Canada, British Columbia Birth Registrations - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The registration of births began in 1872, but because of delayed registration, this collection includes births from 1854-1903.

These records include birth registrations, delayed birth registrations, and delayed registrations of Indian births. Due to privacy by the government of British Columbia, some images have been restricted from viewing.

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. 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.

British Columbia became a province of Canada in July 1871; registration of vital events began in 1872. The only persons excluded from the Births, Deaths, and Marriages Act of 1872 were Chinese and First Nations. 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 First Nations from provincial registration until another amendment was passed in 1916, which authorized registration of First Nations to begin again in 1917. Because of delayed registration, First Nation births in this collection range 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.

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.

Record Content
Birth registrations usually include the following information:


 * Date of birth
 * Place of birth
 * Name of child
 * Gender of child
 * Name of father
 * Name of mother, including maiden name
 * Residence of parents
 * Occupation of father
 * Birthplace of parents
 * Age of parents
 * Date and number of registration

Native birth records generally contain the following information:


 * Name of child
 * Place of birth
 * Gender of child
 * Date of birth
 * Single, twin, triplet, or other
 * Marital status of parents
 * Name of parents
 * Tribe of parents
 * Age of parents
 * Occupation of father
 * Birthplace of parents
 * Number of children
 * Residence
 * Name of doctor and date of registration

How to Use the Records
To begin your search, it would be helpful if you knew the following information:


 * Names of parents
 * Approximate year of birth for child

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.

Using the Information

 * The names of the parents in the birth record will help you in researching the censuses.
 * Birth records may list the maiden name of the mother. If the record does have the maiden name, you may be able to find the name of the mother's parents in the collection or in Canada Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Unable to Find Your Ancestor?
If you can't find the information that you are looking for, the following tips will help you in your research:


 * Search the Canada Births and Baptisms (FamilySearch Historical Records) collection for more information about your ancestor's place of birth.
 * If you can't find the parents of your ancestor, you may want to try the Canadian Census Collection to find a birth year and the names of the parents.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached Wiki article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

Related Websites

 * Canada History Links
 * Canada Historic Maps
 * British Columbia Birth Registrations 1854-1903
 * BC Archives Genealogy Search

Related Wiki Articles

 * British Columbia
 * British Columbia Vital Records
 * Canada Vital Records
 * Name Variations in Canadian Indexes and Records

Citations for this Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. 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. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Record citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image citation: