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/

Peace River Genealogical Society http://sites.rootsweb.com/~abprdgs/

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/

Burtonsville Historical Society http://sites.rootsweb.com/~abbhs/

Libraries and 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

Vital 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://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx

Land Records

Land in Alberta was made available for homesteading. Homestead records can contain valuable genealogical information as well as information about the land itself.

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.https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/land/land-grants-western-canada-1870-1930/Pages/land-grants-western-canada.aspx

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: https://glenbow.ucalgary.ca/archives-cpr-land-sales/

Hudson’s Bay Company land sales https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/hbca/common_research_topics.html?farm3=open#farm

Maps

Public Library Williams and Harris Shared History Centre: https://library.biblioboard.com/anthology/ccf669c9-44e5-4efc-9cb8-768499ef861c

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

Alberta Genweb Projects

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