  We present the X-ray source catalogues for the XMM surveys of the 3-h and
14-h Canada-France Redshift Survey fields (0.5-10 keV flux range ~2E-15 - 1E-13
erg cm^-2 s^-1). We use a subset of the XMM sources, which have Chandra
positions, to determine the best method of obtaining optical identifications of
sources with only XMM positions. We find optical identifications for 79% of the
XMM sources for which there are deep optical images. The sources without
optical identifications are likely to be optically fainter and have higher
redshifts than the sources with identifications. We have estimated `photometric
redshifts' for the identified sources, calibrating our method using ~200
galaxies in the fields with spectroscopic redshifts. We find that the redshift
distribution has a strong peak at z~0.7.
  The host galaxies of AGN identified in this work cover a wide range of
optical properties with every galaxy type being represented, and no obvious
preference for one type over another. Redder types tend to be more luminous
than blue types, particularly at lower redshifts. The host galaxies also span a
wide range of optical luminosity, in contrast to the narrow range found for the
starburst galaxies detected in micro Jy radio surveys. We find a strong
correlation between optical and X-ray luminosity similar to the Magorrian
relation, although selection effects cannot be ruled out.
