Until the late 1900s, church registers in Quebec served as civil and vital records in that province. Throughout the years a second copy of church records, from all denominations, was sent annually to the appropriate courthouse. During the 1940s the vital record collections in courthouses throughout Quebec were filmed by the Institut Généalogique Drouin.* The filming of vital records continued for some areas up through the 1960s. Consequently, this filmed set of records became known as the Drouin Collection.

The majority of the records in this database cover the time period 1621-1947, as most of the filming was done in the 1940s. The records that were filmed up through the 1960s are also included in this database, although they are very few in number. These records that were filmed later cover the years 1948-1967.

Names from all years have now been indexed and can be searched on using the search box above.

Areas and Churches Included:

While the entire Drouin Collection also includes records from French Catholic parishes in Ontario, Acadia, and the U.S., this database only contains church records from Quebec.

The majority of the records in this database come from Catholic parishes. However, since all denominations were to send copies of their records to the courthouses, other churches whose records are contained in this database include:

Record Types:

Most of the records in this collection include baptisms, marriages, and burials. However, several other types of church records are also included. These records may be confirmations, dispensations, censuses, statements of readmission to the church, etc.

Language of the Records:

The majority of the records are written in French, but some are written in English, Latin, or Italian.

*Taken from Geyh, Patricia Keeney, "Civil Registration in the Province of Quebec" in French Canadian Sources: A Guide for Genealogists, (Orem, UT, USA: Ancestry, 2002).