by Canada, just like all other countries, has been registering vital records which signify important events in a person’s life for ages. These are births, deaths, marriages and divorces. They give accurate names, date of births, marriages, places of birth and divorces on anyone. On this article, we will discuss ways on how to find birth records in Canada.
Canada, a country found in North America, has ten provinces with three territories that extend from the Pacific Ocean, northward to the Arctic Ocean then to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the second largest country in the world with a population of about 38 million people. Canada has about 81 % of its population living in urban areas. The country has a median age of 41 years.
The registration of birth in Canada is the responsibility of the provinces. Authorities began the registration of births around 1860s in some provinces. Complete compliance with the registration of birth in Canada was archived in the 1920s. Nearly all births that occurred from that time were recorded.
In order to easily locate a birth record on someone, you will need to be aware of the place and date in which the birth took place.
Since registration for birth records in Canada are provincial, each territory or province has its own rules that govern the registration of births in the country. This also applies to the ability to access them as the public.
There are a number of sources that you might consider for birth records in Canada if you are looking to find your ancestors. The following are examples of such.
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Find Birth Records in Canada from Family Search
A search for birth records from Family Search will give you records that g back as far as 1661. Most of such records were recorded by churches and parishes. They are thus referred to as ‘Church Records’.
Canada, Births and Baptisms (1661 – 1959)
Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register
New Brunswick Late Registration of Births (1810 – 1899)
The details that are found in births records vary over time. Earlier recorded birth records are found to have less details than later recorded birth records. Canadian birth records are normally in English or French. This is heavily influenced by the time the record was registered and the province from which it was taken.
Birth records in Canada normally have the following information:
- Name
- Sex/ gender
- Date and place of birth
- Names of parents
Birth records that were recorded later may have the following extra details:
- Name of the hospital
- Age of the parents
- Occupation of the father
- Marital status of the mother
- Number of other children born to the mother
To find more information on ancestral birth records in Canada, you can come here.
Birth Records in British Columbia
For an example of how and what to expect when it comes to birth records in Canada, we can use British Columbia.
This site will guide you on how to register births, order birth certificates, make changes to birth certificates, and perform genealogical research in British Columbia. There are links offered that will help you in processing any of these needs.
You can also find out how to conduct a birth record search in Ontario from here. If you are looking to find birth records on someone from Ontario, then this is the place to start from.
Searches for Birth Information on Someone Living in Canada
If you are looking to find a date of birth on someone who is alive today, you have a number of options. Search engines like Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Bing are perfect if you are looking to search for someone who is famous. There might be records on them that may pop up on search.
Social media platforms such as Facebook are also good examples of sources of birth records. Facebook forms an important part of today’s needs as it is used for communication by both individuals and businesses.
In Canada, there are about 29 million Facebook users, which is 77 % of the country’s population. Chances are, the person you want to lookup might be a member on the platform. To search for them, log into Facebook, go to the search bar, type their name, username/ nickname and search for them.
From the outcome that follows, find the one that you are after and click on it. This will present you with the profile of the individual where you can view a lot of information on them. If they included their date of birth information on their profile, this is where it would be.
Going through their posts might also prove lucrative as they may have uploaded photos of themselves celebrating their birthday. There might also be messages received from friends, family and colleagues congratulating them on their birthday.
Other such social media sites include Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Myspace.
These are some of the options there is on how to find birth records in Canada. You can try them to find out which one will work for you.
