Genealogical services Records for Canadian citizenship by descent
Canadian Roots Found

Records

Bill C-3 has swamped Canadian and US archives. How to ask for a record so it gets done

Checked against IRCC's pages on 30 September 2026.

Since Bill C-3 took effect on 15 December 2025, the archives that hold the old baptism and marriage registers have been flooded with requests, mostly from Americans building a citizenship by descent file. Waits that used to be days are now weeks or months. The fastest way to get your record is a request the archivist can answer in one sitting: the right archive, the parish, a date range, and the fee paid.

October is American Archives Month. It seems like a good time to look at what the people on the other end of these requests are dealing with.

How big the jump is

These figures come from the archives themselves, as reported in three articles in 2026.

US archives are feeling it too, because so many Quebec and Acadian families moved south. CBC News reported that the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, a two-person archive, has had about 1,350 requests since December, and its turnaround went from two or three days to 12 to 16 weeks. The Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, raised its fee from $10 to $33 US and gave its part-time archivist more hours. The American French Genealogical Society in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, is run by volunteers, opens its library two days a week, and had a backlog of about 150 requests.

What slows a request down

The archivists quoted in these articles describe the same few problems.

No parish, no date. Tyyne Petrowski, who runs the archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Winnipeg alone and part time, told Canadian Affairs that many people "don't know what parish they were part of or when they were born." The Diocese of London has stopped doing open-ended searches altogether. A request that says "born in Essex County around 1850" gets declined there.

Asking the archive to find what's already online. Majer wrote that she often had to send people to FamilySearch or the Archives of Ontario first, then certify the record once they had found it.

The wrong archive. In Ontario, civil birth registration starts in 1869 and those records are at the Archives of Ontario. Earlier baptisms are with the church. In Quebec, BAnQ holds the civil copy of the registers to 100 years ago, and the parish or diocese may hold the other copy.

How to send a request that gets answered

1. Find the entry yourself first. Quebec registers to 1925 are free to browse on BAnQ's site. FamilySearch has images and indexes for many Ontario, Maritime and US parishes. Note the parish, the date and the page or entry number. 2. Send it to the archive that holds that register. For Catholic records this is usually the diocese, not the individual parish. Protestant registers often moved to a denominational or regional archive. 3. Write one request, to one address. Majer described emails arriving in her personal inbox, the communications office and parish offices all at once. Use the archive's own form if it has one. 4. Give everything in the first message. Full name, date, parish, parents' names, the entry number if you have it, and what you need: a certified copy for IRCC. 5. Pay the fee up front, and expect weeks. Fees in these articles ran from $25 (Winnipeg) to $50 (London). If an archive has been good to you, a donation is welcome. Several archivists mentioned Americans adding one as a thank-you. 6. Don't chase. Each follow-up email is time the archivist isn't spending on the backlog, including yours.

Why a certified copy matters

IRCC wants records issued by the original authority. Information from online genealogy sites "cannot be used on its own," an IRCC spokesperson told Canadian Affairs. That's why the request has to go to the archive at all, even when you can already see the entry on FamilySearch. Our post on certified documents covers what that means in practice.

Four ways to thank an archivist

Two dates this month, if you want to say it out loud: 1 October is Electronic Records Day, and 14 October is #AskAnArchivist Day, when archivists answer questions from the public on social media.

Questions

How long does a diocese archive take to send a baptism record?

It varies by archive. In 2026, the Diocese of London reported eight to 10 weeks and the Diocese of Lafayette 12 to 16 weeks. Ask the archive for its current wait before you order.

Can I use the FamilySearch image instead?

Not on its own. IRCC wants a copy from the original authority, so you use FamilySearch to find the entry and then order a certified copy from the archive that holds the register.

Will an archive search for my ancestor if I don't know the parish?

Many no longer will. The Diocese of London declines requests without a specific parish and date. Find the entry first, or get help finding it.

Is it okay to send a donation with my request?

Yes, and archivists say people have. Pay the stated fee first. A donation is extra.

Start with a Gen 0 Check

The $49 Gen 0 Check finds your ancestor's entry and tells you which archive holds the register, so your request goes to the right place the first time.

Canadian Roots Found does record research. We are not lawyers, and nothing here is legal or immigration advice. Checked 30 September 2026.

Sources: