Canadian Directories, 1790-1906
Search Canadian directories across Canada from 1790 to 1906. The collection includes directories from the city, county, and provincial level. There is a complete set of directories for Ottawa from 1861 to 1901 and Halifax from 1869 to 1901.
On this page
Search tips
- In one of the top boxes, enter keywords such as:
- occupation, such as blacksmith or butcher
- street name
- the name of a person or company
- Optional:
- For Area or region, select from the drop-down list
- For Date, enter a specific year or a range of years
About the publications
City directories are used mainly for advertising. They list the names and addresses of residents, businesses, organizations and institutions in a city. They are very useful for knowing what businesses were available in a city in a certain time period, as well as tracking the history of buildings and movement of people over time.
This digitized collection includes microfiche copies of 247 directories that are keyword searchable. They were produced by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions (CIHM).
Library and Archives Canada’s complete collection spans 1790 to the present, though most of the directories are from the late 1800s and 1900s. They can be accessed in print, microform and digital formats.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask us a reference question.
Other places to look
LAC has a bibliography of its Canadian directory collection:
Canadian Directories, 1790-1987: a Bibliography and Place-name Index. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1989. 3 vol.
If you aren’t able to visit us in Ottawa to consult it, contact your local library for help finding a copy.
Search our library catalogue Aurora for directories in all formats, using either titles or subject headings such as:
Try your local public library for directories from your area. They may have hard copies or know of links to digitized versions.
Access the publications
For publications that are digitized
Use Collection Search to access searchable digitized copies.
For publications that are not digitized
Most of the directories in our published collection are not digitized. Many of these can be accessed in the self-service section of the reference room in Ottawa.
For directories not in the reference room, you will need to submit a request. To do so, you will need a user card number and an Aurora account. Delivery time can be between two hours and a few weeks, depending on the location and condition of the directory.
If you cannot visit us in person, you may want to hire a researcher to consult the directories for you.
If you have any other questions about city directories, please don’t hesitate to ask a reference question.