Ontario Civil Registration

Pathfinders Research Guides
These guides have detailed step-by-step instructions and links in a logical pattern of methods for locating birth, marriage, and death records:
 * Pathfinder to Birth Registrations
 * Pathfinder to Marriage Registrations
 * Pathfinder to Death Registrations

Births

 * 1858 - 1913 - Ontario, Canada Births, 1832-1914 - index and images - at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1869 - 1912 - at FamilySearch — index
 * 1869 - 1912 - Ontario Births, 1869-1912- index and images - at MyHeritage ($)

Marriages

 * 1779 - 1858 - Search: Marriage Bonds, 1779-1858 - Lower & Upper Canada.
 * 1803 - 1845, 1865 - Marriage bonds, licenses and correspondence of Ontario, Canada, 1803-1845, 1865
 * Nominal card index for the Lower Canada marriage bonds.


 * 1826 - 1938 - Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1938 - index and images - at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1869 - 1927 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1801 - 1858 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * For a limited period of time prior to 1858, clergymen of faiths other than Anglican and Roman Catholic were asked to record marriage information in district marriage registers. Not all clergymen complied.


 * 1858 - 1869 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * From 1858 to 1869, the province required the counties to keep marriage registers. Clergymen of all faiths were supposed to record information from their parish registers in county marriage books.

Deaths

 * 1869 - 1948 - Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948, index and images - at Ancestry.com ($)
 * 1939 - 1947 - at FamilySearch — index and images

Background and History of Ontario Vital Records

 * Civil governments create records of births, marriages, and deaths. Records containing this information are commonly called vital records, because they refer to critical events in a person's life.
 * The practice of recording civil vital statistics developed slowly in Ontario. Except for some marriages reported by justices of the peace, nearly all of the vital records created before 1 July 1869 came from church records.
 * These are very important documents for genealogical research, although the births, marriages, and deaths of many people have never been recorded by civil authorities. Before 1869, only marriages were recorded by civil authorities. Births and deaths in Ontario were not recorded until 1869.
 * Although they were designated by 1800, Ontario counties did not always have their own governments. Early Ontario was divided into a varying number of districts, and each district included several counties. Most government records were organized on the basis of those districts. For further information, see Ontario, Canada, Boundary Changes and Maps.
 * Only a few marriages were reported to district authorities between 1801 and 1831. Many more marriages were recorded in district marriage registers between 1831 and 1857. By 1858, the counties had become functioning governments in southern Ontario, and marriage registers were kept by counties.
 * Civil authorities requested local clergy to turn in copies of their marriage records to local governments. Copies of these copies were then made and forwarded to district or county authorities. Those copies were then copied into register books. Therefore, the register books are a copy of a copy of a copy of the original church records. Mistakes could have been made at any step in the process.

Contents of Records
Births: Birth registrations include: Marriages (1801-June 1869): There is a lot of variation in recorded information for marriages. It can be very limited in the early years:
 * the year of birth,
 * name, gender
 * father's name
 * mother's maiden name
 * father's rank or occupation
 * signature and residence of informant (usually a relative)
 * accoucheur's name (the person assisting with the birth)
 * registration date, registrar's signature
 * county/district of registration (an exact city, town or township is normally not given in the records for the earliest years).
 * name of groom, bride, and clergy

Marriages (July 1869 and after): There is information about each person and about the marriage. About each person: About the marriage: Deaths: The records may include: Registrations after 1907 may also include:
 * location, date and religious denomination of ceremony).
 * Name
 * age
 * place of residence and birth
 * marital status (bachelor/ widower, spinster / widow), occupation
 * father’s name
 * mother's maiden name
 * religious denomination.
 * Location and date marriage occurred,
 * witnesses' names and residences
 * name of clergy conducting the marriage
 * whether marriage was by issuance of a marriage license or publication of banns
 * registration date.
 * the deceased person’s name
 * age
 * sex
 * religious affiliation
 * rank or profession
 * birthplace
 * cause of death
 * name and description of informant
 * registrar's name
 * date registered
 * county/ district of registration.
 * the place of burial and the
 * name of the parents.

Archives of Ontario

 * The Archives of Ontario receives Vital Statistics records from the Office of the Registrar General of Ontario on an annual basis. These records contain indexes (where they exist) and registrations capturing information about births, marriages and deaths in Ontario.
 * Records are made available from the Archives of Ontario in Toronto.
 * For complete instructions, see the Archives of Ontario research guide: Vital Statistics Records.
 * As of September 2020 (additional records are added each year), the available records include:
 * Births, 1869-1919
 * Marriages, 1801-1939 (there may be gaps before 1869)
 * Deaths, 1869-1949
 * For more recent records, the researcher may apply to the Registrar General of Ontario. There are restrictions on record access and a fee is required. Online Certificate Application.

Archives Research Guides

 * Vitals Statistics Records
 * Understanding the Vital Statistics Indexes
 * Sources for Birth, Marriage and Death Records
 * Finding Divorce Files in Ontario
 * Finding York County Divorce Files

Marriage Bonds

 * Marriage bonds were sometimes prepared when the couple were married by license, rather than having banns pronounced in church.
 * Ontario marriage bonds, 1803-1845, have been microfilmed and digitized: Marriage bonds, licenses and correspondence of Ontario, Canada, 1803-1845, 1865
 * The records are indexed in Nominal card index for the Lower Canada marriage bonds.
 * Most have been extracted and published in: Wilson, Thomas B. Marriage Bonds of Ontario 1803-1834. Lambertville, New Jersey, USA: Hunterdon House, 1985. . WorldCat.
 * For a larger online collection, Search: Marriage Bonds, 1779-1858 - Lower & Upper Canada.

"Gretna Green" Marriage Places
Some Ontarians were married in the United States because requirements were less strict there than in Canada. When an eloping Ontario couple's marriage is not in their home county, search for it in alternate places (nick-named "Gretna Greens" after a popular elopement town in Scotland) like:
 * Crown Point, Essex, New York
 * Ogdensburgh, St. Lawrence, New York
 * Buffalo, Erie, New York
 * Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan


 * Names of many who married in the Buffalo, New York, area from 1840 to 1890 are listed in: Jewitt, Allen E. Early Canadian Marriages in Erie County, New York. 12 Volumes. Hamburg, New York, USA: Jewitt, 1982. (Family History Library . WorldCat.
 * People from Lambton County., Ontario, Canada and elsewhere in Ontario were married in St. Clair County, Michigan. (Most marriages took place in Port Huron, Michigan). These marriages are for the period 1838 to 1898. See also - index and images.

Divorce Records

 * Finding Divorce Files in Ontario
 * Finding York County Divorce Files

Divorce files are typically filed at the county courthouse where the divorce hearing took place. They may include the petition for divorce, affidavits, the degree nisi and the decree absolute (also referred to as the judgement absolute). Some files may also include examinations, documents relating to child custody, copies of marriage certificates and photographs of the people involved. In order to find a divorce file, you need to know when the divorce took place. There are three sources of records for divorces in Ontario. They cover the periods 1867 to 1930, 1931 to 1986, and 1987 to the present.

1867 to 1930

 * Until 1930, only the Federal Parliament could grant a divorce in Ontario through a Resolution or an Act of Parliament. Couples had to have a private member’s bill (a bill that a Member of Parliament presented to the House of Commons) requesting that their divorce be granted.
 * All divorces granted by the Federal Parliament are indexed: Index to Canadian Parliamentary Divorces 1826-1946.
 * Divorces granted between 1867 and 1930 are also indexed in a book titled Index to Canadian Parliamentary Divorces, 1867- 1930, by J. Brian Gilchrist and Nancy J. Duffy. This book is available in the Archives of Ontario’s Reading Room and in major public libraries (WorldCat).
 * For a certified copy of the Resolution or Act of Parliament for a divorce (needed for legal purposes), you must contact:
 * Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel Senate of Canada 1310-40 Elgin Street Ottawa ON K1A 0A4 Canada Telephone: 613-992-2416

1931 to 1986 and 1987 to the Present
See Finding Divorce Files in Ontario for details.

Using Newspapers
In order to narrow your search, you may wish to consult historic '''newspapers. Ontario divorce proceedings and decrees were rountinely published in newspapers''' such as The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star (formerly the Toronto Telegram). Back issues of The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star are available as part of the ProQuest Historical Newspapers Database which is available free of charge in-person at most libraries in Southern Ontario. Some Ontario libraries also allow online access to ProQuest with a library card number.