Examples of Birth Registrations

It is important to note that you are researching registrations as opposed to certificates. Certificates are documents produced by the Office of the Registrar General on demand for people who need them for various purposes. Registrations are the original data recorded, from which certificates were produced. You do not need a certificate for family history purposes. If you need records for legal purposes, you can have certified copies made.

The Archives of Ontario holds birth registrations recorded in two different formats. Between 1869 and 1898 each registration was recorded in a half column format (six registrations to a page).

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Birth Registration 1869-1898

From 1899 to 1908 births were recorded in a "cross-line" format, reading left to right across two pages. Click on the thumbnail images below to view examples of the two formats.

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Birth Registration 1899-1910