performed by
Montreal Circuit Court - 1851-1945
Following
Confederation and prior to 1947, people born in Canada were
British subjects. Those who immigrated to Canada could apply to be
"naturalized" as a British citizen. Under the Naturalization Act of
1914 (implemented in 1916), processing and record keeping was
centralized under the Naturalization Branch of the Secretary of State
(now Citizenship and Immigration Canada). Often wives or children born
outside of Canada were naturalized at the same time as the applicant.
Naturalizations performed under this and succeeding Acts of Parliament
are very well documented and in many cases, the full file of
applications, correspondence and other documents can be ordered from
the Government of Canada - see http://jgs-montreal.org/naturalizations.html.
Prior to this, naturalizations were performed by local courts and the
Citizenship and Immigration Canada holds no records other than an index
card with the name and date of the naturalization.
For these early naturalizations, sometimes a wife, child or the person who was naturalized would later petition for a Federal Naturalization Certificate, and this new application might include information about the original naturalization. But in cases where no later application was made, all records are generally lost.
There is one known exception. For reasons that are not known, the records of the Montreal Circuit Court, which performed nearly 8,500 naturalizations, were deposited in the National Archives. They were recently discovered, have been fully indexed by the federal government's Canadian Genealigy Centre (CGC). Details of these records can be found at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/citizenship-montreal/001052-130-e.html.
The indices ofr these records can be searched online, and the actual records can be ordered. Unlike post-1916 naturalization, these records can be ordered by anyone, with no residency or citizenship requirements. They normally include four pages. The charge for copies is Cdn$0.40 per page (or double that if you want rush service) plus postage/courier costs. Credit cards are accepted.
Start by going to http://www.genealogy.gc.ca and then select English.
Under What You Can Do, select Search for Ancestors.
To search ALL databases, you can enter part or all of a surname, optionally followed by a comma and given name, and then hit GO.
To search just the Montreal Circuit Court records, scroll down and under Immigration and Citizenship select Citizenship Registration Records for the Montreal Circuit Court (1851-1945).
Hit Search.
You can enter a full surname, or just the first letters followed by the * wildcard character, and then hit Submit. You can also include a given name, or omit it and see all of the records for the surname(s). Note that there is no Soundex search. In the example, secords for Grinberg (which is equivalent to Greenberg in all soundex systems) would not be found - you need to try it separately.
Click on the entry that you are interested in.
Note all of the details listed.
The process to locate the order form is not intuitive. As of April 6, 2008 when this was written, this is the process:
Alan Greenberg
alan.greenberg@mcgill.ca
For these early naturalizations, sometimes a wife, child or the person who was naturalized would later petition for a Federal Naturalization Certificate, and this new application might include information about the original naturalization. But in cases where no later application was made, all records are generally lost.
There is one known exception. For reasons that are not known, the records of the Montreal Circuit Court, which performed nearly 8,500 naturalizations, were deposited in the National Archives. They were recently discovered, have been fully indexed by the federal government's Canadian Genealigy Centre (CGC). Details of these records can be found at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/citizenship-montreal/001052-130-e.html.
The indices ofr these records can be searched online, and the actual records can be ordered. Unlike post-1916 naturalization, these records can be ordered by anyone, with no residency or citizenship requirements. They normally include four pages. The charge for copies is Cdn$0.40 per page (or double that if you want rush service) plus postage/courier costs. Credit cards are accepted.
Locating and ordering Montreal Circuit Court Naturalization Records
NOTE: If you find that the CGC website has changed and these instructions no longer work, please notify us.Start by going to http://www.genealogy.gc.ca and then select English.
Under What You Can Do, select Search for Ancestors.
To search ALL databases, you can enter part or all of a surname, optionally followed by a comma and given name, and then hit GO.
To search just the Montreal Circuit Court records, scroll down and under Immigration and Citizenship select Citizenship Registration Records for the Montreal Circuit Court (1851-1945).
Hit Search.
You can enter a full surname, or just the first letters followed by the * wildcard character, and then hit Submit. You can also include a given name, or omit it and see all of the records for the surname(s). Note that there is no Soundex search. In the example, secords for Grinberg (which is equivalent to Greenberg in all soundex systems) would not be found - you need to try it separately.
Click on the entry that you are interested in.
Note all of the details listed.
The process to locate the order form is not intuitive. As of April 6, 2008 when this was written, this is the process:
- Click Search Help.
- Click How to Obtain Copies of Citizenship Registration Records.
- Click How to Access Library and Archives Canada Records.
- Scroll down and click Services to the Public.
- Scroll down and click Photocopies and Reproductions.
- Click Order Form for Photocopies and Reproductions.
- Acknowledge Privacy Notice Statement and Terms Governing the Reproduction and Use of Material from the Collection of Library and Archives Canada and declare use to be research or private study. Then click Continue.
- Select Photocopy.
- Enter noted details in boxes, specify one copy, and type of service you are requesting, then Add to shopping cart.
- If you are ordering additional records, enter them.
- Once all records are entered, hit Checkout.
Alan Greenberg
alan.greenberg@mcgill.ca