Quebec Civil Registration
|Quebec Research Topics|
|Local Research Resources|
From 1679 to 1993, most vital records for Québec were copies of church records. The province required churches to send copies to government archives. On 1 January 1994, the government began to keep separate vital records. Vital records could be registered civilly without a church record as early as 1926. Beginning in the 1960s, many births and marriages were recorded only in civil registers.
Gretna Green marriage places.
When a marriage was transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction, that place became a "Gretna Green." When an eloping Quebec couple's marriage is not in their home county, search for it in alternate places like:
- Crown Point, Essex, New York
- Ogdensburgh, St. Lawrence, New York
- Niagara Falls, Niagara, New York
- Buffalo, Erie, New York
Records before 1900
Church records and civil copies of church records prior to 1900 are available on microfilm at the Family History Library and at several archives and libraries in North America. Learn more about Church Records....
Records after 1900
Only the person named in the record or that person's legal representative may have access to civil registration and civil copies of church records after 1900. Application forms for information from civil registration after 1900 must be obtained from:
Direction de l'État civil
Service à la clientèle
205 rue Montmagny
Québec QC CANADA G1N 2Z9
Some indexes to civil registration copies of church records are available. The indexes list only the name of the individual and the date and place of the event. Names of the parents or spouses are usually not given. For an index to notarial marriage contracts, see Quebec Notarial Records.
Indexes for Montréal
The Family History Library has microfilm indexes to records for the Montréal Judicial District (island of Montréal and nearby counties). The indexes are for christenings, marriages, and burials for Catholics from 1648 to 1899 and for non-Catholics from 1766 to 1899 and 1900 to 1993.
Catholic Records in Montréal
A card index to the Catholic records is: Fichiers de l'état civil (District judiciaire de Montréal). Registres paroissiaux, 1648–1899 (Card Index of Baptisms, Marriages, Burials of Parishes of Montréal and Neighboring Rural Parishes, 1648–1899). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1989–1991. (On 192 Family History Library films beginning with film 1614024.) Text in French.
Protestant Records in Montréal
The indexes to the early Protestant records were in book form. They were divided into three sections: 1766–1834, 1835–1875, and 1876–1899. Microfilm copies are listed in the catalog as: Index relié de baptêmes, mariages, sépultures non-catholiques, paroisses de Montréal et des paroisses rurales. Registres paroissiaux, 1760–1899 (Index of Baptisms, Marriages, Burials for Non-Catholics of Montréal and Neighboring Rural Parishes, 1760–1899). Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1991. (Family History Library film 1684034–35.) Text in French and English. The title is 1760–1899, but the earliest entries are from 1766. There are several sets of indexes to Montréal Protestant records after 1900. They all have Index de l'état civil (Index to Civil Registration) as part of the title. Catholic and Protestant indexes are listed in the Locality Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under QUEBEC, ILE DE MONTREAL, MONTREAL - CHURCH RECORDS - INDEXES.
Indexes for the City of Québec
An index to civil copies of church records for the Protestants of the city of Québec and the surrounding area is: Index des baptêmes, mariages et sépultures des protestants de la région de Québec, ca. 1790–1875 (Index to Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials of Protestants in the Region of Québec about 1790–1875). [Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada]: Archives nationales du Québec, 1983. (On 182 Family History Library fiche 6334276.) Text in French. Indexes for other areas will be listed in the catalog when they become available. Even though these are indexes to records kept by the government, most of them will be listed in the Locality Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under QUEBEC, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CHURCH RECORDS - INDEXES.
A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:
- Arlene H. Eakle, "Have you searched and searched for a marriage without finding it?" in Genealogy Blog at http://www.arleneeakle.com/wordpress/2007/02/19/have-you-searched-and-searched-for-the-marriage-without-finding-it/ (accessed 8 January 2011).