How are websites useful?
Understanding how birth records are collected and organized will make your research that much more effective. There are many websites that contain authoritative information on researching birth records.
Since vital registration is a provincial responsibility in Canada, the most authoritative resource for Ontario birth registrations is the Archives of Ontario. The links on the right explain how birth registrations were collected and how to access them.
Birth Registration Websites
Finding a Birth Registration - A Pathfinder
Created by the Archives of Ontario, this pathfinder clearly lays out how to find a birth registration for an Ontario birth, and includes other resources for obtaining these records.
Pathfinder to Birth Registrations
This pathfinder from the Archives of Ontario (PDF format) is a handy one-page guide for locating birth registrations in Ontario.
Indexes to Births and Stillbirths - 1869-1916
The Archives of Ontario microfilms and makes public birth registrations from 1869-1916. In order to locate a record, you first need to find it in the index, which will in turn point you to the record. By consulting the table on this website, you can find the correct "reel" of the index for the birth record you are searching for.
What to Search: Births/Baptisms
This webpage from Library and Archives Canada provides links for obtaining birth registrations in Canadian provinces and territories. As birth registrations are under provincial jurisdiction, LAC does not hold any records themselves, but this page provides links and resources for each province and territory.
