Manitoba

We recommend starting your search here. This page provides links to relevant sites, records and also instructions specific to this region.

Searching for ancestors who lived in Winnipeg? Try looking in our digitized collections of Winnipeg Henderson's Directories, accessible through PastForward. Note that the Millennium Library also has the Winnipeg Henderson's Directories from 1880 to 2000 in Microfilm and/or printed formats.

Our handout, Search Smart - Local Newspapers, lists our holdings for Winnipeg and Manitoba newspapers at WPL.

The Archives collects Manitoba's rich documentary past. The website offers information about its services including how to visit the Archives & search its holdings, research from a distance, copies & reproductions, family history research, and more.

The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is dedicated to promoting the hobby of genealogy within the Jewish Historical Society through lectures, workshops and library facilities. Their database of newspaper articles include over 18,000 genealogy-related references.

The Manitoba Genealogical Society is the umbrella genealogical organization in Manitoba whose mission is to assist individuals from all backgrounds with their family research and to collect and preserve genealogical resources. Their Winnipeg branch has a library over 10,000 items (books, indexes, maps, periodicals, microfiche, etc.), access to ancestry.com, newspaper archives, and many reference resources and volunteers that offer assistance to researchers. The MGS Library/Resource Centre has produced an online catalogue of all books and reference material held in the library, called KOHA searchable by title, author and keyword that is accessible to all.

In addition to their own journal devoted to the history of Manitoba and Western Canada, the MHS has digitized many local history books and made them available free on their website.

Guide to Manitoba Online Genealogy Records for researching ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth, marriage, death, census, church, military, immigration, and naturalization records.

This website is devoted to ancestors and descendants of early explorers and settlers who first inhabited the region of the Red, River of the North. In addition to the index of family trees of individual families with roots in Manitoba, resources on historical topics related to Red River ancestors are provided.

The Vital Statistics Agency manages civil records for the province, including birth, marriage and death certificates. You can search their database for unrestricted records and request certified copies of the full documents for a fee. The database includes records of births from more than 100 years ago, marriages from more than 80 years ago, and deaths from more than 70 years ago.

A resource dedicated to assisting scholars, students, and researchers in their exploration of western Canadian history. It offers an online bibliography, as well as a searchable full-text collection of many items including a selection of Henderson Directories for Saskatchewan and Manitoba (including Winnipeg), and digitized French-language newspapers like "La Liberté" (1913-2013).

Part of the Western Manitoba Genealogy Project website, this page list the pioneers who lived or were born in Manitoba before 1919.

Thousands of digitized diaries, letters, photographs, and more (organized by nationality & ethnic group) depict the experiences of immigrants who came to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. A collaboration of the University of Manitoba's Archives and Special Collections, the University of Saskatchewan Archives, and the archives of Oseredok, the Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre.

This is a free database providing full text of the obituaries from the newspaper since 1999, which usually contain a lot of family information and photographs.