Note: Most requests for Canadian Naturalization Records are now submitted and fulfilled online. The information on this page may no longer be accurate. Please consult this guide to Canadian Naturalization Files.

Naturalizations records can contain a wealth of information and are often the only place that an immigrant's ship arrival information is indexed (ship arrivals in Canada are largely un-indexed). Further information on Canadian naturalizations can be found on the Canadian Genealogy Centre's Naturalization Search Engine.

Original records for naturalizations prior to 1915 are generally not available, but there is one major exception. Records (but not the applications) for many early Montreal naturalizarions ARE available - see entry on home page under HOW-TO GUIDES AND SEARCH ENGINES

Until the 1920's, if a husband was naturalized, his wife and any children born prior to arrival were also implicitly naturalized. Later, they were naturalized only if they were explicitly listed on the application forms. In either case, a person who was naturalized along with their husband or father could later apply for a Naturalization Certificate with their own name on it (often required for a passport or old-age benefits). When the wife/child applied for their own papers (perhaps many years later), the file for this certificate could have much of the same information as the now-destroyed pre-1915 file.

To request a naturalization file, several conditions must be met:

• The requestor must be a Canadian citizen OR a person who resides in Canada. This is because the naturalization records are made available under Canada's Access to Information Act, and it is only citizens or residents that are granted this privilege. There is no formal requirement that the requestor must be related to the person naturalized.
• If you do not meet this criteria, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal offers a service to request files on your behalf. Write to naturalizations@jgs-montreal.org.
  
• You must provide proof that the person died at least 20 years ago. A formal death or burial certificate, newspaper obituary, or tombstone photograph (showing name and date-of-death) will all be accepted. No proof is required if the person was born at least 110 years ago.

The request should be made using an Access to Information Request Form. Two formats are available:

• Printable blank PDF form from 2000 or PDF form from 2014
• Form that you can open with a word processor and complete the fields before printing (.rtf) (note: form may be out of date)

Under "Federal Government Institution" fill in:

         Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Public Rights Administration

Include as much information about the person as you can. This should include:

• Surname and given name(s) including all known variants
• Approximate or actual date of birth
• Country/town of origin, to the extent that you know it
• Name of spouse and any children that were born before arrival
  

Although it is not mandatory, include the Naturalization Certificate Number and Series (a letter from A-F). Some certificate numbers will also have an "F" suffix meaning the certificate was issued in French. For naturalizations between 1915 and 1936, the series/number can be found on the Canadian Genealogy Centre's web site (see above).

Check the box saying you want copies of the original documents, and the box saying that you are a citizen or resident of Canada.

A non-refundable fee of five Canadian dollars payable to the Receiver General of Canada must be submitted with the request (cheque or money order).

Don't forget to date and sign the form.

The form, proof-of-death and fee should be sent to: