Births, marriages and deaths
ABCD Couples
ABCD Miscellaneous
ABCD Individuals
ABCD Births, ABCD Marriages, ABCD Deaths
Acadia – Families
Drouin Great Collections
LaFrance Births, LaFrance Marriages, LaFrance Deaths
NBMDS Births, NBMDS Marriages, NBMDS Deaths
Drouin Collection Records
BMD Cards

Obituaries, Headstones and Memorial cards
Internet Obituaries
Newspaper Obituaries
Memorial Cards
Groupe Nécro – Headstones

Census
Ontario 1881. Québec 1881 and 1901 Censuses

Notarized Documents, Land Records and Court Records
Notarized Documents

Pictures, Cards and Postcards
Postcards

Phonebooks, City Directories, School Yearbooks
ABCD Directories
City Directories

Miscellaneous
Drouin Miscellaneous Collections

ABCD Couples

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.

LaFrance Births, LaFrance Marriages, LaFrance Deaths

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.

Number of documents
Births – 2,050,017 records, 2,040,373 images
Marriages – 5,158,145 records, 3,438,555 images
Deaths – 3,752,127 records, 942,334 images

Period covered
17th to 21st century

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.

Number of documents
Births – 3,129,829 records, 420,715 images
Marriages – 2,108,160 records, 78,256 images
Deaths – 1,488,097 records, 260,485 images

Period covered
17th to 21st century

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.

You will find more information at this address.

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.

More information is available at this address.

Number of documents
3,000,000 BMD cards

Period covered
17th to 21st century

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.

More information is available at this address.

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.

More information is available at this address.

Number of documents
4.6 million images

Period covered
16th to 21st century

Regions covered
Worldwide coverage, focus on Quebec

Source quality – ★★★★
High quality digitization of archival funds, pictures and miscellaneous documents

Accessing the collection
The collection can be consulted via a folder tree at this address. Images are sorted by collection.

Try the search engine for free at this address!

• About the search engine
  • Content overview
  • Search engine features
  • Free search
  • Future developments for the search engine
• How to use the search engine
  • Basic search
    • First name(s) and last name(s)
    • Year of birth
    • Location where your ancestor may have resided
  • Advanced search
    • First name(s) and last name(s)
    • Adding events to the search
      • Available events
      • Events utilisation in search
    • Adding individuals to the search (coming soon)
• Search filters
  • Filter by collection / type of document
  • Filter by location
  • Filter by date
• Search results
  • Results – Snippet
  • Results – Details page
• Search tips and tricks
  • Prioritizing sources in the event of conflicting information
  • Finding the original document associated with a birth, marriage or death
  • Using the date filters to find a specific event
• FAQ
  • What about the old search tools?
  • Some of my search results don’t match the information I’ve entered

About the search 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.

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.

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.

There are three levels to this option:

• Exact search
• Similar search
• Extended search

The different search levels are explained at this address.

Year of birth

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.

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.

There are three levels to this option:

• Exact search
• Similar search
• Extended search

The different search levels are explained at this address.

Adding events to the search

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.

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.

1. The document category, which encompasses several types of documents that relate to one another
   Ex: Births, Marriages and Deaths
2. The document type, which is specific to a particular type of document
   Ex: Marriages
3. 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.

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.

First, let’s go to the Drouin Collection Records.

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.

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.

Genealogy Quebec

Genealogy Quebec is a subscription based research website regrouping all of the collections and tools developed by the Drouin Institute over the course of its existence.

The website’s 15 tools and collections total for over 100 million images and documents covering all of Quebec as well as part of the United States, Ontario and Acadia from 1621 to this day. Genealogy Quebec is by far the largest collection of Quebec genealogical and historical documents on the Web.

More information about Genealogy Quebec

PRDH-IGD

The PRDH-IGD is a directory of ALL vital events (baptisms, marriages and burials) recorded by the Catholic church in Quebec and French Canada from 1621 to 1861, as well as a genealogical dictionary of families commonly referred to as  “Family Reconstructions”.

The PRDH-IGD database contains over 3.2 million records and can be described as a comprehensive family tree of the French-Canadian population from the beginnings of the colony to 1861.

More information about PRDH-IGD

Fichier Origine

The Fichier Origine is a repertory of baptisms of immigrants to Quebec found in their country of origin (France, essentially) within a collaborative project between French and Quebec genealogy federations coordonated in Quebec

Trace my roots

The Trace my roots Website gives you the opportunity to purchase geolocalized tours in English or in French which you can follow at your own pace, by bike or car, using a phone or tablet. Depending on the route, you will discover, for example, the home of an ancestor, the great career of one of your ascendants or the bridge bearing their name. These excursions have something to captivate the interest of those who are interested in history, especially if they are passionate about genealogy.

Acadian.org

Come visit our website which holds over 520 Acadian and French Canadian resources. We also hold researchable databases that has over 2.5 million individual lineages for 2500 family trees.
Contact is cajun@acadian.org

Whether you are a genealogist or a history enthusiast, you probably have accumulated a lot of information and documents over the years.

The Drouin Genealogical Institute, whose mission is the preservation and democratization of the historical and genealogical heritage of Quebec, is constantly looking for documents and data to add to the collections available on Genealogy Quebec.

If you would like to donate your documents and ensure their preservation and access for future generations, please contact us at contact@institutdrouin.com.

We are mainly interested in the following types of archives:

• List of electors
• Censuses
• Birth, marriage, and death registers
• Obituaries
• Baptism, marriage, and burial directories
• Headstone pictures
• City directories
• Property assessment rolls (List of land owners)
• Memorial cards
• Wedding photos (with names)
• Postcards
• Newspapers
• School yearbooks
• Boarding school registers (Adoption, nurseries, hospices, orphanages, schools, convents)
• Other historical documents with a high density of names

Whether your documents are listed or not, do not hesitate to contact us!

Genealogically yours,

The Drouin team

Table of contents

• Subscribing to GenealogyQuebec.com
• Subscription management
• Password recovery
• Starting my research
• Other useful links (guides, tutorials, FAQ)
• Using the Drouin Collection Records
• Using the Drouin Institute’s Miscellaneous Collections
• Using the BMD Cards
• Using the City Directories

Subscribing to Genealogy Quebec

Genealogy Quebec’s tools and collections require a subscription to use. In order to subscribe, head over to the subscription page, and select the subscription of your choosing.

A free 7 day trial period is also available at this address.

After selecting your subscription option, you will be redirected to the account creation page. If you already have an account on the website, you will be able to log into it.

Once your information has been entered and confirmed, your account will be created. You will then be prompted to select your payment method to complete your subscription purchase.

Available options are credit card and PayPal. The payment will be processed directly on the secure site of the selected payment provider.

Your subscription will be activated as soon as the payment is processed, which should be instant.

Please note that you can also subscribe by phone using your credit card by calling us at 514-400-3961.

Subscription management

You can manage your Genealogy Quebec subscription from your profile, under the Billing and Subscription tab. There, you can cancel automatic renewal, update your payment information, or switch your subscription type (from monthly to yearly).

You can also contact us at contact@institutdrouin.com or 514-400-3961 for assistance with managing your subscription.

Password recovery

If you have lost or forgotten your password, head over to this page and enter your email address. You will receive an email containing a link which will allow you to select a new password for your account.

Starting my research

To begin your research on Genealogy Quebec, head to the search engine.

This guide will provide you with a complete overview of the search engine’s features, along with practical tips to help you make the most of your genealogical research.

Other useful links (guides, tutorials, FAQ)

Quick Start Guide

What is the PRDH-IGD?

What is Genealogy Quebec?

Genealogy Quebec and PRDH-IGD: the similarities, differences, and why you should subscribe to both

Establishing your ancestry and finding your ancestors using Genealogy Quebec

FAQ – Frequently asked questions

Using the Drouin Collection Records

https://www.genealogiequebec.com/blog/en/2017/10/01/the-drouin-collection-records/

Using the Drouin Institute’s Miscellaneous Collections

https://www.genealogiequebec.com/blog/en/2017/11/30/drouin-institutes-miscellaneous-collections/

Using the BMD Cards

https://www.genealogiequebec.com/blog/en/2019/07/30/bmd-cards-baptisms-marriages-burials/

Using the City Directories

https://www.genealogiequebec.com/blog/en/2018/01/24/city-directories/

Genealogy Quebec is a subscription based research website regrouping all of the collections and tools developed by the Drouin Institute over the course of its existence.

Trace your ancestors with over 100 million images and documents covering all of Quebec as well as parts of the United States, Ontario and Acadia from 1621 to this day. Genealogy Quebec is by far the largest collection of Quebec genealogical and historical documents on the Web.

A state-of-the-art search engine lets you explore this extensive archive and uncover records connected to your ancestors.

Try the search engine for free

Collections available on Genealogy Quebec

A Genealogy Quebec subscription gives access to the following collections.

Collections available through the search engine

• Detailed list of the collections available in the search engine

Collections available manually through a folder-based structure

• Drouin Collection Records – All of Quebec’s parish registers from 1621 to 1940, as well as some from parts of Ontario, New England and Acadia.
• Drouin Institute’s miscellaneous Collections – Collection of images, documents, books, pictures and directories of historical and genealogical relevance. Contains the PRDH books, the Jetté dictionary, some municipal archives, old newspapers and much more.
• BMD Cards – A repository of millions of baptism, marriage and burial cards from Quebec, Ontario and the United States. Contains, among other things, the “Antonin Loiselle” and “Kardex” collections.
• City directories –  Contains a digitized version of Montreal (Lovell – 1843 to 2000) and Quebec city’s (Marcotte – 1822 to 1904)  directories.

Subscriptions

There are 2 types of subscriptions to GenealogyQuebec.com. Both subscriptions give access to the entire library of tools and databases; only the length and price of the subscriptions differ.

Monthly subscription – 17,95$

Yearly subscription – 140$

A 7-day FREE trial period is also available.

User guide – Getting familiar with the website

Genealogy Quebec is geared towards both seasoned genealogists and novices alike.

To get the most out of the website, we recommend that you consult the User Guide.

PRDH-IGD.com and GenealogyQuebec.com are genealogical research websites managed by the Drouin genealogical Institute.

Genealogy Quebec

Genealogy Quebec offers over 100 million historical images and documents which can be used to trace one’s family history throughout New France and modern Quebec.

You will find more about the website at this address.

PRDH-IGD

PRDH-IGD is a database of all Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials recorded in Quebec between 1621 and 1861 (nearly 3.2 million records) as well as a genealogical dictionary of families commonly known as “Family reconstructions”.

You will find more information about PRDH-IGD in this article.

What are the differences between PRDH-IGD.com and GenealogyQuebec.com?

What are the advantages of being subscribed to both websites, and how do the subscriptions interact?

Members who are subscribed to both GenealogyQuebec.com and the PRDH-IGD.com have access to the following exclusive features:

• View the original document (parish register) on GenealogyQuebec.com from any PRDH-IGD.com certificate

• View the PRDH-IGD.com individual file of any individual named in a GenealogyQuebec.com‘s LAFRANCE certificate

• 10% bonus PRDH-IGD hits free of charge on purchase for GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers (up to 100 hits)

In this guide, you will learn how to trace your ancestry using your subscription to Genealogy Quebec.

Defining ancestry

Your ancestry denotes all of your ancestors as far back as they are traceable, starting with your parents. With each generation, the amount of ancestors you have doubles: 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, etc. An ancestry can be total, or can be limited to a subset of ancestors:

• Paternal ancestry (all the ancestors on the paternal side of your ancestry) or maternal ancestry (all the ancestors on the maternal side of your ancestry)
• Patrilineal (father, grandfather, great grandfather, etc.) or matrilineal (mother, grandmother, great grandmother, etc.) An ancestry can be unlimited, going as far back as the genealogical sources allow, or limited to a certain amount of generations.

The key to tracing a line in genealogy is the marriage record, as it contains, in most cases, the names of the parents of the spouses. With these names, you should be able to find the marriage of the parents in question and go back a generation.

Tools

Genealogy Quebec offers multiple tools allowing you to find all kinds of documents and information about your ancestors. However, the LAFRANCE will be your main tool to trace your lineages on the website. It contains the majority of marriages, births and deaths available on Genealogy Quebec and covers a period stretching from the beginnings of the French colony to today.
The process begins with finding a marriage that belongs to a couple of the lineage you are tracing, such as your parents or your grandparents’ marriage, and using the information contained in the record to jump back from generation to generation.

Tracing a line on Genealogy Quebec

Step one – Gathering information

To trace your ancestry using Genealogy Quebec, you must begin by writing down as much as you know about your ancestors, such as names, dates, and locations. It is always a good idea to ask parents, grandparents and other family members for clues and information regarding the family. The more information you start with, the easier your research will be. Make sure to have all this information readily available when starting your research.

Example case, click to expand

Step two – Using this information to find a marriage from the lineage

We now have to use the information gathered in the first step to find a marriage from the lineage which will serve as a starting point. To do so, go to the LAFRANCE.

When searching for a record on the LAFRANCE, it is important to stick to the following principles:

• Do not fill in too many fields on your initial search. Your first search should only include the surnames of the spouses. By doing so, you limit the risk of the record being excluded from the results of your search, which can occur when one of the search queries does not exactly match the information contained in the document.

• Try different variations of your search. If your initial search does not allow you to find the document you are looking for, this does not necessarily mean that the document is not available on the LAFRANCE. It is likely that the document is there, but that one of the parameters of your search did not exactly match the information contained in the document, which excluded it from the results.
  To overcome this problem, you can try different variations of your search. For example, your initial search might contain the spouses’ surnames only. Your second search would be limited to the husband’s first and last name, without including the wife in the query. Your third search would use the husband’s last name and wife’s first name, and so on. Eventually, if the record is available on the LAFRANCE, one of the variations of your search should allow you to find it.

Finally, it is important to know how to interpret the list of results produced by a search on the LAFRANCE. When you carry out a search by Couple, the results will list every record in which the couple is mentioned, regardless of their role in the record. These can be baptism, marriage or burial records, and the couple can play the role of subjects (the spouses) or parents (parents of the spouses, parents of the newborn child or parents of the deceased person).

In the list of results obtained from a search on the LAFRANCE, the Type column indicates the type of record in question:

• b: baptism
• m: marriage
• s: burial

The Roles column indicates the role held by the couple in the record:

• S-S: Subject-Subject, the spouses
• P-M: Father-Mother, the parents
• S-C: Subject-Spouse, used when one of the spouses is widowed and the previous spouse is mentioned in the record

As such, in the image above:

• The records highlighted in green are baptisms and burials in which the searched couple are the parents
• The record highlighted in red is a marriage record in which the searched couple are the parents of one of the spouses
• The records highlighted in yellow are marriage records in which the searched couples are the spouses

It is with marriages (m) in which the searched couple are the subjects (S-S) that we will be tracing lineages.

Example case, click to expand

Equipped with the information gathered during the first step, Bertrand is now ready to find the marriage that will serve as the starting point for his research.

Bertrand initially decides to begin his research with the marriage of his parents François-Joseph Desjardins and Suzanne Bertrand. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts, the marriage does not seem available on the LAFRANCE.

Therefore, Bertrand turns to the marriage of his grandparents, François Eugène Desjardins and Anna Jacques.

His search successful, Bertrand now has the information required to go back a generation in his paternal line. To do so, he will have to find the marriage of the parents of François Eugène Desjardins: Charles Eugène Desjardins and Marie Malvina Fortin.

Third step – Going back one generation at a time

With a marriage from your lineage in hand, you are now in a position to find your ancestors. To do so, you will have to find the husband’s (or wife’s) parents marriage, which will allow you to go back a generation.

A simple LAFRANCE search using their names should allow you to do so.

This process is repeated until you reach the first generation of your line to have set foot in Quebec, often in the 18th or even the 17th century. Depending on your family, you may have more than a dozen generations to trace back before you get to the first immigrant.

Example case, click to expand

Thanks to the marriage of his grandparents found earlier, Bertrand knows that his paternal great-grandparents are Charles Eugène Desjardins and Marie Malvina Fortin. He must now find their marriage using the LAFRANCE.

Charles Eugène Desjardins’ marriage indicates that his parents are Alexandre Roy Desjardins and Léocadie Gagnon. Bertrand must now find their marriage and repeat the process again and again, until he reaches the first immigrant of his paternal line.

Six generations later, Bertrand finds the marriage of the first immigrant of his line, Alexandre Roy dit Desjardins, who married Marie Major on September 11, 1668 in Quebec.

Thanks to the LAFRANCE, Bertrand was able to trace his paternal line as far back as the 17th century in minutes.

If you cannot find a marriage in the LAFRANCE

The LAFRANCE contains all Catholic marriages recorded in Quebec prior to 1919, but coverage from 1919 to the present day is not exhaustive. Because of this, you may not be able to find a marriage of your lineage if the information gathered in the first step of your research does not allow you to go back to 1919 or prior.

If this is the case, we suggest that you carry out a search in the LAFRANCE for a death record relating to an individual of the lineage you are researching, since these can also be used as a starting point for your research.

Indeed, death records usually mention the names of the parents of the deceased person. As a result, you could search for the death record of your most distant known paternal ancestor, and obtain the names of his parents from the record, thus allowing you to go back one generation. The next step is to find the marriage of the parents in question, and follow the procedure explained in step two.

Example case, click to expand

Thanks to the information gathered by Bertrand at the start of his research, it was easy for him to find the marriage of his grandparents in the LAFRANCE.

Now imagine a scenario in which Bertrand was unable to gather basic information such as the names of his grandparents. Essentially, Bertrand’s starting point is the names of his parents, their date of marriage, their year of birth and the date of death of his father.

• François-Joseph Desjardins, born in 1908, died on September 1st 1963
• Suzanne Bertrand, born in 1919, died on December 31st 2014
• Married in 1943 in Montreal

The marriage of Bertrand’s parents can be found in the LAFRANCE, but it does not contain the names of his grandparents; it’s a dead end.

Therefore, Bertrand turns to death records. A LAFRANCE search for a Desjardins who died in 1963 allows Bertrand to find his father’s death record.

The record indicates that the names of François-Joseph Desjardins’s parents are F. Desjardins and A. Jacques. A search for a Desjardins/Jacques couple in the LAFRANCE leads to their marriage, which will serve as Bertrand’s starting point in his attempt to trace his paternal line.

Do not hesitate to contact us at contact @ institutdrouin.com if you have any questions regarding this guide or the process of retracing your ancestors.

PRDH-IGD is a database of all Catholic baptisms, marriages and burials recorded in Quebec between 1621 and 1861 (nearly 3.2 million records) as well as a genealogical dictionary of families commonly known as “Family reconstructions”.

All individuals mentioned in these records receive their own “individual file” which centralizes the information available on the individual, along with links to the records in which they are mentioned.

In addition, every married couple receives their own “family file”, which fulfills a similar role as the individual file, but for a family unit.

It contains a list of the couple’s children with links to their respective individual files and vital events, as well as additional information about the married couple.

As a result, PRDH-IGD can be described as a detailed family tree of the entire French-Canadian population from the colony’s beginnings to 1861.

PRDH-IGD is the result of a rigorous academic effort spanning decades and is recognized worldwide as one of the most detailed and reliable demographic databases.

To better understand the value of family reconstructions, we will explore the database by using the case of François Plouf, who lived in St-François-Xavier-de-Verchères in the 18th century.

To begin, the information is entered in the search engine. In this case, we are searching for any mention of a Francois Plouf in the database, without limiting the search to a specific period or parish.

We obtain a list of results for our search.

• The first column gives us the record number, which is used to identify the record in the database
• The second column gives us the date of the event
• The third column gives us the type of record (baptism, burial or marriage)
• The fourth column gives us the parish in which the event was celebrated
• The role column tells us what role the individual has in the record

We will select the baptism of François Plouf, recorded on the 27th of November 1718 in Contrecoeur.

This baptism certificate was created from the original church record. It highlights all the relevant information from it and presents it in a convenient manner.

In a PRDH-IGD baptism, marriage or burial record, every name is a link to that person’s individual file. By clicking on François Plouf’s name, we are taken to the their individual file as seen below.

The individual file centralizes every mention of an individual found within the database, namely their baptism, burial and marriage. The individual file also mentions the individual’s parents and spouse(s).

Again, every name is also a link to that person’s individual file. Additionally, written dates can be clicked to be taken to the event related to the date.

Finally, the “First marriage” and “Family” mentions link to the relevant Family File. Let’s use François Plouf and Marie Ursule emery Codere’s Family File as an example:

A Family File is created for every married couple mentioned in a record within the database. This Family File centralizes all the information available on the couple as well as all of their children, and provides links to the individual files and records that pertain to the family.

Ultimately, the PRDH-IGD database can be described as a massive family tree of all Catholic individuals who lived in Quebec between 1621 and 1861.

GenealogyQuebec.com integration

Members who are subscribed to both GenealogyQuebec.com and the PRDH have access to the following exclusive features:

1. View the original document (parish register) on GenealogyQuebec.com from any PRDH-IGD.com certificate
2. View the PRDH-IGD.com individual file of any individual named in a GenealogyQuebec.com‘s LAFRANCE certificate
3. 10% bonus PRDH-IGD.com hits free of charge on purchase for GenealogyQuebec.com subscribers (up to 100 hits)

What are the differences between the PRDH-IGD.com and GenealogyQuebec.com?

How to subscribe to the PRDH-IGD?

PRDH subscriptions use “hits”. A “hit” is debited from your account every time a record certificate, an individual file, a family file or a couple file is displayed. However, the initial search that leads to a list of results is free.

You will find the various subscription options at this address.