Ontario Civil Registration - International Institute

Civil Registration - July 1, 1869
Ontario’s first mandatory civil registration began in 1869. Many laws and statutes changed with Confederation in 1867. With the new government established, Canada West was now the province of Ontario and new rules and requirements were put in place in the hopes of providing a better way.

There were to be five Registration or Vital Statistics Acts (1869, 1875, 1896, 1908 and 1919) that would evolve to accomplish this.

The 1869 Act brought the beginning of a new method of registration that was to be province wide and include the registration of all births, marriages and deaths. According to the Facts of Life: The Social Construction of Vital Statistics, Ontario 1869-1952, by George N. Emery, (McGill-Queens University Press, 1993) “the registrar-general estimated that registrations for 1870 captured only a fifth of the province’s deaths, a third of its births, and two-thirds of its marriages.” He felt this was due to the lack of support by the clergy and the medical profession.

It also became apparent that the local clerk did not want to institute legal proceedings against his neighbours. The Clerks were paid a “just sum” for their work but it was not enough for them to give registration much of a priority.

The registrations were to be submitted annually and often errors were never corrected and some information was never received.

The local registrar for Brant County complained that some registrations came “by post” and could have easily been forged or could also even be a joke. “Is it on such testimony as some of these returns furnished that the legality of Marriages and the legitimacy of children are to be proven?”

He suggested “a registration form for deaths that required the name of the attending physician, names of persons present at the time of death, name of undertaker, location of burial plot, name and residence of the officiating minister, the names, residences and occupations of two bearers, names of siblings living and dead, and the signatures of a physician, two bearers, and a witness.”

Don’t we wish it were so. How wonderful it would be to learn all the above information when a death registration was found. Unfortunately, this was not exactly the case.

1875 Registration Act
The 1875 Act took effect 1 January 1876 and changed the rules regarding the registration of a death. It was now to be done prior to interment, in return for which a certificate of death was to be issued. If a clergyman buried a body without seeing a death certificate, he was obliged to report the death within ten days. The Clerks were now getting ten cents per registration and were to forward their returns semi-annually, not annually as before.

This act also abolished the position of county registrar, thereby placing municipal registrars in direct communication with the provincial office and trimming $3,750 from the Branch’s budget.

The death was to be reported by the medical practitioner in the municipality where the death took place to remove the possibility of double registration of one death. Only one person had to make the return, so either the medical doctor or the head of the family but not both.

Death registrations during the first year increased over those for 1875 by 95 percent. Although this was a significant increase it was still not perfect. As time went on the number of registrations decreased.

1896 Registration Act
The third Act “forbade clergy, undertakers, and keepers of cemeteries to bury a body without first obtaining a death certificate. It also obliged cemetery keepers to submit semi-annual returns of burials to the registrar of the division in which the burial ground is situate.”

It also required physicians to report births and deaths they attended and to submit a death certificate to the registrar in whose municipality the death had occurred. The clergymen were to report marriages they had celebrated within thirty days from the date of the marriages, (not within 90 as previously required).

The inspector of vital statistics, not the local registrar was now responsible for initiating legal proceedings. The municipal registrars were to retain the original registrations and send copies to the provincial office. And the fee was increased from ten to twenty cents per registration. The registrar-general was to be a member of Cabinet, but not necessarily the provincial secretary. This Act took effect 1 July 1896 and was implemented 1st August. A resource that may be overlooked are the marriage registers of some clergy for the years 1897 and onwards. A complete listing by location and date of these marriage registers can be found in the Archives of Ontario.

1908 Vital Statistics Act
The 1908 Act made the attendant liable to penalty for not reporting a birth. Another important change made was the frequency of submissions. Municipal registrars were to submit their returns quarterly, not semi-annually as before.

1919 Vital Statistics Act
This act was passed to prepare Ontario for entry into a national statistics system. As of 1 January 1920 a physician was to report a birth within forty-eight hours and the cause of death within twenty-four hours instead of “forthwith”.

It also required the municipal registrars to submit their returns monthly, not quarterly. Keepers of cemeteries were now to submit monthly records of burials to the registrar of the municipality in which the burial ground was situated.

As you can see, the governing bodies felt the recording of vital statistic records very important and were putting the systems in place to ensure compliance.

Vital Statistics Indexes - Ontario - Page 1



Vital Statistics Indexes - Ontario - Page 2



Delayed Registrations
Other factors, such as old age pensions, automobile driver’s licenses and other requirements of proof of age and naturalization caused changes to the birth registration process. Delayed registrations of birth indicated that there were thousands of births not registered and therefore these people applied for late registration. The requirement for the registration was a declaration of the event from a parent or sibling or someone who was at the birth or a baptismal certificate. Delayed registrations can also include marriages and deaths. Similar requirements exist.

Births
If the event that you are searching for occurred after 1869 in the Province of Ontario, there is a very good possibility that you will be able to locate the registration in the vital statistic registers held at the Archives of Ontario.

There will also be registrations of events prior to 1869 if the individual responsible registered the event. An example would be a birth that took place in 1866 but was registered in 1869. It’s always a good idea to check the registration index just in case the event was earlier than 1869, and registered anyway.

A listing of the microfilmed reel numbers of the indexes of all post-1869 birth, marriage and death records held by the Archives of Ontario is on their website, where you will also find detailed pathfinders for this collection. Birth registrations become available when they are 97 years old.

Birth registrations usually show the name of the child, sex, date and place of birth, names of parents, father’s rank or occupation and sometimes address, name and address of informant, name of accoucheur (physician, midwife or other birth assistant), date and county of registration.

Procedure
This is a two step procedure. First, you must locate the name of the individual on the appropriate index (i.e.: birth, marriage or death). There is a finding aid, as well as handouts, describing how to access these records and their indexes at the Archives of Ontario. Go to the finding aid labeled Birth Registrations and turn to the index pages. Depending on the first letter of the last name, you will be directed to a microfilm reel number that contains the names beginning with that letter.

As all the names are indexed according to the date of the actual registration of the event, it is not necessary to know where in Ontario the event occurred.

Once you have located the name on the index, MS 931, then you must record the registration number and date of the registration. Note that the year of the registration may not be the year of the event. This will direct you to step two. You will go back to the finding aid again, MS 929 and you will now look for the right year of registration. If a person were born in 1895 but the birth wasn’t registered until 1896, you must look in the 1896 list.

Follow the numbering system until you determine which film has your registration number on it. When you obtain the correct reel you will find that the numbers are chronological. At this point, you will notice that the actual numbers are either hand written, printed in typeset or may have been changed. Look for the pattern used and follow the numerical order. Remember to record your source correctly at this time. Also, include all the information given on the registration.

To Find a Birth Registration Find the individual in the Vital Statistics Index. Make a note of the registration number and the registration year.



Correction Book
The Correction Book (1869-1899) for birth registrations is found on microfilm MS931, reel 11, just after the index of births for 1899. It may be viewed in the Reading Room of the Archives or requested by inter-institutional loan. There is no Correction Book for marriages or for deaths at the Archives of Ontario.

If you cannot find the name on the computerized index but are sure that there should be a record, then your next step would be to search the Correction Book. This ‘computerized index’ is not available on a database on a computer, it is a printed paper index. The Correction Book serves two purposes. The first is to provide an index to the corrections that have been made by the Registrar General sometime during 1869-1960. A correction usually resulted in a creation of a second entry or the correction may have been made on the original entry.

At the time of writing this course, “Corrected” registrations dated 1902 onwards are only available from the Office of the Registrar General. In a few cases this book may index birth registrations for the years 1869-1899 that were not indexed in the main computerized printouts.

Example of a Correction Made to a Birth Registration (See the centre entry.) Notice the year is changed from 1894 to 1893. Notice also at the bottom of the section the signature and the date of this correction.



Delayed Registrations
The second purpose is for Delayed Registrations (MS 930, 933). It indexes births that occurred between 1869 and 1899, but which were not registered within a year of the event. These registrations are not indexed in the main computerized printouts. Some of these delayed registrations may have been corrected later on, but the number appears to be very small. Most “50” series delayed registrations (RG 80-3-1) are indexed in this book, while most “90” series delayed registrations (RG 80-3-2) are indexed in the main computerized printouts. Some delayed registrations cannot be found in either index.

Example of a Delayed Registration (See the first two entries.) Notice that the birth was in 1893 but the registration was in 1894.

Marriages
Marriage registrations usually give the name, age residence, current marital status, religious denomination, place of birth, and names of parents for both the bride and the groom, the date and place of the marriage, names and residence of witnesses, name of clergy, whether by banns or licence, and date of registration. Ontario marriages become available to the public 82 years after they occurred, since 1869.

In order to locate a marriage registration, follow the same two steps as described in “Births”.

The exception to be aware of in marriage registrations is that the index is from 1873, not 1869. When marriage registration began, there were no numbers on the registrations and therefore, when the indexing program began they discovered that they could not use the registration number as a reference in the index. Therefore, in 1873 when marriage registration began to be numbered, the index began.

In order to correct this problem, various indexes have been created for the years 1869 to 1873. For these marriages, search through a series of indexes in book form called Index to Marriage Registration of Ontario, Canada 1869-1873, compiled and edited by Carrie Slingsby and Renie A. Rumpel. There are also handwritten indexes for this period in the Archives’ finding aid, from which the book was compiled. They are RG 80-11 and RG 80-24.

Marriage Registration
To Find a Marriage Registration Find the individual in the Vital Statistics Index. Make a note of the registration number and the registration year.



Marriage Affidavit
Affidavit of the Marriage Go to the microfilm in Finding Aid.



Marriage License
This will follow the affidavit on the microfilm. There are often two numbers on this document.



Marriages 1869

Begin your search with either the published index mentioned above or in series RG 80-11 (Original Index Books—Birth, Death and marriage Registrations).

Marriages 1870-1872

Begin your search with either the published index mentioned above or in series RG 80-24 (Original Index Books - Marriage Registrations)

There is also another series of indexes in progress that continue on with the unindexed geographical areas and include the full entry of the marriage registration. These indexes are by location so you will need to know where the marriage took place. Jeff Stewart and Sherilyn Bell have produced this series of valuable indexes. They are done by county and a list of completed books can be obtained by contacting Heritage Productions.

Deaths
Death registrations usually show the name, age, sex, rank or occupation of the deceased, religious denomination, place of birth, name and description of informant, cause of death, date and county of registration and place of burial. From 1907 on, names of parents of the deceased may be provided, but this practice was not consistent. The search for a death registration is similar to the search for births and marriages. First, you use the index to locate the registration number and then you use the registration date and number to locate the actual registration. Deaths are available 72 years after the event, starting with 1869.

To Find a Death Registration Find the individual in the Vital Statistics Index. Make a note of the of the registration number and the registration year. Go to the Death Registration Finding Aid and locate the registration number in the appropriate year. Make a note of the microfilm number. Notice the information provided—profession, where born, cause of death, etc.



Delayed registrations of death have not been forwarded to the Archives of Ontario by the Registrar General. If you suspect this may be the case, you will have to contact the Office of the Registrar General for more information.

Hints, Exceptions and Irregular Registration Numbers
There were some pages missing from the microfilmed records. They have been identified and are in a book in the Reading Room at the Archives of Ontario. Included in the missed records are:


 * Births, MS 931 (RG 80-4)
 * Marriages, MS 934 (RG 80-7)
 * Deaths, MS 937 (RG 80-10)

Births
If the registration number is between 001001 and 099999, you will find the registration under the year in which the birth occurred and within that year by the registration number. For example: a birth date of 1 May 1881, with a registration number of 025022/81 (the date registered indicates 1881), the registration of this birth would be found under the year 1881. If however, the birth date is again 1 May 1881 but the registration number was shown as 225022/82, you will find this birth registration under the year 1882.

If the registration number is between 201001 and 399999, you will find the registration under the year in which the birth was registered. Drop the first digit (the 2 or 3) from the registration number and look under that number within the year (i.e.; 225022 becomes 025022).

If the registration number is between 501001 and 599999, then these births were not registered within one year following the event. Go to the finding aid sub-series RG 80-3-1 to locate the particular volume. The volumes are arranged by the year in which the birth occurred.

If the registration number is between 901001 and 909999, then the birth occurred between 1869 and 1901, the registration occurred more than a year after the event but before 1945. The registration numbers for these births all begin with the digits 90. Go to the finding aid sub-series RG 80-3-2 to locate the particular volume from the listing in Appendix A15. These volumes are arranged by the year in which the birth occurred.

Marriages
The same numbering features are as above for births with an additional series of number 601001 and 699999. These registrations can be extremely difficult to find. This numbering system was discontinued around 1947. It can be assumed that most of these registrations were renumbered to the 50 series and are indexed in the Correction Book. If found in the Correction Book, note the registration number and proceed to Sub-series RG 80-6-1 (Delayed Registrations of Marriages). If not found in the Correction Book and if the registration is dated 1869 to 1911, proceed to the Original Index Books-Marriage Registrations (RG 80-11 or RG 80-24).

Once you have checked the indexes in either Series RG 80-11 or Series RG 80-24 and have noted the date of the event, the year of registration of the event, the county, district or municipality in which the marriage occurred, the Liber (i.e. Volume) number and Folio (i.e. Page) number, consult appendix B2 in the RG 80 inventory to locate the microfilm and unit/volume references to the required marriage registration by locating the year of registration of the event, and within the year of registration, the appropriate Liber and Folio number. On the microfilm, the registration should appear on the page (i.e. Folio number) in the volume (i.e. Liber number) containing registrations for the location in which the marriage occurred. Take heart, although this sounds or looks very complicated, once you are looking at the microfilm, all will be clear. (I hope!)

The Archives of Ontario and the Genealogical Society of Utah hold identical copies of the Ontario Vital Statistics microfilm but their numbering system is different. If it is more convenient for you to bring a microfilm into a local FamilySearch Center than order it through inter-institutional loan (or if you think it might be faster that way) go to Archives of Ontariofor a conversion chart of numbers. Furthermore, some local FamilySearch Centers may hold in permanent inventory the Indexes for Births and Stillbirths in Ontario. Check to see.

Alternatively, indexes to, and digital images of, birth, marriage and death records in Ontario are available on Ancestry.ca (subscription site). Check your local library, they may have a subscription to Ancestry Library Edition where you may be able to access their databases.

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