In the first two parts of this series we looked at the Maritime Provinces. Now let\’s look at Ontario and Quebec.
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| Source: http://ontheworldmap.com/canada/province/quebec/quebec-road-map.html |
Quebec
One of the oldest settled areas of Canada, Quebec has BMD records that go back as far as 1621. Records up to as late as 1993 were mainly just copies of church entries. By law, churches were required to send copies to government archives. In 1994, the government started keeping their own vital records sets. From about 1926, you did not need a church record to register a life event. As of the 1960\’s, some births and marriages were being registered only in the civil registers.
Records before up to 1915 are held by the Bibliotheque et Archives nationale du Quebec (BANQ).
My own Quebec ancestry is before 1800. My own needs on vital statistics in Quebec has been serviced by the Drouin, so I do not have experience myself in using BANQ. The majority of it is in French, but with the \”Franglais\” I heard as a child and my French classes through school, I was able to navigate it fairly easily. I use Chrome as a browser, and was able to translate some of the pages as well.
After 1915, you must go through the Directeur de l\’etat civil. Here are their guidelines on certificates, or \”acts\”:
Birth certificates:
- If living, you must be one of the people named on the certificate, or someone representing them. You will need to submit an explanation if you are not the named person, and a copy of a document showing you are acting on their behalf.
- If deceased, you can apply if you are the spouse, child, or sibling. However, you will have to show proof of relationship.
- As the applicant, you will also have to verify your own identity with a photocopy of two documents. One must be photo ID and one must show your address. Their website lists all recognized forms of ID.
Unlike some provinces, I did not find anything on their website about doing genealogical searches for a life event. I am assuming they will not conduct searches. If I am wrong, then by all means let me know and I will update.
Ancestry\’s Quebec BMD collection is here
Cyndi\’s List of Quebec BMD links is here
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| Source: http://ontheworldmap.com/canada/province/ontario/large-detailed-map-of-southern-ontario.html |
Anything after these years are in the custody of the Office of the Registrar General. I\’ve used their service, and it\’s a fairly simple process. Here are their guidelines:
Birth Certificates:
- If living, only the person named on the certificate, their parents or the guardians can apply. Guardianship must be proved.
- If deceased, then you must be next of kin, or the administrator of the estate, You will have to provide proof of death.
Marriage certificates:
- The parties to the marriage, the parents or children of the marriage, or their legal representatives can apply. Proof of legal representation is required.
- If one or both parties are deceased then next of kin can apply. Next of kin are parents, children and siblings. If they are all deceased then extended next of kin can apply. They are classified as aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, grandchildren and grandparents.
Finding Your Canadian Story 