Links & Suggestions
Researching your Alberta ancestors can sometimes seem like a challenging task. The province is relatively young, and records reside in any number of repositories. This page will provide a list of sites that can help you find the best places to look and links to libraries and archives that can help you when the records are not online. Please note: This page is a work in progress. Additional categories (such as cemeteries) are being compiled to add to this resource.
Resources available at the Alberta Family Histories Society Resource Centre
If you live in Calgary, the AFHS Resource Centre is a great place to start. Our online catalogue allows you to search by keyword, title, author or subject. https://afhs.ab.ca/library
The Basics
The FamilySearch Wiki has information specific to Alberta research: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Alberta,_Canada_Genealogy
The CanGenealogy website also has a page about Alberta: http://www.cangenealogy.com/alberta.html
Cyndi’s List has links to many genealogy sites for Alberta: Canada >> Provinces >> Alberta
Organizations
Be sure to check the websites of these organizations for resources and links to other helpful sites.
Alberta Genealogical Society (has branches for many locations within the province – see Branches menu on the website) https://www.abgenealogy.ca/
American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Calgary Chapter http://calgarychapterahsgr.ca/
La Société Généalogique du Nord-Ouest: a resource for people exploring their Francophone roots in Alberta https://www.sgno.ca/
Genealogical Institute of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada https://www.jhcwc.org/about/genealogical-institute/
Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta http://jhssa.org/
Mennonite Historical Society of Alberta http://mennonitehistory.org/
Southern Alberta Pioneers and their Descendants http://pioneersalberta.org/
Calgary Branch UELAC (United Empire Loyalists) http://uelac.org/calgary/
Libraries & Archives
Provincial Archives of Alberta https://provincialarchives.alberta.ca/how-to/search-your-genealogy
Alberta Family Histories Society Library: https://afhs.ab.ca/library/
Calgary Public Library: Calgary’s Story: https://calgarylibrary.ca/connect/calgary-story
Edmonton Public Library https://www.epl.ca/genealogy/
Libraries in smaller communities are usually a part of a regional system. You can find most libraries and library systems through this link: https://thealbertalibrary.ca/members
University of Calgary Library : Sources for Metis Genealogy https://library.ucalgary.ca/c.php?g=702954&p=4997985
University of Calgary Digital Collections https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/
South Peace Regional Archives southpeacearchives.org
Virtual Records
Information regarding how to find official birth, marriage and death registrations is on the Provincial Archives of Alberta website https://provincialarchives.alberta.ca/how-to/find-birth-marriage-and-death-records
Announcements are sometimes found in newspapers. See our Newspaper category for a list of links.
Census
In addition to the decennial censuses of the whole country, the Prairie Provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) were enumerated every 5 years (1906, 1916, 1926) to monitor their growth and settlement)
Library and Archives Canada – digitized census records including the special censuses of the Prairie Provinces (1906, 1916 and 1926) https://recherce-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/index
Land Records
Alberta Genealogical Society Homestead Index https://www.abgenealogy.ca/alberta-homestead-index
Provincial Archives of Alberta Homestead information: https://provincialarchives.alberta.ca/how-to/explore-paa-research-resources/homestead-records
Western Canada Land Grants Database – if the homestead was improved a patent could be applied for. This site also has a very good description of the Western Canadian Land System. Western Canada Land Grants Database search
Not all land was homesteaded. Land was set aside for the Hudson’s Bay Company and the railway. Sometimes this land was sold to settlers.
Canadian Pacific Railway land sales database: Canadian Pacific Railway Land Sales Registers fonds – Archives
Hudson’s Bay Company land sales Hudson’s Bay Company Archives | Archives of Manitoba
Maps
Cummins Rural Directory Maps – University of Calgary: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/cumminsmaps
Peel’s Prairie Provinces Maps: http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/maps/
Provincial Archives of Alberta, Cartographic Collection: https://hermis.alberta.ca/paa/Default.aspx?DeptID=15
Canadian Sessional Papers Maps (1901 – 1925) University of Toronto: https://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/sess_papers/index.html
Hudson’s Bay Company Fur Trade Post Maps: https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/post_maps/index.html
The Canadian West (archived site from Collections Canada): https://web.archive.org/web/20191126043212/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canadian-west/052941_e.html
Historical Atlas of Canada Online Learning Project (maps of exploration): https://maps.library.utoronto.ca/datapub/digital/sess_papers/index.html
Online Historical Map Digitization Project: http://sites.rootsweb.com/~canmaps/index.html
Electoral Atlas of Canada 1895 – Library and Archives Canada: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/CollectionSearch/Pages/record.aspx?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=191594
Fire Insurance Plans – Library and Archives Canada: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx?DataSource=Archives&q=fire+insurance&start=0&num=10&OnlineCode=1&TypeOfMaterialCode=600
Air Photos – University of Calgary: https://library.ucalgary.ca/guides//findairphotos
(Internet Archive https://archive.org) also has maps (use “maps” and a place name or subject to see what they have).
Newspapers
A good first step in newspaper research is to find what papers were available in the area in which your ancestors settled. An excellent resource is Alberta Newspapers, 1880-1982: An Historical Directory by Gloria M. Strathern. This is available at the AFHS Library (call number 971.23 *BMD STRA) and in many research libraries in Alberta.
If you are looking for newspaper notices from early Calgary newspapers, please see our searchable database of birth, marriage and death notices on our Searching for Surnames page. This is an ongoing project.
Calgary Newspapers
Calgary Herald Archive Online on the Calgary Public Library website (searchable; available with CPL library card): https://calgarylibrary.ca/read-learn-and-explore/digital-library/calgary-herald-archive-online
Early Alberta Newspapers – includes Calgary Tribune, The Calgary Daily Herald and early issues of the Calgary Herald: https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/Browse/Collections/Early-Alberta-Newspapers
Newspapers in other areas of Alberta
Peel’s Prairie Provinces (hosted by University of Alberta Libraries; includes many small communities): http://peel.library.ualberta.ca/newspapers/
Southern Alberta Newspaper Collection (includes the Lethbridge News): https://digitallibrary.uleth.ca/digital/collection/sanews
Grand Prairie Tribune (AGS) https://www.abgenealogy.ca/grande-prairie-daily-tribune?mid=956
Miscellaneous Websites
Pioneer Churches on the Prairies pioneerchurches.ca
Alberta’s Italian Community http://www.coalking.ca/people/ethnocultural/italian.html
The Alberta Online Encyclopedia – a web portal developed by the Heritage Community Foundation http://www.albertasource.ca/aoe/ui/index.aspx
Ukrainian Research:
In Fear of the Barbed Wire Fence https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/7683
Ukrainian Canadian Internment Archival Documents https://www.uccla.ca/internment-archival-documents
Calgary Resources:
Boomers in Cowtown – a website about the baby boomer experience in Calgary by Beverley G. Smith Boomers In Cowtown – Growing Up in Calgary in the 1950s and 1960s
