Border Entry

Many immigrants to Canada came from the United States or sailed from Europe to American ports on their way to Canada. Prior to April 1908, people were able to move freely across the border from the United States into Canada; no record of immigration exists for those individuals.

Terminology and Abbreviations

Research at Library and Archives Canada

Border entry lists (RG 76) were the official record of immigration; there are no immigrant applications or files. These records contain genealogical information about each immigrant such as age, country of birth, last place of residence, occupation and destination in Canada.

About the Records

Border Entry List: North Portal, Saskatchewan, 27 September 1913. Library and Archives Canada, RG 76 C5a, reel T-5493.

1908-1918

The lists are arranged by border port and date of entry. If you do not know those details, you must search these unindexed lists port by port and month by month for the appropriate region.

List of Ports, Dates and Microfilm Reel Numbers, 1908-1918

1919-1924

From January 1919 to the end of 1924, individual forms (Form 30) were used to record immigrants entering Canada from or via the United States. This series also includes a few forms from later years.

1925-1935

Border Entry List: Kingsgate, British Columbia, May 1925. Library and Archives Canada, RG 76 C5a, vol. 1, p. 274, reel T-14715.

In 1925, the use of border entry lists was reinstated. For each month, the records for all ports are filed together. These records contain more details, such as:

• immigrant's place of birth;
• name and address of the relative, friend or employer to whom they were destined; and
• name and address of the nearest relative in the country from whence they came.

A series of old nominal indexes exists for the years 1925-1935. Since the indexes include post-1935 entries, which are closed under the Privacy Act, the public cannot consult them.

Entries for surnames starting with C were input into our Immigration Records (1925-1935) database. For other surnames, our staff will undertake searches in the indexes, if sufficient identifying details, including year of entry, are provided. Note that the records for January to March 1925 are not indexed; however, individual Form 30 records are available for those months in addition to the border entry lists by port.

List of Dates and Microfilm Reel Numbers, 1925-1935

Research in Other Institutions

Border entry records After 1935 are in the custody of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Border Crossings from Canada into the United States

In 1895, the United States established border ports along the Canada-United States border and began recording arrivals from Canada. These lists, called the St. Albans Lists, are in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in the United States. A soundex-format index is also available. A description of the records and a list of NARA microfilm reelnumbers are provided on the following NARA Web page.

By Way of Canada: U.S. Records of Immigration Across the U.S. Canadian Border,1895-1954 (St. Albans Lists) [www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2000/fall/us-canada-immigration-records-1.html]

Microfilm copies of those records are also available through your local Family History Center™.

Library and Archives Canada does not hold copies of those records.

Research in Published Sources

Consult our Bibliography for further information on this topic.

Related Topics

Citizenship