Exploring ethno-cultural roots

Canadian censuses often recorded the ethnicity of individuals and their place of origin. For example, the 1911 Census recorded ethnic origin and the country or province of birth. Starting with the 1901 census, we asked people who were not born in Canada to provide their year of immigration.

LAC holds the records for all official Canadian censuses. You can search by name, ethnicity or country of birth:

• Select your census of choice
• Enter your search term in the keyword field
• Examples of search terms include: England or English, Japan or Japanese, Jewish or Hebrew

Provincial and territorial government offices record births, marriages and deaths. These are also known as civil registration records. Those offices regularly transfer older records to the provincial or territorial archives.

For more information, see researching your ancestors in birth, marriage and death records.

These records usually include information about ethnicity and place of birth.

For more information, see:

• Immigration records (includes passenger lists and border entry records)
• Citizenship and naturalization records

Other immigration record collections available through LAC include:

RG76: Immigration Branch: Central Registry Files

• This sub-series contains immigration files from 1892 to the mid-1900s. Many files relate only to policy and administrative issues, others contain names
• Files that include names of individuals have the word “lists” in the file title

RG17: Department of Agriculture: Immigration Branch

• The Immigration Branch was part of the Department of Agriculture before 1892
• Some of the immigration files in this series include names of immigrants
• File titles generally do not indicate if the files contain names of immigrants

Searching inside a specific fonds

To search for files inside of a specific fonds:

• Go to Collection Search.
• Select Advanced Search.
• In the Database field, select "Collections and Fonds".
• Enter the fonds reference number (for example, RG76) in the Exact Phrase field.
• In the All these words field, enter your keywords. For example:
  • lists
  • Hungary
  • Mennonite
  • refugees
  • colony
  • Empire Settlement Act
  • a person’s name
• You can also use the * wildcard character, for example Norw* for Norway and Norwegians.

Many ethno-cultural groups established community organizations in Canada, such as the Italian Society, Principe di Piemonte or the Association of Polish Engineers in Canada.

Other organizations have deposited their records at LAC. In Collection Search, try the name of the ethno-cultural group or country of origin, plus:

• community organization
• philanthropic organization
• benevolent aid society
• membership

Many ethno-cultural groups published their own newspapers. These documents often contain:

• obituaries
• birth and marriage announcements
• major community events

LAC holds some collections of ethno-cultural community newspapers. You can search Aurora to find these publications. Try entering the name of an ethno-cultural group or place of origin, plus the term newspaper or periodical.

Many ethno-cultural groups and communities have published their own histories. These publications can include stories that might help you understand your ancestors' experiences. They may also include information about specific individuals. Use our Aurora catalogue to search for other books, including guides and genealogy indexes. Try Subject Keyword to start your search. Use keywords such as:

• genealogy
• history
• settlement
• a place in Canada or another country
• an ethnic or religious group

We've prepared a list of examples from our Aurora catalogue to give you an idea of the types of books you might find. Each title in this list includes the author and the LAC call number.

See the Genealogy Ethno-cultural groups list.

• Click on a title in the list to open the full catalogue entry. If you scroll down, you'll see a list of other libraries that hold copies. You can also check your local library’s online catalogue.
• If the 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

Local genealogical societies and those specific to ethno-cultural groups have extensive resources. Internet searches can help you locate these societies.