JGS-Montreal Home page

JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
OF MONTREAL

Founded in 1994

A member of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies

Ongoing JGS-Montreal Projects

Guide to Marriage Records in Quebec

A new guide to Religious, Civil and Health Department marriage records in Quebec covering 1841 to present.

Canadian Naturalization Records – 1914-1951

A finding-aid to over 200,000 1914-1932 Canadian Naturalizations (both Jewish and non-Jewish) has been online on the Canadian Genealogy Centre's (CGC) web site for several years. Effective 22 July 2009, this finding aid has been replaced with a full name index to all naturalizations. This index, the result of thousands of hours of work by JGS-Montreal volunteers, allows the location of naturalization records in seconds, instead of the time-consuming process of using the finding-aid.
Phase 2 of the project to index 1932-1951 naturalizations is in progress. All of the printed images have been digitized and will be online at the CGC in the near future. Once available online, we will be putting together a team of volunteers to index these 400,000 records.
See our research guide to learn how to search and order naturalization records.

A new edition of the Montreal Forum is now available.

Unfortunately, due to other commitments, our editor had to resign last year. However, other projects notwithstanding, she has managed to put out a new edition.

Montreal and Quebec Province Vital Records

Several years ago, the JGS of Montreal indexed over 75,000 vital records for the Jewish Community in Montreal and Quebec - part of the "Drouin" collection of vital records. Copies of these records are available from the Society. Read a description of the project and review the Surname List.
Our volunteers have almost completed a detailed review of those records and have added the event date, the parents' names and place of birth where noted in the records. The new expanded and supplemented index will greatly increase our ability to locate family.
We have also purchased indices to all Quebec marriages and deaths for 1926-1996.

Together all of these resources have now given us an unprecedented capability to research Jewish families and re-unite long-lost relatives.

Montreal Cemetery Indices

The Baron de Hirsch Cemetery Inc. and Affiliates have graciously provided the full database of over 45,000 burials at the de la Savane cemetery and 6,500 burials at the Back River Memorial Gardens Cemetery. The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal has submitted them to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) and they are now online. A Surname List for all burials at the Back River is available, and the BdH will be added soon.
Thanks to several members of our Society, all tombstones at the Back River Cemetery have been photographed, and will be submitted to JOWBR.
The small cemetery in Ste. Sophie, Quebec has been fully indexed and is available with tombstone photos on JOWBR
All JOWBR records and photos are also searchable at no cost on www.ancestry.ca and www.ancestry.com.
Work is in progress to make indices available for several other Montreal Jewish cemeteries in the very near future.

Other Indexing Projects

A number of other indexing projects are underway, some in conjunction with the Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives. They include the indexing of:

The 1926 book, The Jew In Canada
Who's Who in Canadian Jewry - 1967
Family Who's Who - 1969

Ancestry.ca

Ancestry.ca has a wealth of information for family researcher, but it can be expensive. However, the Jewish Public Library has Ancestry available in the Library at no charge to users!

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal funds its research and indexing projects as well as its lecture series through membership fees and charges for vital records and other services. Donations in support of our work are always welcome. And please see the sidebar at the right for how you can help at absolutely no cost.

Do you buy things online (books, CDs, DVD, cameras, kitchen appliances, video games, gift certificates and more)?

Do you want to help JGS-Montreal indexing projects at no cost or effort?

Click HERE to find out more about our Amazon shopping programs.

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MEETINGS

Meetings of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal are generally held on the third Monday of each month excepy July. Meetings are generally held in association with the Jewish Public Library. Guests are welcome at all meetings. Most meetings are held in the Federation CJA Building which also houses The Jewish Public Library, The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre and the Gelber Conference Centre.

Click here for the 2010 meeting schedule and location details

SUNDAY MORNING FAMILY TREE WORKSHOPS

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal offers Sunday Morning Family Tree Workshop in conjunction with the Jewish Public Library of Montreal. Experts in the JGS of Montreal are available to answer research questions from society members and the general public on a one-on-one basis. There is no charge to attend. Workshops are normally held on the first Sunday of each month from October to June (except when there are conflicts with Jewish holy days) from 10 am to noon at The Jewish Public Library.

Click here for the 2010 workshop schedule and location details

JGS of Montreal Sunday Morning Family Tree Workshop

SOCIETY OBJECTIVES

To promote awareness of the resources available within and beyond your own community for tracing Jewish ancestors.
To encourage the sharing of research techniques.
To disseminate information on genealogical research to family historians and professional genealogists alike.
To foster ongoing interest in Jewish heritage and provide learning experiences related to Jewish family history and Jewish life in different regions and periods.

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Click Here for a printable application form

A networking forum for personal research and a bridge to Jewish genealogists around the world.
Monthly meetings: featuring guest speakers, workshops, field trips, and hands-on research.
Access to JGS-Montreal databases and experts beyond that offered to the general public.

RESEARCH SERVICES

On-site visits are required at most research venues in Montreal. The JGS-Montreal will help any researcher with Montreal or Quebec family - contact us at vital@jgs-montreal.org. There is no charges for searches of our Drouin records, and we will always try to offer useful suggestions for future research. Of course, donations are welcome.

For more extensive research, some of our members will take on research assignments and we can also recommend other local professional genealogists. Please send inquiries to vital@jgs-montreal.org.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal serves a city with one of the oldest Jewish communities in North America. The first Jewish settlers arrived in 1760 and the first synagogue (in Canada), the Shearith Israel, was founded in 1768.

Today, Montreal has a thriving Jewish community of over 100,000. It is in honour of these forebears and those who came after that we introduce our society and research in Montreal and Quebec to the Jewish genealogical community around the world.

HOW-TO GUIDES AND SEARCH ENGINES

Are you researching your family in Montreal, Quebec, or Canada? The links that follow may help you.

MONTREAL AND REGION SYNAGOGUE WEB SITES

For a full list of synagoues, see the Canadian Jewish Congress National Synagogue Directory.

In the following list, if a synagogue site includes their history, there is a direct link to it following the synagogue name.

Growth of the Montreal Jewish Community

Between 1760 and 1763, perhaps up to 20 Jewish families spent time in the Montreal area, about half of whom may be considered long-term residents. By 1768, when about a dozen families founded the first Jewish congregation in Canada, they chose the Sephardi minhag and the name Shearith Israel. The congregation remains to this day a vibrant component in the life of Jewish Montreal.

The Jewish community grew slowly: 107 by 1831, and 451 by 1851, etc. The next 100 years saw a big increase to 83,458. The new arrivals were mostly Ashkenazim from Europe, many pogrom and some Nazi escapees. The years from 1951-71 saw another increase: many were holocaust survivors, but there were also a large number of Sephardim from North Africa and the Middle East. Fluctuations over the next quarter century have now stabilized at just over 100,000.

Source: Joseph, Anne. Heritage of a Patriarch: A fresh look at nine of Canada's earliest Jewish families. 1995. Sillery (Quebec): Éditions du Septentrion.

Site last updated January 23, 2010

Web site maintained by Alan Greenberg