Canadian Naturalization

The Canadian Naturalization databases contain references to about 200,000 people who applied for and received status as naturalized Canadians from 1915 to 1932. During that period, the Government of Canada published the lists of names of those naturalized subjects in the annual reports of the Secretary of State (Sessional Papers) and in the Canada Gazette. These two databases, produced by the Jewish Genealogical Societies of Montreal and Ottawa, make it possible to search those annual lists by name.

In 1901, there were 5.3 million Canadians, of which only one in 20 were not "British-born," a term that was used for Canada, England and other countries of the British Commonwealth. By 1911, due to a wave of immigration from continental Europe and the United States, one in 10 Canadian residents were from non-Commonwealth countries.

Many of these non-British immigrants did not speak English, and often had names that English speaking people had never before encountered. As well, they often had no firm plans as to where they would make their new homes in Canada. These factors pose major problems for today's genealogical researchers trying to trace the movements of their direct ancestors and other relatives. We may know whence they came, but it's not always known what names they used, and where they went.

The databases are one of the few Canadian genealogical resources specifically designed to benefit those researchers with roots outside of the British Commonwealth. References located in the databases can be used to request copies of the actual naturalization records, which are held by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.