Sources by Topic

The genealogist and the family historian have access to different types of sources to find information of interest to them.

During your research, you will be looking mostly at books, microfilms, microfiches, old written documents and photographs. We advise you to take care in noting references, and to consult original documents to verify sources. You will have to be very patient and persistent to find the answers to your questions.

In this section, you will find information about these sources and:

• records held at Library and Archives Canada;
• records held in other institutions;
• examples of documents;
• links to databases and Web sites;
• suggestions for published sources; and
• research tips.

Once you have identified records of interest held by Library and Archives Canada, consult the following section:

How to Access Library and
Archives Canada Records

For each topic, a list of some published sources is available in our Bibliography.

To learn about specific resources and search methods for a particular province or territory, we invite you to consult Sources by Place.

References to many other genealogical records can be found in the following databases. Under Keywords, search under name, place/province and/or subject headings.

• AVITUS, our Directory of Canadian Genealogical Resources with links to other Web sites.
• AMICUS WEB, the Canadian national catalogue of published sources held in Canadian libraries.
• General Inventory database provides descriptions of archival holdings of Library and Archives Canada.
• Government of Canada Files database provides descriptions of files created by departments and agencies of the Government of Canada.
• Canadian Archival Information Network (CAIN) [www.archivescanada.ca/] allows you to search the holdings of other archives in Canada.