The National Registration File of 1940 resulted from the compulsory registration of all persons, 16 years of age or older, in the period from 1940 to 1946.

The information is subject to the Canadian Privacy Act. According to this Act, when a person has been dead for more than 20 years, the information is no longer considered to be personal and can be disclosed.

A questionnaire typically included name, address, age, date of birth, conjugal status, dependents, country of birth (persons registered and parents only), nationality, racial origin, languages, education, general health, class of occupation, occupation or craft, employment status, work experience by type, mechanical or other abilities, latent skills, wartime circumstances, previous military service.

The files are organized by address, so it is required that you know where the person lived during the 1940-46 period. Street indexes (paper and microfilm/microfiche) are for many cities are often available through public librairies or inter-library loan.

There is a fee of Canadian$45 plus applicable taxes which is refundable of no records are found.

Further information on the Registration (including copies of the questoinnaire forms) and details of requesting a search can be found at the Statistics Canada and Canadian Genealogy Centre web sites.