Thousands of families have been added to the Acadia – Families collection on Genealogy Quebec! It’s the perfect time to explore your Acadian roots with this exclusive collection.
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About the Acadia – Families collection
The Acadia – Families collection contains 190,000 family files reconstructed from Acadian parish records from the 17th to the 20th century.
Each file usually lists a couple and one of their children, with dates of birth, marriage and death for one or more of the individuals listed. Complementary information is also included.
A link to the original source document(s) is often available within the file.
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48,408 baptism, marriage and burial records have been added to the LaFrance database on Genealogy Quebec. These mid-19th century records are from francophone parishes in Ontario and the United Stats, as well as Protestant parishes in Quebec.
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The LaFrance is a collection of birth, marriage and death records from Quebec, Ontario, Acadia and the United States, spanning from the arrival of the first settlers in North America to the present day.
This database includes an index of the Drouin Collection (all Quebec parish registers from 1621 to the 1940s) and the Marriages and Deaths 1926-1997 collection (all marriages and deaths registered by the Quebec government between 1926 and 1997).
Trace your ancestors with these documents and more right now!
More than 60,000 obituaries have been added on Genealogy Quebec!
Explore these documents alongside 60 million historical archives on the website’s new search engine.
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Newspaper obituaries from Quebec
22,000 obituaries have been added to the Newspaper Obituaries collection. These notices are from all over Quebec and date from 1850 to 2024.
The Newspaper Obituaries collection, available exclusively on Genealogy Quebec, now contains 1,475,000 death notices.These are mainly from Quebec and Ontario, but also from the rest of Canada and the United States.
A fruitful collaboration with the Société d’histoire de La Prairie-de-la-Magdeleine has enabled us to add all of La Nativité de la Sainte-Vierge de Laprairie de la Magdelaine (Notre-Dame) parish’s baptisms and burials from 1862 to 2000, as well as all marriages from 1919 to 2000.
In all, nearly 30,000 records have been added.
Jewish births, marriages and deaths
We have also added over 56,000 records from various Jewish synagogues in Montreal, Quebec and Sherbrooke, as well as 2,300 headstones from the Jewish section of Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Laval. A digitized picture of the register or stone is available with each record.
Canadian obituaries
Finally, we are pleased to share with you some 2,316 obituaries from various Canadian provinces, covering the years 1950 to 1990. These obituaries relate to French-Canadian families, and are courtesy of the Société généalogique du Nord-Ouest.
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This database contains files based on couples. The files list various pieces of information relating to the couple, such as dates and places of birth, marriage and death, and the names of the individuals’ parents and previous spouses.
This information comes from the research of numerous genealogists who have shared their data with the Drouin Institute. It is important to verify the content of these files by referring to the primary sources associated with the events and individuals listed.
Number of documents 4,189,539 couple files
Period covered Late 16th century to present day
Regions covered Mainly Quebec, but also a small part of Ontario, the United States, and France
Source quality – ★★★ Information gathered from various sources, source documents not available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
ABCD Miscellaneous
ABCD Miscellaneous is a database based on individuals and couples, containing information of all kinds. This information comes from source documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates, censuses, city directories, as well as Jean-Pierre Pepin’s personal research.
Number of documents 35,244 files
Period covered From the 17th century to the present day
Regions covered Mainly Quebec
Source quality – ★★★★ Information gathered from various sources, but generally taken from primary documents, source documents sometimes available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
ABCD Individuals
This database contains files based on individuals. The files in this collection list various pieces of information relating to the individual, such as dates and places of birth and death, and the names of the individual’s parents.
This information comes from the research of numerous genealogists who have shared their data with the Drouin Institute. It is important to verify the content of these records by referring to the primary sources associated with the events and individuals listed.
Number of documents 1,582,418 files
Period covered Late 16th century to present day
Regions covered Mainly Quebec, but also a small part of Ontario, the United States, and France
Source quality – ★★★ Information gathered from various sources, source documents not available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
ABCD Births, ABCD Marriages et ABCD Deaths
The ABCD Births, Marriages and Deaths databases contain transcriptions of Quebec church and civil records. These are direct transcriptions from the original documents.
Number of documents Births – 1,538,509 files Marriages – 2,618,611 files Deaths – 681,737 files
Period covered Early 17th century to present day
Regions covered Mainly Quebec
Source quality – ★★★★ Direct transcriptions of original documents, source documents not available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Acadia – Families
The Acadia – Families database contains files reconstructing Acadian families using parish records. The files generally contain the parents and one of their children, dates of birth, marriage and death for one or more of the individuals listed, as well as other complementary information. A link to the original source document(s) is often available.
Number of documents 180,690 files
Period covered 17th to 20th century
Regions covered Acadia
Source quality – ★★★★★ Direct transcriptions of original documents with additional information, source documents often available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Drouin Great Collections
The Drouin Great Collections database contains a digitized version of the Great Collections published and edited by the Drouin Institute over the course of its existence. They include the following:
La Masculine (Men Series): Alphabetical index of marriages of French-Canadian families from 1760 to 1935, classified by the man’s surname.
La Féminine (Woman Series): Alphabetical list of French-Canadian family marriages from 1760 to 1935, sorted by the woman’s surname.
Le Fichier Histor: A collection of marriage records, including the origin of the individuals and a marriage contract. This collection includes all Catholic and Protestant marriages celebrated in Quebec from 1730 to 1825, as well as marriages celebrated in western French forts such as Detroit, and Acadian marriages.
Les Fiches Acadiennes: This series contains over 50,000 files of Acadian births, marriages and deaths.
Dossiers généalogiques Drouin: Contains first-hand data collected before 1960 by Joseph and Gabriel Drouin to constitute the sum of family genealogies.
Petit Drouin: Directory of Catholic marriages in Quebec from 1760 to 1825.
As well as the following collections: Dossiers généalogiques Drouin, Affinités généalogiques Drouin, and Petit Drouin.
Number of documents 293,402 files and images
Period covered 17th to 20th century
Regions covered Quebec and Acadia
Source quality – ★★★★ Direct and indirect transcriptions of original documents and additional information
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
The LaFrance is a database of birth, marriage and death records from Quebec, Ontario, Acadia and the United States, covering from the arrival of the first settlers in North America to the present day.
The collection includes an index to the Drouin Collection (parish registers for Quebec and Ontario) and the Marriages and Deaths 1926-1997 collection (marriage and death forms registered by the Quebec government during the 20th century). The original document is often available for consultation.
Regions covered Quebec, Eastern Ontario, Northeastern U.S. and Acadia
Source quality – ★★★★★ Direct transcriptions of original documents, source documents often available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
NBMDS Births, NBMDS Marriages, NBMDS Deaths
The NBMDS collection contains millions of births, marriages and deaths from a variety of sources, mainly parish and civil registers. These documents cover mainly Quebec, but also parts of the rest of Canada and the United States. The source document is sometimes available.
Regions covered Quebec, Northeastern U.S. and Ontario
Source quality – ★★★★ Direct transcriptions of original documents, source documents sometimes available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Drouin Collection Records
The Drouin Collection Records is a collection of images of parish registers (baptisms, burials and marriages) as well as of other documents of historical and genealogical significance. It covers multiple North American regions.
This massive collection contains the entirety of Quebec’s civil registry from 1621 to the 1940s, which encompasses the vast majority of individuals who lived in the province during that period, making it an invaluable tool for genealogical research in the province.
Number of documents 5,370,628 parish registre images
Period covered 17th to 21st century
Regions covered Quebec, Northeastern U.S., Acadia, New Brunswick, France and Ontario
Source quality – ★★★★★ High quality digitization of original documents
Accessing the collection The collection can be consulted via a folder tree at this address. Registers are sorted by collection, location and year.
BMD Cards (Baptisms, Marriages, Burials)
The BMD Cards collection is a repository of baptism, marriage and burial cards from Quebec, Ontario and the United States.
This tool contains the Antonin Loiselle, Kardex and Fabien fonds, as well as Ontario BMD cards, BMD cards sorted by cities and families, adoption cards, and death cards sorted by family name, provided by the Quebec Family History Society.
Regions covered Quebec, Northeastern U.S. and Ontario
Source quality – ★★★★ Digitized cards made using the original church registers
Accessing the collection The collection can be consulted via a folder tree at this address. Cards are sorted by collection and alphabetical order.
Internet Obituaries
This collection contains obituaries published online by various Canadian funeral homes and newspapers. These notices come from across Canada and date from 1999 to the present. The index contains the name of the deceased, the date of death and the date of publication, as well as the full text of the obituary. A photo of the deceased is also often available. The collection is updated once or twice a year, to include obituaries from recent months.
Number of documents 3,000,000 obituaries, 1,980,000 images
Period covered 1999 to today
Regions covered All of Canada
Source quality – ★★★★★ Information and complete original text, plus photo of deceased when available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Newspaper Obituaries
This collection contains obituaries published in Quebec and Ontario newspapers. An image of the original obituary is available in all cases.
Number of documents 1,460,000 obituaries and images
Period covered From the 18th century to the present day, but mainly from the 20th century
Regions covered Mainly Quebec and Ontario, but also the rest of Canada and the US
Source quality – ★★★★★ Index and original document available in all cases
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Memorial Cards
This collection contains memorial cards. An index and an image of the card are available.
Number of documents 99,699 cards and images
Period covered Mid-19th century to present day
Regions covered Mainly Quebec
Source quality – ★★★★★ Index and original document available in all cases
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Groupe-Nécro – Headstones
This collection contains indexed tombstone photos from over 830 cemeteries in Quebec and Ontario. A photo of the tombstone is available in all cases.
Number of documents 739,343 headstones and images
Period covered Mid-19th century to present day
Regions covered Quebec and Ontario
Source quality – ★★★★★ Transcription and photo of the stone available in all cases
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Ontario 1881, Québec 1881 and 1901 censuses
The Ontario 1881, Québec 1881 and 1901 censuses collections contain a detailed index to these censuses. It contains the following information:
Last name
First name
Sex
Marital status
District
Subdistrict
Age
Place of birth
Occupation
Religion
Language
The original document is not available for consultation.
Number of documents Quebec 1881 – 1,358,566 records Quebec 1901 – 1,730,150 records Ontario 1881 – 1,924,191 records
Period covered Quebec – 1881 and 1901 Ontario – 1881
Regions covered Quebec and Ontario
Source quality – ★★★★ Census transcriptions. Original document not available.
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Notarized documents
The Notarized documents collection contains tens of thousands of notarial contracts indexed by type of document, names cited, name of notary, as well as dates and places mentioned in the contract. These documents come mainly from Quebec and Ontario. The original digitized documents can also be consulted.
Number of documents 82,795 contracts, 255,490 images
Period covered 1800 to 1980
Regions covered Quebec and Ontario
Source quality – ★★★★★ Index of relevant information and full contract scan available.
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
Postcards
This collection contains postcards sent or received in Quebec and surrounding areas. They are indexed by name of sender and/or recipient. An image of the front and back of the card is available.
Number of documents 256,574 cards and images
Period covered 20th century, mainly from 1960 to 1990
Regions covered Québec and surrounding areas
Source quality – ★★★★★ Sender and/or recipient index, photos of front and back of card available
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
ABCD Directories
ABCD Directories is an individual-based database containing information of all kinds. This information comes from source documents such as birth certificates, censuses, city directories, as well as Jean-Pierre Pepin’s personal research.
Number of documents 17,000,000 files
Period covered 21st century
Regions covered Quebec
Source quality – ★★★★★ High-quality and accurate data. Source documents not available.
Accessing the collection This collection is available through the website’s search engine.
City Directories
The City directories tool contains a digitized copy of the directories of Montreal (Lovell), Laval (Lovell) and Quebec (Marcotte) as well as other municipalities. The directories have been digitized and indexed by year and category.
Number of documents 250,000 digitized pages, 40,000,000 individuals listed
Period covered 19th to 21st century
Regions covered Laval, Montreal, Quebec, Cornwall, St-Jean, Rimouski, Gatineau and Hull (coming soon)
Source quality – ★★★★★ High quality digitization of original city directories
Accessing the collection The collection can be consulted via a folder tree at this address. Directories are sorted by city and year.
Drouin Miscellaneous Collections
The Drouin Miscellaneous Collections contain a mix of images, documents, books, newspapers, pictures and directories of historical and genealogical significance.
This update affects the ABCD Couples and ABCD Individuals databases, which contain records that aggregate diverse information gathered from a variety of sources.
Preview of a record from the ABCD Couples collection. Source: New search engine, GenealogieQuebec.com
This update aims to enhance the quality and relevance of the records within these databases. To achieve this, over 5.7 million records have been corrected, merged or removed.
You will notice a significant improvement in the quality of results from these sources.
Genealogy Quebec’s new search engine lets you browse over 60 million historical documents with a single search. Try it for free today!
We are excited to announce that the next development stage of the search engine is underway! Soon, you will be able to add the individual’s mariage, death and residence dates and locations to your search.
Preview of the new search features
We hope to roll out these new features over the winter.
A new way to explore Genealogy Quebec’s millions of historical documents is now available!
Discover our brand-new search engine, giving you access to over 65 million genealogical records.
Browse through all 19 of the site’s databases with a single search using our cutting-edge technology. Tracing your ancestors on Genealogy Quebec has never been easier.
And for a limited time, get 25% off the yearly Genealogy Quebec subscription!
About the new search engine
A global search
You can now search through the entire website with a single query.
A smart search
The technology on which the new search engine is based enables much more advanced logic to be incorporated into the various search functions, giving you much greater flexibility when it comes to your queries. Approximate date, alternative spelling or typo? No problem for the new search engine; you’ll still find what you’re looking for.
Dynamic filters
Your search results can now be segmented using three categories of filters:
Type of document
Location
Year
These filters allow you to refine your search results directly from the results page. For example, you can choose to only display a specific type of document or source collection, or you can limit the results to a particular location or time period.
An abundance of new data
Millions of previously unpublished historical documents are now available exclusively on Genealogy Quebec’s new search engine.
The infrastructure on which the engine is built enables us to share collections that were previously unavailable to the general public. This new data includes BMD records, individual and family files, censuses and historical directories.
In all, we’re talking about over 35 million new documents, for a total of 65 million historical archives to be discovered on the engine.
Genealogy Quebec’s search engine is based on cutting-edge search technology, and contains over 65 million historical documents.
Search Engine Content Overview
You will find a detailed overview of the collections available in the search engine at this address.
Search engine features
A global search
The engine simultaneously searches through the entire website – over 65 million records – with a single query.
A smart search
The technology on which the search engine is based enables advanced logic to be incorporated into the various search functions, providing great flexibility when it comes to queries. Approximate date, alternative spelling or typo? No problem for the search engine; you’ll still find what you’re looking for.
Dynamic filters
The search results can be segmented using three categories of filters:
Type of document
Location
Year
These filters allow you to refine the search results directly from the results page. For example, you can choose to only display a specific type of document or source collection, or you can limit the results to a particular location and/or time period.
Free search
Although Genealogy Quebec is a subscription-based site, a limited version of the search engine can be used free of charge. Simply go to the site and start your search.
When you perform a search without being subscribed, you will have access to the same results as members, but they will be partially redacted.
Comparison of free and paid search results
The free version of the result gives you the name of the document’s subject(s), some of the information contained in the index, and a preview of the original document.
Future developments for the search engine
The next stage of development of the engine is the addition of individuals to the search. This will allow you to add a father, a mother, or a spouse to your search. We are hoping to release this feature by the end of 2025.
How to use the search engine
The search engine is divided into two sections that operate independently, each with its own features: the Basic search and the Advanced search. By default, the Basic search is activated. To switch to the Advanced search, simply click on Advanced search to the right of the Search button.
To switch to the Advanced search, simply click on Advanced search to the right of the Search button.
Basic search
The basic search, with its 4 fields, works on a simple principle: you are searching for a specific individual, and the search engine provides you with every document on the site that mentions the individual. The results are ordered according to the probability that the document in question relates to the individual you’re looking for.
The more the information contained in a document matches your search parameters, the earlier it will appear in the results list.
First name(s) and last name(s)
This is where you enter the name of the person you’re looking for. This person can have any role in the document (subject, parent, spouse, godparent, or simply being mentioned anywhere within the document), but documents where the person is the subject are prioritized.
Accents, capital letters and hyphens may or may not be used in your search without affecting the results.
You can also enter several first and last names for the same individual; the engine will prioritize the documents where a maximum of these names are found, but you will also obtain results where the individual is identified under only one of the names.
Adjusting the search broadness
Under the first name and last name, you have the option of adjusting the broadness of your search, i.e. the level of difference between the name you entered, and the name found in the corresponding document.
In the year of birth box, it is important to enter the exact or approximate year of birth, not the year of marriage or death. The engine performs a calculation based on the year of birth to show you results relevant to your search. If you enter a date other than the approximate year of birth, many relevant records will be excluded from the search results.
You can adjust the range of years searched by clicking on +/-
Location where your ancestor may have resided
The location is used to order and prioritize search results. For example, if two documents contain the name entered, but only one contains the location searched for, the document also containing the matched location will appear first in the results.
You can use the location search box freely, by entering a district, town, region, parish or even a country.
Please note that a match between the searched location and the location listed in the document is not necessary for the document to appear in the search results. The location is only used to prioritize results, not to exclude them.
Advanced search
The Advanced Search lets you refine your search with additional parameters. It includes two main components: adding events and adding individuals (coming soon).
The Advanced Search uses the concept of Target Individual.
The Target Individual is the person at the center of the search, whose name is entered in the First Names and Last Names boxes. All parameters added to the search pertain to the Target Individual, whether it’s an added event or individual.
In addition, the Target Individual can only have the role of subject in the document (e.g. the deceased in a burial, the spouses in a marriage, etc.). To search for an individual in another role (parents, ex-spouse, etc.), you can use the Basic Search.
When the addition of individuals to the search is released, you will be able to use it to search for individuals with secondary roles in the document.
First name(s) and last name(s)
This is where you enter the name of the person you’re looking for.
Accents, capital letters and hyphens may or may not be used in your search without affecting the results.
You can also enter several first and last names for the same individual; the engine will prioritize the documents where a maximum of these names are found, but you will also obtain results where the individual is identified under only one of the names.
Adjusting the search broadness
Under the first name and last name, you have the option of adjusting the broadness of your search, i.e. the level of difference between the name you entered, and the name found in the corresponding document.
This feature lets you add the date and/or location of events related to the individual you’re looking for.
Available events
Birth: Add the year and place of birth or baptism of the person you’re looking for.
Marriage: Add a year and place of marriage for the person you’re looking for.
Death: Add the year and place of death or burial of the person you are looking for.
Residence: Add a year and place of residence for the person you’re looking for.
Publication: Add a year and place of publication that prioritizes documents published on that date and/or in that place.
Any event: Allows you to search for a year and/or place present in a document, regardless of which event that place or date is associated with. The year and place entered need not belong to the same event.
Events utilisation in search
When you add a year or place of event to your search parameters, the engine uses it to order your search results according to their relevance. The more a document matches the search parameters you’ve entered, the higher it will appear in the results list.
You can add as many parameters as you wish to your search; the engine will use them to evaluate the relevance of the documents, but does not require that the parameters you enter be present.
However, you can force the presence of a parameter by using the “Must match” checkbox. When this box is checked, only documents where this information is explicitly mentioned will appear in the search results.
Let’s use the following search as an example:
Here’s how the parameters entered in the search above are used to select and order the results:
The name must match Joseph Tremblay, according to the parameters of the broadness selected for your search. The better the name match, the higher the document priority.
If Joseph Tremblay‘s year of birth is 1922 in the document, it receives a high priority in the order of results.
If Joseph Tremblay‘s place of birth is Montreal in the document, it receives a high priority in the order of results.
If Joseph Tremblay‘s year of marriage is 1945 in the document, it receives a high priority in the order of results, AND, since the “Must match” box is checked, any document in which Joseph Tremblay‘s year of marriage is not explicitly stated to be 1945 is excluded from the results, even if the other search parameters match.
Adding individuals to the search (coming soon)
Under development.
Search filters
The new search engine provides filters to refine the search results. When you activate a filter, documents not matching the filter are removed from the results list.
As such, when using a filter, you are displaying a subset of your initial search results. A result that was not present in your initial search will not appear following the use of a filter.
To close a filter and return to the previous one, simply click on the X to the right of the activated filter.
Filtrer by collection / type of document
This filter allows you to only display results corresponding to a specific type of document. It also allows you to select the source collection of the documents displayed.
The filter generally operates on three levels.
The document category, which encompasses several types of documents that relate to one another Ex: Births, Marriages and Deaths
The document type, which is specific to a particular type of document Ex: Marriages
The source collection, i.e. the database in which the document can be found Ex: LaFrance Marriages
Filter by location
This filter allows you to remove any documents that do not match a specific location from the search results.
When a search is performed, all the locations mentioned in the search results are listed and sorted under the Location filter. When you select one of the filters under Location, you are in effect excluding all documents that do not contain that specific location.
The sorting of locations under the filter is as follows:
Country
Province / State
Region
City / Parish / Other geographical entities
Occasionally, a document may contain province and city information, but no region. In this case, the document will be found under the Other category in the list of regions:
Country
Province / State
Other
City / Parish / Other geographical entities
Please note that due to the large number of documents and sources in our databases, locations are not standardized. It is therefore possible for a place to be repeated several times in the filters, under different variations. For example, a document where the location is listed as “Ville de Québec” will not be sorted under the same filter as a document where the location is listed as “Québec”.
Filter by date
This filter allows you to select documents in which a specific year appears.
During your initial search, you are prompted to enter the year of birth of the person you are looking for. The date filter, on the other hand, is not necessarily based on the year of birth. Instead, it considers all the dates mentioned in the document.
For example, if you apply the date filter “1945” to your search, all documents containing the year 1945 will be displayed, whether it’s a year of birth, marriage, death or residence.
As a result, a document containing more than one date will appear under several different filters.
Search results
Search results on the new engine are ordered and presented according to a scoring system. When you perform a search, the engine scans all the documents in our databases, then presents you with the events that best match your search parameters. The more a document matches, the earlier it will appear in the results list.
Results – Snippet
On the new engine, search results are first presented as snippets.
This snippet starts with the names of the subject(s), below which the type of document and the source collection are given.
An extract of the information contained in the document is then presented. The content of this preview varies according to the type of document. To the right of the preview, a thumbnail of the original document is displayed.
To view the complete information and the original document (where available), click on the thumbnail or “View” button.
At the bottom left, a note informs you of the last time you consulted this document.
Results – Details page
After clicking on the thumbnail or the “View” button, you are redirected to the details page.
Original document
When available, the original document is displayed on the left. Click on it to view it in full size.
Details tab
This is where you’ll find all the information available for this event.
Source tab
This tab contains three sections.
Information: Contains information about the collection to which the document belongs.
Original source: Indicates where the document originally came from.
Citation: The source to include when sharing this document outside our site. You can copy and paste it as is.
Back to search results
Clicking on this button takes you back to your search results. Please note that the button doesn’t work if you’ve opened the details page in a new tab, or if you’ve arrived at the details page via a direct link rather than via the results page.
Search tips and tricks
Prioritizing sources in the event of conflicting information
Genealogy Quebec’s new search engine has the advantage of searching through all the site’s databases. As a result, events may sometimes be listed in several databases, or even several times in the same database. This is generally an advantage, since it’s not uncommon for one source to contain information not present in the others. But what if two sources contradict each other?
First of all, check whether a source is accompanied by an original document. If this is the case, you should always give it priority, and make sure you check the information in the original document.
If the original document is not available, you can prioritize documents based on their source collection. In the case of birth, marriage and death records, the sources to prioritize are the LaFrance first, then the NBMDS, as these are databases containing transcriptions of original documents.
The records in the ABCD databases, on the other hand, are aggregations of various informations and sources, but are not direct transcriptions of original records. Therefore, in the event of a contradiction, you must give precedence to the LaFrance and NBMDS records.
Finding the original document associated with a birth, marriage or death
Many of the sources listed in the new search engine contain events taken from parish registers, but do not offer a direct link to the source document.
However, your subscription to Genealogy Quebec gives you access to the Drouin Collection Records, which contains all of Quebec parish registers from 1621 to the 1940s, as well as numerous parish registers from Ontario, Acadia and the northeastern United States.
It is therefore often possible to find the source document associated with a BMD record by referring to the Drouin Collection Records
Take, for example, this birth found in the NBMDS collection.
Baptism record of Marie Laure Jeannette Tremblay from the parish register of St-Alphonse-de-Liguori
Marie Laure Jeannette Tremblay is said to have been born in Bagotville and baptized in the St-Alphonse-de-Liguori parish in 1923. Thus, we should be able to find the original entry for her baptism in the parish’s register under the year 1923.
Once in the Drouin Collection, you’ll notice that the various registers are arranged in a tree structure. Since the document we’re looking for was recorded in Quebec, we will open the Quebec folder. The registers we’re interested in are then found under the Fonds Drouin folder. Now we need to find the parish.
Some parishes are listed under the name of the city or region they serve, while others will be found under the parish name itself. In the case of St-Alphonse-de-Liguori parish, it is listed under the Bagotville folder.
Once this folder has been opened, you need to navigate to the year you are looking for, in order to reach the list of images contained in the register for that year. It is important to note that in most cases, images are arranged in chronological order.
The first image in the folder will therefore contain the first events recorded in that year, i.e. records from the beginning of January, while events from the end of December will be found among the last images.
As Marie Laure’s birth took place in August, we can deduce that the record will be found towards the middle of the series of images.
Baptism record of Marie Laure Jeannette Tremblay from the registers of St-Alphonse-de-Liguori
After browsing through a few images, we find the baptism we’re looking for.
Using the date filters to find a specific event
The basic search, with its “year of birth” field, allows you to find all documents pertaining to the person you’re looking for.
However, if you are looking for a particular document, specifically a marriage or death, it can be more difficult to find among the many results obtained.
The advanced search, which we hope to bring online in the coming months, will alleviate this problem. But for now, you can use the date filters to find specific events whose dates you know.
How the date filters work
When you select a date or date range, the search engine excludes from the results all documents that do not contain the date(s) you have selected.
For example, if you select the 1945 filter, only documents specifically containing the year 1945 will remain in your search results, regardless of whether 1945 is a year of birth, marriage, death, residence or publication in the record.
If you know that one of your ancestors married in 1945 and would like to find his or her marriage certificate, start by searching for the ancestor’s name. You can include a date of birth if you wish, but it is not necessary.
You will then obtain a list of all the documents where this individual is mentioned on the site. By activating the 1945 date filter, you’ll end up with a list of all documents in which the individual is mentioned AND in which the year 1945 appears, which should enable you to find the marriage easily.
FAQ
What about the old search tools?
Genealogy Quebec’s current research tools and databases will remain available to our members for the long term. However, they will no longer be updated once the new search engine has been fully released.
Some of my search results don’t match the information I’ve entered
The first and/or last names do not correspond
By default, the search engine allows for some variation in the spelling of names . What’s more, the LaFrance name dictionary will eventually be integrated into the system, meaning that certain names will be matched despite different pronunciation or spelling.
An option (Exact Search) allows you to limit the search results to records where the names match exactly.
However, please note that the exact search does not prevent the display of results in which only one of the first names or surnames searched for is listed. For example, a search for “Jean-Sébastien Roy” will also produce results with “Sébastien Roy”, even with exact search enabled.
The year does not correspond
In the Basic search, you are asked to enter the approximate or exact year of birth of the ancestor you are looking for. However, the majority of documents on the site do not contain a date of birth. Therefore, we use the date of birth entered in your search to exclude documents that are not relevant. For example, it would not be useful to show you a marriage which took place in 1734 if you entered 1844 as the date of birth, even if the name matches.
As a result, you’ll often see results that don’t contain the date you entered; these aren’t there by mistake.
The location does not correspond
In the Basic search, location is used to prioritize and order results.
A correspondence between the location searched and the location mentioned in the document is not necessary for a document to be included in the search results.
For example, if you search for “François Desjardins” as the first and last name, and set “Montréal” as the location, all documents on the site containing a “François Desjardins” and taking place in Montréal will appear first in the search results. However, once these results have been exhausted, the search will start displaying documents mentioning “François Desjardins”, regardless of location.
The Drouin Collection Records are a collection of parish registers (baptisms, marriages and burials) covering all of Quebec and French Acadia as well as parts of Ontario, New Brunswick and the Northeastern United States, from the parish’s foundation up to the 1940s and sometimes 1960s.
You can browse the Drouin collection with a subscription to Genealogy Quebec at this address.
The LAFRANCE, also available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers, is a search engine allowing you to explore these parish registers by names.
The Drouin Collection Records are a collection of parish registers (baptisms, marriages and burials) covering all of Quebec and French Acadia as well as parts of Ontario, New Brunswick and the Northeastern United States, from the parish’s foundation up to the 1940s and sometimes 1960s.
You can browse the Drouin collection with a subscription to Genealogy Quebec at this address.
The LAFRANCE, also available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers, is a search engine allowing you to explore these parish registers by names.
