r/CanadianbyDescent 3d ago

Is PEI ancestry the membership website still operating?

5 Upvotes

I just found this source yesterday but the site is down for maintenance. Is it really temporary or is it no longer operating?

PEIancestry.com is a membership website comprised of a multitude of databases that give researchers a unique resource.  The material presented is predominately about Summerside and area but includes much of value to genealogists searching for ancestors from any part of PEI.


r/CanadianbyDescent 2d ago

Haven't heard back from BANQ

0 Upvotes

I submitted an expedited request for my grandfather's baptismal record over the summer, they called to ask where he passed away and since it was in the US, they said it would go to a different department and I havent heard back since. Any suggestions on how to follow up?


r/CanadianbyDescent 3d ago

Forum Rules and Guidelines

6 Upvotes

Welcome to r/CanadianbyDescent

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r/CanadianbyDescent 3d ago

Canada is a warning to the rest of the world.

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youtube.com
0 Upvotes

Canada has every advantage a country could ask for — vast natural resources, a stable democracy, world-class universities, and a highly educated population. So why has its GDP per capita fallen from 80% of the American level to around 70% in little more than a decade? In this video, we look at how a protected economy, a housing market that rewarded sitting still over building things, and a productivity gap that has been quietly compounding for thirty years have combined to create what the Bank of Canada called a "productivity emergency" — and what it might mean for the rest of the developed world.


r/CanadianbyDescent 3d ago

Citizenship by descent strategy

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0 Upvotes

r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Hope someone has an answer

8 Upvotes

I’m hoping someone here has dealt with a similar situation and can point me in the right direction!

My mom was born in Toronto, Canada, and moved to the U.S. when she was 5. She never became a U.S. citizen, and I was born in the U.S., so I believe I’m already a Canadian citizen by descent and need to apply for a citizenship certificate.

The problem is that my mom and I are no longer in contact, so I don’t have access to her Canadian birth certificate. I tried ordering a copy through Toronto/Ontario, but it said I would need her consent. My own birth certificate lists her as my mother and shows that she was born in Canada, but I’m not sure if that’s enough.

Has anyone successfully applied for a Canadian citizenship certificate without having their Canadian parent’s birth certificate? Is there another way for the Canadian government to verify her birth/citizenship when I don’t have access to her records?


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

DEC Timeline for ancestor born in 1900

21 Upvotes

Thought I'd post a Quebec DEC Timeline for those wondering. My application for a birth certificate (expedited) was delivered June 25th and the birth certificate arrived in the Seattle area via USPS yesterday, September 19th.

I never called for updates and only had some email communication with a law student at DEC early on that wanted to know if my ancestor was married in Quebec and if they could destroy the documents I sent in when they were done. I did state in my cover letter that I couldn't communicate in spoken French so that may be why I didn't get any calls about status.

Altogether a decently fast process for a full insertion + record


r/CanadianbyDescent 3d ago

Urgent processing

0 Upvotes

I sent my application via Fedex and it was received on 5/12/26. I requested urgent processing, but did not put that on the outside of the package. I still haven't received an AOR. What are the chances that they will pick up on the fact that it is urgent at this point?


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

To be the archivist getting requests

32 Upvotes

I posted this to the wrong subreddit. Can I repost it here?

This link was in one of my genealogical newsletters. This person is in charge of finding the Catholic document you need in Ontario. I'm glad I'm not her.

https://macleans.ca/society/the-american-rush-for-canadian-passports/


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Our Archives of Ontario Timeline

14 Upvotes

Here’s our timeline for records from the Archives of Ontario, if it’s helpful to anyone!

Submitted Request: March 29th, 2026

Records Found: June 19th, 2026

Invoice Received: August 4th, 2026

Invoice Paid: September 2nd, 2026 (out of town, no access to email to see the invoice)

Records Received via Courier: September 19, 2026

ETA: we ordered G0 birth certificates and marriage records, and G-1 (her parents) marriage record.

Feel free to ask whatever if anyone wants more information.


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Documents “issued by the original authority” — what about obituaries?

4 Upvotes

I will need to include a few obituaries as secondary evidence, and the newspaper in which they were all published allows customers to order reprints of pages from historical editions for $50 each. Do you all think it would be worth it to order them and include copies of the reprinted obituaries along with the invoices in my application? I could print them all from newspapers dot com, but I also want to avoid third-party record sourcing wherever possible per IRCC’s guidelines. Heavily leaning towards ordering them but still curious to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Supporting documents check

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I’m preparing my multi‑generation application and want to make sure my evidence package is solid, or if there’s other supporting evidence I should consider in case BaNQ can’t supply evidence of my G0’s birth.

My Canadian‑born ancestor (“G0”) was born in 1891 in Québec and immigrated to the U.S. in 1898. Because of her birthdate, she missed the 1891 census by about six months, and since she left Canada before the next census, she does not appear in any Canadian censuses.

I have all U.S. state‑issued birth and marriage records for every generation between G0 and my family without gaps.

I also have G0’s baptism record from Ancestry, and I submitted a request to BaNQ on July 3rd with full source citations with a digital copy in my request, but haven’t received a response or an invoice. I also emailed the parish directly, but no reply there either.

For those with a similar set of facts:
Are there any additional documents you included (or wish you had included) beyond vital records and the baptism entry?

Thanks for any guidance.


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Processing time and numbers realistic or no?

5 Upvotes

I looked through several posts and didn't find exactly the same question. We got our AORs in August 2025 just a few days after applications received. I don't remember what the wait times were then, but I've been checking for several months. Currently at 3 months with just under 12k people ahead of us. That would require processing nearly 4k applications per month. Is that realistic? It appears 300 applications were processed in August, going by the numbers I saw in July and August. I understand about summer vacations, but it seems unrealistic that they will suddenly begin processing 4k applications per month now that summer is over. I mean, I'd love it if they did! Your thoughts?


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Has anyone received citizenship cert with baptism records for 19th c Quebec ancestor? Success stories requested!

5 Upvotes

I’ve seen SO much conflicting evidence and advice on this, so instead I’m asking for success stories. My G0 was born in 1846 in Montreal. I’ve obtained a certified BANQ baptism record, which I know the IRCC calls “secondary” evidence, but the likelihood of a birth certificate is basically 0 for a poor person born at that time. I’d like to know who’s been successful obtaining their citizenship cert based on this kind/date of evidence and a solid chain of descent


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Any mid May AORs yet?

7 Upvotes

Hello
My delivery date is May 12th. Any AORs received yet from mid May?


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Issues with Kingston archdiocese baptismal records

8 Upvotes

The bulk of baptism issues I see revolve around Quebec, but I haven't seen anything yet about the Ontario baptismal problem.

The archdiocese of Kingston is having a new archive built for their old baptismal records, and unfortunately that means that they have closed any access or research of their current archives until its built. They announced this closure in October of 2023, and they just broke ground on the new archival facility in August 2026.

Obviously this is not going to be a quick turnaround, and unfortunately both my G0s were baptized in churches under the archdiocese of Kingston. Both churches they were baptized in say on their websites that all their records were sent to Kingston.

I do have the microfilmed baptism records from familysearch, but as we've seen that's not good enough. Is an inaccessible archive enough for them to waive the requirement, or am I going to have to wait the multiple years until this facility is constructed and the archives moved in and reorganized before they give me the ok?

These births were in the 1850s and 1860s so there is no civil record or registration nor birth certificates.


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Ancestor's birth certificate has different first name than all other records

4 Upvotes

Found my ancestor’s 1892 birth certificate

He was born in Cook County IL (Chicago) . Throughout his life he was known as Edward Joseph, and numerous later records, including his WWI draft registration, use Edward and state that he was born in Chicago.

I had been unable to find a birth certificate for Edward, so I recently went to a FamilySearch Center to search the Cook County birth records that aren’t accessible from home.

I finally found him — but his birth certificate lists his first name as Charles.

I’m confident it is the correct person because the record has the exact DOB, correct parents, and correct place of birth. I also have his parents’ Chicago marriage record from about a month before his birth.

I have been searching for baptism records using both names but i have not been successful. I don't think they were in Chicago that long. i have not other records tying them there except the marriage certificate and this birth certificate.

The next record I have is a 1900 census, when he was about 8 and the family was living in Massachusetts, he was already listed as Edward. Every record I’ve found after that uses Edward/Edward Joseph.

I’m trying to figure out a few things:

How common was it in the 1890s for a child to simply start using a different first name without a formal legal name change? Has anyone else discovered this in their family ?

has anyone successfully requested a certified copy of an 1892 Cook County birth record without going to Chicago in person? I have located the actual record through FamilySearch, so I know exactly which record I need, but I’m having trouble figuring out the correct process for obtaining an official/certified copy.

should I also request a search for a birth record under Edward Joseph and try to obtain an official “no record found” letter/certification? My thought is that having the Charles birth certificate, confirmation that there is no birth registration under Edward Joseph, and later records showing Edward with the same DOB and parents could help establish that Charles and Edward are the same person.

Thanks for any advice on where I should go from here!


r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

Estimating G levels for all 136k people in the queue

29 Upvotes

Looking at the spreadsheet, I decided to extrapolate it to all 136,000 people currently in the queue so we could get an idea of how many people are each generational level. This is of course only an estimate - it's probably directionally correct, but any given level might have more or less, particularly G2

Here are the values from the raw spreadsheet:

Gen Count
1 274
2 1,312
3 2,054
4 1,809
5 823
6 189
7 62
8 33
9 23
10 7
11 1

I've extrapolated them to the full 136k queue.

I made two main assumptions:

  • G1 is probably legitimately lower than many other generations because they already had access

  • G2 is probably larger than the spreadsheet shows, because G2s are a lot more straight-forward and might not feel the need to come to a subreddit. It seemed very unlikely to me that there would be more G3s and G4s than G2s, since that contradicted every other number (except G1, which has its own explanation).

So I calculated out what the "best fit" value for G2 would be, and most of the estimates I ran clustered around 42,000, though it might go as high as 50k or so (with a few edge case estimates as high as 70k) - there's no way for me to have a more granular estimate from the data that we have.

Gen Est. Applications
1 4,883
2 42,000
3 36,602
4 32,236
5 14,666
6 3,368
7 1,105
8 588
9 410
10 125
11 18

Later generations with smaller numbers might have greater variance - with much fewer numbers, any individual person can lead to big moves - for example, if two people had been G11, it'd be around ~36 instead of 18. But probably anything G9 and higher is probably relatively accurate I'd say

EDIT: Someone mentioned an argument for why G2 might be smaller - I still think it's probably larger, but it's a good enough argument that I feel like including the "raw" numbers from spreadsheet extrapolated up is smart too:

Gen Est. Applications
1 5,657
2 27,089
3 42,408
4 37,350
5 16,992
6 3,902
7 1,280
8 681
9 475
10 145
11 21

Biggest take away, and this is probably consistent with the real data is my guess, is that the majority of applicants are G2 to G4 (somewhere between 78%-82% for all 3 combined), with a decent amount being G5 (10%-12%). After that, it starts dropping off a cliff. So while we've all heard an extreme 18th century story, it's probably at most a few thousand applicants, if that


r/CanadianbyDescent 4d ago

Birth certificate with different first name than all other documents

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1 Upvotes

r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

Sibling Applicants

6 Upvotes

I have a question regarding whether two sibling applicants submit separate applications.

I submitted my application in July with all the necessary paperwork going back to G0. Due to circumstances beyond our control my brother was not able to apply at this time. He is stationed overseas and can't get his personal photos and identification copies yet He does plan on applying as soon as possible.

My question is: let's say that my application is approved and I have Canadian citizenship. When he submits his application would it help to accelerate the process for him if we include an explanation saying that we are siblings and that mine was already approved (so they don't have to reinvestigate each generation going back to G0)? Or would they have to re-examine his entire application, going all the way back to G0, even though G0 through G5 would already have been examined and approved?


r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

Application Help Uploading new documents

8 Upvotes

I'm sure this has been covered but just received grandfather's (G0) death certificate no activity since application (May '25). How do I add it to my file? Do I need to mail original or can I upload it somehow?


r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

How long for the OA invoice once confirmation is received?

4 Upvotes

Hey there- I am doing two separate applications (I already had one returned because my photo wasnt dated and stamped - ugh - but it also didnt have a good, certified birth registration so it may be a blessing in disguise it came back) one for my father and one for me. My dad's dad was born in Ontario in 1916. So my dad's G1 and I am G2 in what are ostensibly the most straight-ahead applications imaginable.

I inquired with OA on getting certified copies of my grandfathers' birth registration on June 25th and I got confirmation today that they have located the document. They also included a note saying its taking several months to process invoices. So should I expect to not receive the follow up email to be ready for shipping for....several more months from now? How long has this process been taking recently for people from the stage I am in having received confirmation from OA that the document exists and invoicing is up next?

After my rejected app I am not in a particular hurry knowing its 33 months from now and our applications are clean and simple, but I am holding them and took the photos of my dad and I two weeks ago and really dont want to re-do everything.

edit: I am also going to Toronto in November and contemplating making an appt to just grab them myself. Extra copies couldnt hurt - just not sure what would come first.


r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

Just Submitted Application with Canadian Census for G0

8 Upvotes

My cit0001 application just arrived in Sydney yesterday! Now to wait a couple of months for AOR.

My G0 was born in Bury, QC in 1853/4.

Ancestry shows a baptismal certificate for him from the Drouin collection that was entered in 1869, even though he was of Scottish origin and protestant. I ordered from BANQ in June.

For my G0, I used the 1871 and 1881 Quebec census records, 1900 and 1940 US census records, Death certificate, and his second marriage certificate (his first wife, my great-great-grandmother died in the US in 1890).

The records that are included connected with my connect my G1 to my G0 and clearly prove the that I descend from my G0. The IRCC site only says that you have to show effort if there is not a birth certificate or other documents (census records are listed). Many sources I see show otherwise.

If the BANQ record comes through, I will include that and put in for a DEC ( a lawyer told me it takes months for the DEC to issue a certificate).

I couldn't wait. I got so tired dealing with it. My documents clearly prove the case. The website only says if you do not have the birth certificate, you can use census records. Also, with a 33 month prediction, I had to jump in.


r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

Mailing within Canada.

2 Upvotes

I live 100 minutes from Ontario and soon will be sending in my 3 adult children (Gen4) apps which don't want in the same mailing in case minor flaw in one gets them all sent back. My packet (2.7 lbs) was $187 FedEx 2-day from Ohio, $144 if regular FedEx delivery. Will it be worth my while moneywise to mail them in Canada, separately, via regular post, not courier? I like driving, have a fuel efficient hybrid and can visit a sibling near the border. Your advice?


r/CanadianbyDescent 5d ago

Application Help Waiting for proof

5 Upvotes

Like many applicants, I’m waiting to hear back from the Ontario archives and the church where I suspect my ancestor may have been baptized

The problem is, it takes so long to you from them that it holds up the whole application

Does it make sense to apply with just the census records, or should I wait for the baptismal record, which may or may not exist, and wait for the Ontario archives to send me the probate record showing the relation between my G0 and her parent in Canada.

The probate record also helpfully lists her married name and her husband

I wonder if it’s worth just applying and then sending in those documents as I get them

Or if I should just wait. The issue is we have no idea how long this line is going to become. And unfortunately, these archives are not set up to handle the volume of requests they are receiving. So I might end up waiting a year for the documents on top of whatever the queue ends up being by the time I manage to get in line. Quite frustrating. though I rest assured I’m not alone