Canada, British Columbia Birth Registrations - FamilySearch Historical Records

This wiki article describes a collection that is available for free online at FamilySearch Record Search – Pilot Site. To access the collection see British Columbia birth registrations, 1854-1903,

Collection Time Period
The registration of births began in 1872, but because of delayed registration, this collection includes births from 1854-1903

Collection History
British Columbia became a province of Canada in July 1871, and registration of vital events began in 1872. The only persons excluded from the Births, Deaths, and Marriages Act of 1872 were Chinese and Indians. This was changed by an amendment in 1897, stating the registration would apply to all races. However, the Act was amended in 1899 to once again exclude Indians from provincial registration until another amendment was passed in 1916, which authorized registration of Indians to begin again in 1917. Because of delayed registration, however, Indian births in this collection are from 1868 to 1903 (v. 795, 995A-998A). Birth records are organized by birth year instead of registration year in order to enable the release of early birth information that might otherwise have been restricted because of a late registration date. On 4 June 2004, an amendment to the Vital Statistics Act changed the release date for birth records from 100 years to 120 years.

Why This Collection Was Created
Registration of births began in 1872 in order to keep a written record of the population for the new province.

Collection Reliability
Provincial vital registrations are considered a reliable source in family history research because they contain a record of an event usually registered very near the time the event occurred. The reliability, of course, depends on the accuracy of the informant.

Collection Description
The birth registrations are recorded on individual, printed forms. They consist of completed statements regarding live births in British Columbia submitted to district registrars and registered by the director of Vital Statistics. Note that these forms are not birth certificates but registrations of births. Birth certificates contain information from the original registration records and are only available through the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency. A stillbirth may have been registered as either a birth, death, or both.

Collection Content
Key genealogical facts that may be found in the birth registrations are:


 * Date of birth
 * Place of birth
 * Sex of child
 * Name of child
 * Name of father
 * Name of mother, including maiden name
 * Residence and rank or profession of father
 * Name of the person who delivered the child
 * Reason the father did not report the birth if the report was made by another person
 * Date and number of registration

How to Use the Collection
Birth registrations are the best source of birth information in British Columbia beginning in 1872.

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