Canada Passenger Lists - FamilySearch Historical Records

Title in the Language of the Record
Listes de passagers canadiens

Record Description
These records include indexes and images of ships' passenger lists (also known as ships' manifests or seaport records of entry). Contains records for the ports of:


 * Quebec City, 1900-1921;
 * Halifax, 1881-1922;
 * Saint John, 1900-1912;
 * North Sydney, 1906-1912;
 * Vancouver, 1905-1912;
 * Victoria, 1905-1912;
 * New York, 1906-1912;
 * Eastern US Ports, 1905-1912.

The lists for United States ports include only those names of passengers with intentions of proceeding directly to Canada.

The Canadian government did not keep lists of emigrants. Before 1947 there was no Canadian citizenship separate from British, and Canadians moved freely throughout the British Empire. Before 1895, when the United States government began keeping border-crossing records, Canadians moved to the United States with few restrictions.

During the early 20th century, consular officials of the Russian Empire stationed in Canada and the United States kept files on former empire residents who sought their aid (to help in filling out naturalization and passport applications or to obtain proof of military service in Russia).

These are especially helpful for documenting Jewish immigrants. Although this collection is considered a list of Jewish immigrants from Russia, many of the records are for other-ethnic immigrants, including Ukranians and Finns.

There are very few passenger lists for ships coming into Canada before 1865. Lists were not made or were destroyed. The Library and Archives Canada website has posted an index of some lists that have survived. Some of these indexed names have been gathered from declarations of aliens and names of some Irish orphans.

Record Content
Passenger lists may contain the following information:


 * Name
 * Age
 * Gender (male or female)
 * Nationality
 * Date of arrival
 * Port of arrival
 * Name of ship

How to Use the Record
To search this collection, it would be helpful if you have the following information:


 * Ancestor's name
 * Name of ship
 * Port of departure

Using the information
When you have found the information that you are looking for, you can:


 * Identify the last place of residence before your ancestors departure
 * Calculate the age to give an approximate date of birth
 * Find the names of other family members traveling with your ancestor at the time.

Search the Collection
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

To search the collection, ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page: ⇒Select the appropriate “Port of Arrival” category ⇒Select the appropriate “Arrival date - year” ⇒Select the appropriate “Name of Ship” which will take you to the images.

Search the collection by image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

As you are searching it is helpful to know such information as your ancestor’s given name and surname, some identifying information such as residence and age, and family relationships. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.

Related Websites

 * Library and Archives of Canada
 * Olive Tree Genealogy: Canadian Passenger Lists
 * Immigrants to Canada

Related Wiki Articles

 * Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935
 * Canada Emigration and Immigration

Citing FamilySearch Historical Collections
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information. This will help you or others to find the record again. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records.

A suggested format for keeping track of records that you have searched is found in the wiki article Help:How to Cite FamilySearch Collections.

Citation for This Collection
The following citation refers to the original source of the data and images published on FamilySearch.org. It may include the author, custodian, publisher and archive for the original records.

Citation Example for a Record Found in This Collection
“Argentina, Buenos Aires, Catholic Church Records, 1635-1981,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org: accessed 28 February, 2012), La Plata &gt; San Ponciano &gt; Matrimonios 1884-1886 &gt; image 71 of 389 images, Artemio Avendano and Clementina Peralta, 1884; citing Parroquia de San Ponciano en la Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Matrimonios. San Ponciano, La Plata, Buenos Aires.