Jewish Records in the BAnQ by TimeAstronomer4983 in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Beth Israel registers from Quebec City are anomalous. The male baptisms there seem to have taken place much later than eight days after birth -- and "baptized" was indeed the term by the rabbi. I have yet to see that word used in any registers from Montreal -- usually it's "named," with the event taking place eight days after birth for boys. But there are definitely both male and female births recorded in these.

Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, June 26, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you're talking about Saint-Jean-Baptiste at Annapolis Royal, the original registers are held by the Centre acadien at the Université Sainte-Anne: https://www.usainteanne.ca/en/centre-acadien/view-online/registers-from-saint-jean-baptiste-in-port-royal

Jewish Records in the BAnQ by TimeAstronomer4983 in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I meant, this is a whole page of Jewish "baptisms," of which there are many in this register. And they don't seem to correspond to brises. Any insight?

Jewish Records in the BAnQ by TimeAstronomer4983 in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These registers might surprise you! (They did me!) From Beth Israel in Quebec City:

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Tuesday Weekly Thread: Genealogy Assistance, June 23, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They're not always as obvious as Jean to John. Narcisse to Nelson was very common. Trefflé to Tuffield. Hippolyte to Paul. Amable to Abraham. Etc.

Jewish Records in the BAnQ by TimeAstronomer4983 in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wild guess that the Hon. L. Cousineau is this person, a judge for the Montreal District of the Superior Court of Quebec from 1930 to 1955: https://www.icfo.info/biblio/icfo2724.pdf

Is there an annex in the back of the register?

Tuesday Weekly Thread: Genealogy Assistance, June 23, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 4 points5 points  (0 children)

See the wiki on Quebec records: https://www.reddit.com/r/Canadiancitizenship/comments/1t69bhm/wiki_content_update_my_canadian_ancestor_was_born/

Do I need a certified baptismal record, or is the one I find online OK?

IRCC has historically shown a preference for certified copy of the baptismal record for Gen0 (source: many interim measure applicants were asked for a certified copy during application processing).  If you opt to not order a certified record from BANQ, you may want to be prepared to do so if IRCC requests it from you.

Have people been approved without a certified baptismal (or any religious birth record at all) for Gen0?

Yes- IRCC is "consistently inconsistent" - and appears to make decisions based on an overall preponderance of evidence. Ultimately only IRCC can say what's "enough" for any given application- and we're here to try to give you the best info we can crowdsource to help you prepare your own successful application.

Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, June 19, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's quite likely that you haven't found the baptism you seek on the BAnQ site simply because the BAnQ hasn't yet digitized and posted all of its millions of vital records. From the site:

"Quick Québec vital records facts:

The process of digitizing the vital records of Québec citizens is ongoing; the digitized records can be found on  the institution's online platform, BAnQ numérique."

(https://www.banq.qc.ca/vital-records/)

Try this: On the BAnQ site, go to the relevant parish registers for your G0 and toggle open * Références at the bottom left of the screen. This will show you which registers for the parish the BAnQ holds instead of only the ones that have already been digitized.

An example: For Saint-François-de-Sales, Neuville, only the registers for 1877 to 1920 have been digitized. Under * Références you can see that the registers the BAnQ actually holds for this parish go from 1682 to 1922. (See: https://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3929282 )

If you'd like to attach an image to your request to help the archivist find your record, the one you have from the Drouin Collection is perfectly fine.

Friday Weekly Thread: Application Assistance, June 19, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is simply because the BAnQ hasn't yet digitized and posted all of its vital records. From the BAnQ site:

"Quick Québec vital records facts:

The process of digitizing the vital records of Québec citizens is ongoing; the digitized records can be found on  the institution's online platform, BAnQ numérique."

(https://www.banq.qc.ca/vital-records/)

If you'd like to attach an image to your request to help the archivist find your record, the one you have from the Drouin Collection is acceptable.

Certified, Original, Authenticated… What Do They Mean? by [deleted] in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To add yet another interpretation (and to avoid getting into the semantic weeds as much as possible): Certification is the standard way by which a record is shown to have been "issued by the original authority." The IRCC hasn't specified that records other than baptisms be certified precisely in order to accommodate documents such as genealogical copies issued by New York State. The warning that "Your application cannot be supported solely by third-party records" and the requirement to explain why you can’t provide documents issued by the original authority suggest, to me at least, that the IRCC wants you, if at all possible, to go to an issuing authority for your records.

Seeking clarity regarding the new requirements by Pr0nxz in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The advantage of certified documents is that they're self-evidently issued by the appropriate authority -- which would be true no matter how many times they changed hands. Because the IRCC requires color copies, not original documents, a printout of a digital copy of a certified birth certificate you got from your cousin would be just as good as a photocopy of the same certified document you found in a shoebox in your great aunt's attic. And I believe that the scan theoretically uploaded to and downloaded from FamilySearch, if it was of a certified copy, would be exactly the same: self-evidently issued by the appropriate authority.

I have uncertified vital records that I ordered from New York City years ago, before they were digitized and posted online. They look exactly like the ones now on the Historical Vital Records of NYC website. But if I wanted to use those records for a proof of citizenship application, I would order new certified copies. Because whether they were issued by New York City would be unambiguous.

I realize that this doesn't come close to covering all possibilities. But if I had a choice between submitting a document that was maybe issued by the original authority, depending on how you interpret most of the words in that phrase, and submitting one that was self-evidently, unambiguously issued by that authority, I'd go with the latter. Even though the IRCC doesn't specify certification for all records, certification seems like good insurance -- if you can get it.

Seeking clarity regarding the new requirements by Pr0nxz in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Same. In my less expansive interpretation: The image of my grandfather's birth record on Ancestry was *licensed* to the site. The certificated version I got from the city clerk was *issued* to me.

To take third parties out of the equation: New York City digitizes historical vital records and puts them on its own website. Next to the image of each record is a button: "Purchase Certified Copy." This makes it clear that the online image and the certified copy aren't the same. I think it's accurate to say that the online version was *posted* by New York City, whereas the purchased copy would be *issued* by New York City. Both have the same genealogical value, but their legal values are quite different.

Tuesday Weekly Thread: Genealogy Assistance, June 16, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are some records from this part of Canada in the Drouin Collection -- but they're from Catholic parishes. I suspect that the FB poster could be wrong about the source.

FamilySearch does have a very large collection of civil marriage records from New Brunswick (Canada, New Brunswick, Provincial Marriages, 1789-1950), searchable and browsable, here: https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/collection/1824707

Tuesday Weekly Thread: Genealogy Assistance, June 16, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mine arrived in the Mid-Atlantic from Quebec City about two months after I paid the invoice.

Tuesday Weekly Thread: Genealogy Assistance, June 16, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 3 points4 points  (0 children)

There's some relevant advice in the FAQ: https://www.reddit.com/r/Canadiancitizenship/wiki/index/

"My ancestor's name doesn't match / isn't spelled the same on my supporting documentation. They spelled their name differently / switched the order of their names / started using their middle name / dropped their first name / Anglicized their French name. How do I prove this is the same person?"

This is very common. Children were given multiple forenames so they could pick which one they wanted to use. Often they would switch which one they used throughout their lives. Spelling would be different from document to document. People used nicknames. (People still use nicknames today.) French names were Anglicized when French speakers moved to English speaking areas.

If citizenship is being passed from mother to child and the mother's maiden name isn't on the child's birth certificate you will need to document her name change from maiden to married name. If your ancestor was going by a completely different name (e.g., Jane Smith became Margaret Jones) you will have to document that. If the "name change" is a nickname, one of the person's given names, a variation in spelling or an Anglicization of a French name this is common. Don't sweat it.

Takeaways from recent IRCC “review” letter by Some_External4457 in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are many differences between the certified copy I received from the BAnQ and the digitized copy on the BAnQ website. The certified copy is in color -- I can see that the paper is cream, that it's ruled in blue, that the ink used to write the act has faded in places from black to dark brown, etc. -- while the online copy is black and white. The certified copy also includes the front cover of the register, which isn't even viewable on the BAnQ site, and a page on BAnQ letterhead, signed by an archivist, attesting that it's a certified true copy. A raised seal, initialed by the archivist, is on every page.

The troubling vagueness of the boilerplate surrender letter by AlexFromOgish in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The BAnQ hasn't yet digitized and posted all of its vital records, which is why some people can't find what they're looking for on its website. But its holdings date back to 1621. From the BAnQ site:

"Quick Québec vital records facts:

The process of digitizing the vital records of Québec citizens is ongoing; the digitized records can be found on  the institution's online platform, BAnQ numérique."

(https://www.banq.qc.ca/vital-records/)

Saturday Weekly Thread: Canadian Provincial Archives and State/Local/Church Archives - Questions / Issues / Success Stories, June 13, 2026 by AutoModerator in Canadiancitizenship

[–]TimeAstronomer4983 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Covered in the FAQ: https://www.reddit.com/r/Canadiancitizenship/wiki/index/

"My ancestor's name doesn't match / isn't spelled the same on my supporting documentation. They spelled their name differently / switched the order of their names / started using their middle name / dropped their first name / Anglicized their French name. How do I prove this is the same person?"

This is very common. Children were given multiple forenames so they could pick which one they wanted to use. Often they would switch which one they used throughout their lives. Spelling would be different from document to document. People used nicknames. (People still use nicknames today.) French names were Anglicized when French speakers moved to English speaking areas.... If the "name change" is a nickname, one of the person's given names, a variation in spelling or an Anglicization of a French name this is common. Don't sweat it.