NOR-OPPLAND-L Archives

From: Margit <>
Subject: Naturalization in Canada Databases
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 13:42:47 -0500

<http://www.genealogy.gc.ca/01/010203_e.html>;

The Canadian naturalization databases contain references to about 200,000
people who applied for and received status as naturalized Canadians from
1915 to 1932. During that period, the government of Canada published the
lists of names of those naturalized subjects in the annual reports of the
Secretary of State (Sessional Papers) and in the Canada Gazette. These two
databases, produced by the Jewish Genealogical Societies of Montreal and
Ottawa, make it possible to search those annual lists by name.

In 1901, there were 5.3 million Canadians, of which only one in 20 were not
"British-born," a term that included Canada, England, and other countries of
the British Commonwealth. By 1911, due to a wave of immigration from
continental Europe and the United States, one in 10 Canadian residents were
from non-Commonwealth countries.

Many of these non-British immigrants did not speak English, and often had
names that English speakers had never before encountered. As well, they
often had no firm plans as to where they would make their new homes in
Canada. These factors pose major problems for today's genealogical
researchers trying to trace the movements of their direct ancestors and
other relatives. We may know whence they came, but it's not always known
what names they used, and where they went.

The databases are one of the few Canadian genealogical resources
specifically designed to benefit those researchers with roots outside of the
British Commonwealth. References located in the databases can be used to
request copies of the actual naturalization records, which are held by
Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

This thread:

• Naturalization in Canada Databases by Margit <>