Vital Statistics Records

Archives of Ontario
Research Guide 202


Vital statistics are the dates for important events in human life: births, marriages and death. This research guide provides information on finding and using province of Ontario vital statistics records. In using this guide, please also refer to Research Guide 203: Understanding the Vital Statistics Indexes.

The Archives holds various other records from government and non-government sources that document births, marriages and deaths in the province. For more information, see Research Guide 204: Sources of Birth, Marriage and Death Records.

 

Getting Started

Vital Statistics records for Ontario births, marriages and deaths (i.e., official Ontario government registrations) are in two places: the Archives of Ontario and the Office of the Registrar General of Ontario.

Vital Statistics Records in the Archives of Ontario:


Indexes (where they exist) and Registration Books for:

  • Births from 1869 to 1913
  • Marriages 1801 to 1928
  • Deaths - 1869 to 1938
  • Ontario overseas deaths, 1939-1947, documenting Ontarians who died outside of the country during those years.

These records are available publicly (and only) on microfilm, up to 1913 (for births), 1928 (for marriages), 1938 (for deaths), as well as the Registrations of Ontario deaths overseas (1939-1947). If you need Archives records from those time periods, please see Step 1 below.

Every year, the Office of the Registrar General transfers another other year of records to the Archives. The latest transfers (1914 births, 1929 marriages, and 1939 deaths) will be available sometime in 2011. If you need a photocopy of a 1914 birth, 1929 marriage or 1939 death registration for legal or humanitarian reasons, please contact us

 

Vital Statistics Records at the Office of the Registrar General of Ontario:


For records of:

  • Births from 1915 - present
  • Marriages from 1930 - present
  • Deaths - from 1940 - present

please contact:

Office of the Registrar General
Box 4600
Thunder Bay, ON
P7B 6L8
www.serviceontario.ca
416-325-8305
1-800-461-2156 (toll-free, Ontario only)

 

Step 1: Accessing the Records

To find Vital Statistics registrations that the Archives of Ontario holds, you will need to consult our Vital Statistics Indexes. Please see the section on Vital Statistics Indexes below. It has more information on using the indexes.

Lists of microfilm reels and pathfinders are available in our Reading Room and in the online Microfilm Interloan Catalogue (the catalogue can be found in the How to Access Your records section of our website..

You can view the records in one of three ways:

  1. Visit the Archives Reading Room. See our contact information at the end of this research guide.

  2. Ask your public library to borrow the film from the Archives of Ontario. You may request up to three reels per researcher.

  3. Ask for a microfilm loan through the Family History Centres of the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU). To find a Family History Centre in your area, contact your local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), visit the Family Search Internet Genealogy Service web site http://www.familysearch.org or, in Canada and the United States, call the LDS' Family History Support line 1-800-346-6044. You must visit the Centres. They do not accept written inquiries. We recommend that you telephone first to confirm their hours of operation.

The Archives does not provide research services. If you wish to hire a genealogical researcher to undertake research for you, please see Customer Service Guide No. 111 Genealogical Researchers in Ontario.

Getting Birth, Marriage or Death Certificates

The Archives of Ontario:

  • does not issue birth, marriage or death certificates

  • will only certify photocopies of registrations made in the presence of Archives' staff in our Reading Room; there is a certification fee of $25.00, which includes postage and handling. HST will be added to the cost.

The Office of the Registrar General of Ontario:

  • will not issue Death Certificates for Vital Statistics records in the Archives of Ontario collection

  • will issue Birth and Marriage Certificates only to the person identified on the record.

 

The Records

Vital Statistics Indexes


Birth, death and marriage registrations (except marriages before 1873): The indexes are available as microfilmed computer print-outs. The computer printout Indexes are sorted in the following order:

Up to 1895 for births, 1910 for marriages, and 1925 for deaths, they are sorted by:

  • surname initial
  • year of event
  • alphabetically, by the persons full name.

After the above dates, they are sorted by:

  • year of event
  • alphabetically, by the persons full name.

The Indexes have the full name, date and place of the event, registration number and registration year.

To request the correct registration microfilm, you must have the registration number and registration year. For more information, please see Research Guide 203: Understanding the Vital Statistics Indexes.

  • Marriages 1801-June 1869: These registrations are recorded in the District Marriage Registers 1801-1857 or the County Marriage Registers 1858-June 1869. The registers and corresponding Indexes (where they exist) were transferred to microfilm together. There are published indexes in the Reading Room and in some public libraries.

  • Marriages July 1869-December 1872: There was NO computer printout Index for these records. Two indexes are available :

    • published indexes, available in the Reading Room and in some public libraries
    • the Original (hand-written) microfilmed Indexes (MS 938 Reel 1 for July-December 1869; MS 941 Reel 1 for 1870-1872). Each Index is sorted in the following order:
      • by year
      • within year, by surname initial
      • grouped by county/ district.

  • You need the Liber (volume) and Folio (page) numbers listed to order the correct Registration microfilm.


  • Registrations of overseas deaths, 1939-1947: These registrations are indexed with the other deaths for those years; the Office of the Registrar General holds those indexes and will transfer them yearly, starting with year 1939 in 2010.

    A published index is available in our Reading Room and in some libraries: Bruce Thornby (ed. By Clifford Collins), Index to overseas deaths of Ontario servicemen and servicewomen, 1939-1947 (Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 2006), 2 vol.

 

What You Will Find in Vital Statistics Records

BIRTHS: Birth registrations include the year of birth, name, gender, father's name, mother's maiden name, father's rank or occupation, signature and residence of informant (usually a relative), accoucheur's name (the person assisting with the birth), registration date, registrar's signature, county / district of registration (an exact city, town or township is normally not given in the records for the earliest years).

MARRIAGES (1801-June 1869): There is a lot of variation in recorded information for marriages. It can be very limited in the early years (e.g., name of groom, bride, and clergy, location, date and religious denomination of ceremony).

MARRIAGES (July 1869 and after): There is information about each person and about the marriage. About each person: Name, age, place of residence and birth, marital status (bachelor/ widower, spinster / widow), occupation, fathers' name, mothers' maiden name, and religious denomination. About the marriage: Location and date marriage occurred, witnesses' names and residences, name of clergy conducting the marriage, whether marriage was by issuance of a marriage license or publication of banns and registration date.

DEATHS: The records may include the deceased persons name, age, sex, religious affiliation, rank or profession, birthplace, cause of death, name and description of informant, registrar's name, date registered and county/ district of registration. Registrations after 1907 may also include the place of burial and the name of the parents.

Please note that all of the above requested information was not always recorded in the registration. The data in the records can be incomplete, entered on the wrong line or incorrect. If the computer printout Index (see above) does not list a registration, order the Original Index for that year.

Making Contact

Ready and Willing

Although unable to do your land records research for you, our reference archivists are waiting to assist you. You may telephone or write to them by mail or email or - best of all - visit the Archives of Ontario.

Contact us

Telephone: 416-327-1600   Toll free (Ontario): 1-800-668-9933
Fax: 416-327-1999 Email: reference@ontario.ca
Address: Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd., Toronto, ON M7A 2C5

Website

For information about the Archives holdings, as well as access to research guides and other customer service materials available through the Archives of Ontario, please visit our website www.ontario.ca/archives.

Customer Service and Research Guides

The Archives of Ontario has published a series of in-depth research guides on a variety of specific topics. For more information, please see Research Guides and Tools under Start Your Research on the home page of the Archives website.