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Ontario records for Canadian citizenship by descent: which office holds them and how to order

Checked against IRCC's pages on 13 October 2026.

A painting of a young couple holding their newborn beside an open registration book
From 1869, Ontario recorded births in registration books. Painting from our Ontario history series.

Ontario began registering births, marriages and deaths in 1869. Two government offices hold those registrations, split by year, and anything earlier sits in church registers. Most of the confusion comes from not knowing which office to ask.

IRCC's rule for every generation is the same. Documents have to be "issued by the original authority that created or keeps the record", and your application has to be supported by "verifiable documents for every generation". For Ontario, the original authority is the Archives of Ontario, ServiceOntario, or the church that kept the register.

Who holds which years

The recordYearsWho holds it
Births1869 to 1920Archives of Ontario
Marriages1869 to 1945Archives of Ontario
Deaths1869 to 1955Archives of Ontario
Anything laterAfter those yearsOffice of the Registrar General, through ServiceOntario
Anything earlierBefore 1869The parish or the denomination's archive

Those cutoffs come from the Archives of Ontario's own page on birth, marriage and death registrations. Registrations move from one office to the other year by year, and the cutoff years can differ by one between pages. If your ancestor's event falls on a boundary year, ask the Archives before you pay either office.

Ordering a birth record from ServiceOntario

ServiceOntario sells three birth documents, and only two of them name the parents. The plain birth certificate gives the name, date, place and registration number. The birth certificate with parental information adds the parents' names and places of birth. The certified copy of birth registration is a copy of the original registration with a raised seal, and ontario.ca says it is used for "some immigration or citizenship applications".

For a descent chain you want one that names the parents. IRCC has not said which Ontario document it prefers, so we point people to the certified copy, which reproduces the original registration. The regular fee is $25 for the birth certificate with parental information and $35 for the certified copy. Regular service is 15 business days plus Canada Post. Premium service is 5 business days with a courier, at $65 for the certified copy. Premium is not available for the version with parental information.

If your ancestor has died, ontario.ca says you can only get a certified copy of birth registration. You have to be next of kin, an executor or an estate administrator, and the page asks for a death certificate or a funeral director's proof of death. Next of kin means parents, spouse, children and siblings. If all of them have died, the list widens to aunts, uncles, first cousins, grandchildren, grandparents, nephews and nieces. Births before 1930 "may take up to 8 weeks to process".

To order, use the Online Certificate Application at services.ontario.ca/oca-web/main, or mail the form to ServiceOntario, Office of the Registrar General, P.O. Box 4600, 189 Red River Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6L8. You can also apply in person in Toronto or Ottawa. ServiceOntario lists 1-800-461-2156 (416-325-8305 from outside North America). The office page is https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-or-replace-ontario-birth-certificate. Online payment is by Visa or Mastercard, and by mail it must be in Canadian dollars from a Canadian financial institution. The page does not say whether the premium courier reaches addresses outside Canada, so ask before you pay for it.

Ordering from the Archives of Ontario

A painting of a microfilm reader on a desk
Older registrations are on microfilm, and the original books are at the Archives of Ontario.

The Archives holds the original registration books for the older years. It sells certified copies of those registrations, and its order form needs the person's name, the reference code, the date of the event and the registration number.

The reference codes are RG 80-2 for births, RG 80-5 for marriages and RG 80-8 for deaths. The registration number is stamped on every registration, and the Archives says you can find it in the alphabetical index or on the registration itself. For years not yet available to research online, the Archives says you can contact it to arrange a search, giving the person's name and the date of the event. Finding the registration number is the step our Gen 0 Check does for you. Start from the Archives' page, https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/topic/birth-marriage-and-death/, and use its "Order a copy of a registration" link. The Archives' contact number is 416-327-1600 (1-800-668-9933 inside Ontario).

The page gives no price for a certified copy. The Archives lists its fees on its Reproduction services and fees page. Check it before you order, because the fee is paid by you.

As far as we can tell, the Archives does not ask about your relationship to the person on the older registrations. Confirm that when you contact them, since it is their rule to state.

Marriage and death records

A painting of a magistrate recording a marriage in a log house
A magistrate records a marriage in Upper Canada. Painting from our Ontario history series.

Both come from the same two offices, by the same split of years.

The marriage certificate is $15 and the certified copy of the marriage registration is $22 through ServiceOntario, regular service. Premium is $45 and $52. The certificate can be ordered by either spouse, their children or their parents. A certified copy of the registration goes only to the married couple unless a court order allows someone else. For a person who has died, the page lets surviving next of kin apply, and extended next of kin if all of them have died. Since most couples in a descent chain have died, read the page before you pay: https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-get-copy-ontario-marriage-certificate-online.

The death certificate is $15 and the certified copy of the death registration is $22, with premium at $45 and $52. Ontario says there are no restrictions on who can apply for a death certificate, but the certified copy goes to next of kin or an authorized representative. When we checked on 13 October 2026, the page carried a notice that death registrations were taking up to 16 weeks to process, and deaths before 1991 can take 6 to 8 weeks longer. The page is https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-or-replace-an-ontario-death-certificate.

Both pages sell a search letter at $15 for each five-year period, which helps when you do not know the exact year. A search for one year covers two years before and two years after it.

Before 1869, ask the church

A painting of a small country church and an open church register
Before 1869, the record of a birth is a baptism entry in a church register.

There is no provincial record to order for a birth, marriage or death before 1869. The record is a baptism, marriage or burial entry in a church register. The parish may still hold the register, or the denomination's archive may. There is no single office or phone number for these, because each church and diocese keeps its own. IRCC accepts a "baptismal certificate or record (including copies or certified records)" when there is no birth record, as long as the baptism took place "within a reasonable time after the birth". Our guide to records when there is no birth certificate explains how that list works.

If the record does not exist

A painting of an envelope holding a letter
Keep every reply, including a letter that says nothing was found.

Some Ontario events were never registered. IRCC's page tells applicants to "explain in writing why you can't provide the documents, and show proof that you tried to get them". A letter or email from the office saying it searched and found nothing is that kind of proof. A search letter from ServiceOntario is written evidence of the same sort. IRCC has not said anything about search letters in particular, so keep any reply you get and send it with your application. Our guide to certified documents covers IRCC's answers to the archivists on certification.

Questions

Is the Archives of Ontario an original authority?

The Archives says it holds the original registration books for births to 1920, marriages to 1945 and deaths to 1955. IRCC's wording is "the original authority that created or keeps the record", and the Archives is the office that keeps those books.

Can I order for a grandparent who has died?

For births, ServiceOntario requires next of kin, an executor or an estate administrator, and extends to grandchildren when no closer relatives are living. Death certificates have no restriction. Confirm each rule on the page before you pay.

My ancestor was born in Ontario before 1869. Is there nothing?

There is no civil registration. Look for the church register, and if the register is lost, ask the parish or diocese for a written statement that says so.

Do I need all three record types?

That depends on your line of descent, and we cannot say what IRCC will ask for in your case. The Gen 0 Check starts with the one record every chain needs, your Canadian-born ancestor's birth or baptism.

Start with a Gen 0 Check
A painting of a researcher working at a laptop

The comprehensive guide goes province by province through where each record is held, what it costs and how to order it. Start with a Gen 0 Check, $49. We look for your Canadian-born ancestor's birth or baptism record and tell you which office holds it and how to order it.

Canadian Roots Found does record research. We are not lawyers, and nothing here is legal or immigration advice. Checked against IRCC's pages and the Ontario offices' pages on 13 October 2026.

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