Civil Registration - Canada, Ontario

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Civil Registration - Canada, Ontario

Registration of births, deaths and marriages commenced 1 July 1869

See "How to Obtain" below chart

Name of Individual				Privacy laws govern who can apply for birth and marriage certificates. Death certificates will be issued to any person but a certified copy of the registration will only be issued to an executor of the estate or next-of-kin of the deceased. Indices to Births 1869-1913, Marriages 1869-1928, Deaths 1869-1938 and Overseas Deaths 1839-1847 (WWII) are currently available for public search online at FamilySearch. Indices are by year by surname and are also available at Archives of Ontario, many public libraries and LDS Family History Centres or Family History Library where a few additional years may be viewed on microfilm. Some OGS branches have published indices for events occuring in their area. Note: Marriages 1869 through 1873 are indexed in a series of printed volumes by year, by surname and further arranged by county. These volumes can be found at the Archives of Ontario, at public libraries and at some OGS branch libraries. All remaining indices are closed to public search and are held by the Registrar General of Ontario.
Marital Status
Age			plus place of birth but specifics varied widely until 1900. 1900 onwards, certificates include specific date and place of deceased's birth.
Occupation		NOTE: bride's occupation not added until late 1800s
Date of Event
Place of Event
Name of Father
Father's Occupation
If Father Living
Place of birth of Father
Name of Mother
Maiden Surname of Mother	but not until mid-1880s	NOTE: maiden surname of mother not included until 1880s	but only from 1900 onwards
Mother's Occupation
If Mother Living
Place of birth of Mother
Witnesses
Relationship of Witnesses to Individual
Addresses of Witnesses
Name of Informant of Event	also name of person assisting with birth
Relationship of Informant to Individual
Address of Informant
Changes to Information on certificates		Also included from an early period were: -religious denomination of bride and groom -name of officiating person -whether married by licence or banns. Pre-1869 marriage registrations are found as follows: 1. County Marriage Registers 1858-1869 2. District Marriage Registers 1801-1858. District Marriage Registers do not contain all marriages within Ontario only those of certain religious denominations.	From 1900 onwards certificates also included name of attending physician with Physician's Return of Death setting out specifics of deceased's illness(es). 1955 onwards, certificates do not include cause of death - separate application must be made to obtain this information.

How to Obtain

In person:
For non-historical or current certificates:
Service Ontario
47 Sheppard Avenue East, Unit 417,
4th Floor
Toronto, ON
M2N 5N1

By Telephone:
For non-historical or current certificates:
In Toronto 416-325-8305
Toll-free Outside Toronto 1-800-461-2156
Fax: (807) 343-7459

Online:
For historical certificates at FamilySearch.org as follows:
Births 1869-1913,
Marriages 1869-1928,
Deaths 1869-1938 and Overseas Deaths 1839-1847

For non-historical or current certificates at the Office of the Registrar General

By mail:
For non-historical or current certificates:
Office of the Registrar General
P.O. Box 4600
189 Red River Road, 3rd Floor
Thunder Bay, ON
P7B 6L8

Or by Email: https://www.orgforms.gov.on.ca/eForms/contactUs.do

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