248594

Alternatively, you can also check newspapers for divorce notices. Between 1867 and 1968, some provinces required people seeking a divorce to publish a six-month notice in the Canada Gazette and two local newspapers. These notices or petitions often included the marriage date and place, and details about the end of the marriage.

Search the Canada Gazette using the keyword divorce, as well as a last name and a place. Searching local newspapers is more complex, and often requires browsing.

Other places to look

Records not held at LAC

Vital statistics and civil registration

LAC only has a limited collection of:

birth, marriage, death, and divorce records
adoption records
orphanage records
wills, probate and estate records

These records are usually held by provinces, territories, or religious institutions.

Prior to the mid-1800s, religious institutions, municipal, township, or county offices were the main sources of this information. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, provincial and territorial governments began recording these events through vital statistics or civil registration. Each province and territory maintains records for different periods and has its own rules regarding access. More recent records are generally held by government departments, while older records are preserved in archival collections, which may include provincial or territorial archives or other repositories for historical records.

To access these records, you will need to consult one of these institutions. You can start by consulting our list of provincial, territorial, and religious archives.

Divorce

Historically, divorces were also handled by provincial and territorial courts. Older court records are usually held in the provincial and territorial archives. Starting with the 1901 Census of Canada, according to the instructions to the enumerators, the status of divorces was to be recorded. You can search census records in Census search.

For divorce records from 1968 onwards, contact the Department of Justice’s Central Registry of Divorce Proceedings if you need information on obtaining copies of your own divorce case.

Before 1968:
Certified copies of an Act of Parliament or Senate resolution relating to a divorce are available for legal purposes from the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel.

Records of Canadian civilian births abroad

If you were born in another country to Canadian parents who were living and working outside Canada, you may have an old birth certificate that is no longer recognized. If you would like documentation you can:

apply for a Canadian citizenship certificate from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
request a birth certificate from the registrar in the country where you were born

Records of children of military personnel

If you were born when your parents were stationed overseas, there might be information about your birth in your parent’s military file. To access this information, submit a privacy request to LAC explaining that you are looking for any documentation regarding your birth from your parent’s military file. Include this information:

your name, date and place of birth
your parent’s name, date of birth and their military service number (if known)

Records held at LAC

Religious records

LAC holds a very small collection of archival records for some churches (parish registers) and synagogues.

Parish and related birth, marriage and death records

The holdings also include these records:

Jacques-Henri Fabien Collection (MG25-G231)
- Nominal index to some church records from the Outaouais region and the area around the Island of Montréal. This card index is digitized on Héritage.
Fichier Loiselle
- Alphabetical index for many Roman Catholic marriage records from roughly 1750 to the 1900s. The index includes Quebec, some parts of New Brunswick, eastern Ontario and New England. This microfiche collection is available in the Genealogy Room at our Ottawa location (call number CS88 QC4 L6 1986 fiche).

Orphanages

LAC holds a small collection of records from orphanages. Use Collection search to find records on orphanages with keywords such as the name of the institution. Here are some examples:

There may also be information in the Home Children files.

Federal government records relating to deaths

LAC holds the archival records of federal government departments. Here are a few collections (fonds) that contain some references to deaths:

Canadian Transport Commission fonds (RG46): this fonds includes files relating to accidental deaths that involved water, land or air transport, 1904–1976.
Canadian National Railway (CNR) Company fonds (RG30): this fonds includes reports on accidents on the CNR and its affiliated railway companies in the early 1900s.
- Some reports are about civilians and railway employees who were injured or killed by trains. Most are personal injury and workmen’s compensation claims.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police fonds (RG18): in the early 1900s, accidental and criminal deaths in the western provinces were usually reported in the records of the Northwest Mounted Police.
Department of Transport fonds (RG12): there are some files relating to fatal casualties, mostly aircraft accidents, 1917–1977.

Search for a federal government file:

Go to Advanced search in Collection search
In All these words, enter a person’s surname
In Any of these words, enter keywords such as death, died, killed, murder, inquest, casualty, fatal. You can also enter any of RG46, RG30, RG18, RG12 (optional)

Some examples you may find include:

Accident where death occurred—A. Belanger killed at St. Paul Lock, Lachine Canal, 1907 (RG46-C-II-1, volume 1423, file 6301)
Piper L4B—Board of Inquiry—Accident on 8 August near Chatham, Ontario—Pilot C.A. Couse fatally injured, 1951 (RG12-A-1, volume 1158, file 5002-294)

Wills, probate and estate records

LAC only holds a small number of wills, probate records and estate files found in some private and federal government collections. These include the estate files of some First Nations individuals. To search for a record:

Go to Advanced search in Collection search
In All these words, enter a person’s surname
In Any of these words, enter keywords such as will, probate, estate

Some examples you may find include:

Surrogate Court of Carleton County fonds (MG9-D11): these registers contain Probate of Wills and Letters of Administration for the Surrogate Court of Carleton County, Ontario, 1840–1902.

Published sources

Indexes are created by individual volunteers or organizations who gather and transcribe records into one publication. This provides access to valuable information that might otherwise be difficult to find.

These are the most common types of indexes:

church records
cemetery gravestone inscriptions
newspaper obituaries
marriage and death notices
funeral home records
wills

Some publications are not just indexes; they may be complete transcriptions of the items.

Search for indexes

You can find many of these books on open shelves in the Genealogy Room at LAC’s Ottawa location. Handouts are available on site that explain the book collection and how it is organized in the room.

Search for published indexes in our Aurora catalogue. Use the keyword genealogy, and include a place.

If a book’s call number includes the word genealogy, the book is in the Genealogy Room at our Ottawa location.
Example of a call number: Genealogy Ref. CS88 A2 A38 2003

Aurora entries also show if the item is available in other libraries. You can also check your local library’s online catalogue.

Here are a few examples of the types of indexes you will find:

Access the records

Digitized records

If you find a record of interest, a digital image may be available. Some of these are available through Collection search, while others, particularly digitized microforms, are available through Héritage.

Records that are not digitized

For records that are not digitized, you will need to see them in person. If you are unable to visit us, you may want to order copies or hire a researcher.

If you want to order copies, be sure to include the full archival or OCLC reference in your order form.

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2026-02-17

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