Source Information
Original data:
Passenger Lists, 1865–1935. Microfilm Publications T-479 to T-520, T-4689 to T-4874, T-14700 to T-14939, C-4511 to C-4542. Library and Archives Canada, n.d. RG 76-C. Department of Employment and Immigration fonds. Library and Archives Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
About Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935
Passenger lists of ships arriving in various Canadian ports as well as some eastern U.S. ports from 1865–1935 are indexed this database. This collection, covering 2.2 million people who arrived in these ports, has never been indexed before.
Records in this database are for the following ports and years:
- Quebec Ports (May 1865–Jun 1908, Jun 1919–Jul 1921, Apr 1925–Nov 1935)
- Montreal, Quebec (Apr 1925–Nov 1935)
- Halifax, Nova Scotia (1881–Oct 1922, 1925–1935)
- North Sydney, Nova Scotia (Nov 1906, Aug 1908–Aug 1922, 1925–1935)
- Saint John, New Brunswick (1900–Sep 1922, 1925–1935)< li>
- Vancouver, British Columbia (1905–Sep 1922, 1925–1935)
- Victoria, British Columbia and Pacific Ports (Apr 1905–Sep 1922, 1925–1935)
- Eastern U.S. Ports (Jul 1905–Feb 1919, 1925–1928)
- New York (1906–1921)
About the Records:
All passengers names are included in these lists regardless of country of origin or nationality including returning Canadian citizens, immigrants, individuals in transit to the U.S., and visitors to Canada. Passenger lists comprised the official immigration records of Canada between the years covered by this collection, although the forms used and information recorded varied. Lists from later years usually contain more details depending on the form.
Information recorded may include:
- Name of passenger
- Age
- Gender
- Marital status
- Whether ever been in Canada before; if so, when, where, and how long
- Whether intend to permanently reside in Canada
- Whether able to read and write
- Birth country
- Race of people
- Destination
- Occupation
- Religious denomination
- Port of arrival
- Date of arrival
- Port of embarkation
- Ship name
- Shipping line
Special Notes:
Passengers from mainland Europe usually sailed to Great Britain, where they boarded trans-Atlantic ships at ports such as Liverpool, London, and Glasgow, and some Canadian immigrants arrived at American ports. Ships arriving on the West Coast carried passengers from Asia, Australia and Honolulu. Any immigrant destined for western Canada having landed in the U.S. could continue their journey by train from their port of arrival; however, none of the names of train passengers were recorded.
Lists for the port of Quebec include passengers who disembarked at Montreal between 1865 and 1921 because those ports were closed during the winter months when the St. Lawrence River was frozen.
Related Records:
From 1919–1924 individual manifest forms (Form 30A) were often used instead of passenger lists as the official immigration record. The use of Form 30A, also known as “Ocean Arrivals”, accounts for the most of the gaps in years covered in this database. Ancestry will be adding the “Ocean Arrivals” records in the coming months. If you do not find an individual in this database, you may want to try searching the “Ocean Arrivals” records.Browse this collection
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Related data collections
Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924
This data collection contains individual declarations of passengers arriving at various Canadian ports between 1919 and 1924. The declarations were a standard pre-printed form called Form 30A. This form was in officially in use between June 1, 1921 and December 31, 1924 and was regulated by the Department of Immigration and Colonization. A form was to be completed for each passenger, including children. Exceptions were for passengers in transit to the U.S. The forms were then submitted to immigration officers upon arrival at the port of destination.Border Crossings: From U.S. to Canada, 1908-1935
This database contains records of immigrants crossing into Canada from the United States between 1908 and 1935. These records consist of border entry lists and Form 30 (individual entry forms). Information recorded in these records may include: name of immigratn, port of arrival, date of arrival, age, gender, country of citizenship, birthplace, marital status, and last permanent address.Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956
This database contains an index of aliens and citizens crossing into the U.S. from Canada via various ports of entry along the U.S.-Canadian border between 1895 and 1956. The records contain information on name, age, birth date, birthplace, gender, ethnicity/nationality, names of individuals accompanied by, name of nearest relative or friend in former country, and name of nearest relative or friend at destination.