Learning Centre

Relive the Wild West with this collection and discover your roots in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In the late 1800's to early 1900's, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened up access to new horizons for many Canadians. Immigrants and other Canadians hopped aboard to settle into new lives in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. As the Prairie Provinces continued to expand, a special census was developed to keep track of the growing population. The census was taken five years after every national census from 1906 to 1956. This database contains not only the name of every person enumerated in the 1916 Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, it also offers fascinating facts such as occupation, religion and year of immigration to Canada.

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Learn about U.S. citizens and aliens who made their way across the Canadian-U.S. border between 1895 and 1956. This updated collection features the names, ethnicity, birth date, birthplace and other personal information of any individuals who crossed into Canada via various American ports. Prior to 1895, many immigrants traveling to North America entered through Canada to avoid U.S. immigration screening and costly sailing rates. In 1895, the U.S. required all steamships and railroads to register their passengers. From 1895 to 1956, various Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) forms were used to document U.S. immigrants to Canada. The update to this collection includes certificates issued to aliens pre-examined at Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1922-1929, prior to admission at the Canada-U.S. border.

Sail through over 20 million images of historical New Zealand records to unearth your family's Kiwi ancestry. This collection was curated by the late genealogist and author, Anne Bromell. During her extensive travel through New Zealand, Anne documented historical records dating from the mid-1800's through to the later part of the 20th century using her microfilm camera. View the images captured during her 20 years of travel to gain incredible insight into your family's history.

Search these New Zealand collections:
Canterbury, New Zealand, Provincial Rolls, 1868-1874
New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981
New Zealand, Jury Lists, 1842-1862
New Zealand, Maori Land Claims, 1858-1980
New Zealand, Maori Voter and Electoral Rolls, 1908 & 1919
New Zealand, Naturalisations, 1843-1981
New Zealand, City & Area Directories, 1866-1955

Trace ancestral arrivals to Canada via various Atlantic ports with this important database. This updated collection, now containing additional passenger and crew lists, includes actual images of passenger lists from 1820 to 1959. The lists include given name, surname, age, gender, ethnicity, last residence, arrival date, port of arrival, port of departure and ship name. The lists even include the names of individuals accompanying passengers and the names of anyone the passenger may be joining upon arrival. Discover how your family or friends may have arrived in Canada and get a vivid snapshot of their lives at this integral moment in time.

Delve into this recently-updated collection of U.S. passport applications to discover more about your American roots. 400,000 new passport records have been added to this extensive database. The resulting collection contains a wealth of ancestral information which may include proof of U.S. citizenship, father's and/or husband's name, naturalization date and place, occupation, physical characteristics and even photos. The collection includes applications for diplomatic or special circumstances passports, emergency passports and those issued to U.S. controlled territories such as Hawaii and Puerto Rico.