Quebec Directories

History and Background

 * Directories are alphabetical lists of heads of households and addresses. 
 * Some directories also give the wife's name and the family's address.
 * Directories can help you locate a family, especially when the family does not appear in the censuses.
 * Many city and county directories from the 1840s to the present are available.

Help With the Census
To use the census and most other lists efficiently, you should consult the city directories and find the family’s addresses, preferably before and after the year of the listing - people tend to move often in Québec cities. Be sure to check in the Street section, note the Ward or district, as well as the names of the cross streets, and anything else that will help locate the right “division” of what are often very large records.

Urban Areas

 * Directories are probably the most useful genealogical tool when hunting down the residents of the major urban areas.
 * There are a few early ones for Québec City.
 * Montréal’s first directory dates from 1819, but publication was not an annual event for many decades.
 * By the time of Confederation (1867) however, you will find annual directories for the large cities as well as rural or county Farmer’s Directories.

Library and Archives of Canada
Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) collection of directories includes national, provincial, territorial, as well as county and city directories, primarily of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in print, microform and electronic formats.
 * Canadian Directories Collection
 * The Library’s bibliography: Canadian Directories, 1790-1987 Family History LibraryWorldCat, The listings tells what exists and where it is held.
 * Genealogy and Local History to 1900: a Bibliography ... at WorldCat, compiled by J. Brian Gilchrist and Clifford Duxbury Collier  (Ottawa:  CIHM-ICHM, 1995) Old and rare Canadian books, periodicals and serials available on microfiche and indicates which are available in microform and so can be obtained through inter-institutional loan services.
 * The Eastern Townships Gazetteer and General Business Directory ... Containing Also Much Useful Information of a Miscellaneous Character, 1867 WorldCat(St Johns/St-Jean Quebec:  Smith and Co., Proprietors of the "News", 1867). Describes every community, large and small, and lists businesses and many residents.

FamilySearch
The Family History Library has directories for:

City of Québec

 * Quebec city pocket directory, 1890-91, ($), index

The Family History Library also has:


 * Pre-1900 Canadian Directories = La Collection de répertoires d'avant 1900. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions, 1988. (On 4,214 Family History Library fiche. Not available at Family History Centers.) The set includes directories for a number of cities and counties in the province of Québec.