Browsing into the past with Ancestry.ca

Since launching in 2006, Ancestry.ca has been providing fee-based extensive and thorough historical records online for Canadians interested in discovering more about their family history. Now, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5, Canadians across the country can access and investigate the site’s complete collection of archival accounts, free of charge.

With 200 million records including, Canadian censuses, passenger lists, border crossings and passports, citizenship and naturalization records, immigration and emigration books, as well as photos, and descriptions of passenger ships, the website has sprouted over 26 million family trees, 2.6 billion profiles and 65 million photographs and stories.

“For many of our ancestors, moving to Canada meant saying goodbye to family members, knowing that they might not see them again,” says Roger Dunbar, managing director for Ancestry.ca. “Embarking on a sometimes hazardous voyage and beginning a new life requires a special kind of courage and one we hope to celebrate by opening these records.”

The collection available to Canadians includes 13.5 million Canada-specific records. Of these records, individuals may search Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, an archive detailing the names of vacationers, travellers, businessmen, crew members and even foreign leaders and celebrities who came to Canada through any of the country’s major arrival ports during this heavy period of immigration. Ancestry.ca reports that a total of 37 per cent of Canadians will have ancestors included in this particular archive.

Other free collections include: Border Crossings: From U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935, documenting immigrants who came to Canada from the U.S. during that time period, Canadian Immigrant Records, Part One and Two, revealing such details as port of arrival and reasons for coming to Canada; and Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924, detailing individual declarations of passengers who arrived at various Canadian ports between 1919 and 1924.

With so much history ready to be discovered, be sure to investigate Ancestry.ca’s extensive immigration and travel archives while free access is still available. 

For more information, visit ancestry.ca

— Kimberly Rupnarain


Photo Courtesy: Ancestry.ca Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 [database on-line]. Toronto ON: Ancestry.ca Operations Inc, 2010