Canadian Naturalization Records

Irish Canadian Emigration Records, 1823-1849 This database contains various records and reports of Canadian emigration agents James Allison and A.J. Buchanan. These lists are searchable by name. The two collections in this database are:Records of James Allison, Emigrant Agent at Montreal, 1823–1849 & Emigration Agent Returns of Emigrant Orphans, 1847

The Canadian Citizenship Act began on 1 January 1947. From 1763 to that date, people born in the provinces and colonies of British North America were all British subjects. Taking the oath of allegiance meant becoming a British subject. Thus immigrants from Great Britain and the Commonwealth (England, Ireland, Wales or Scotland) did not have to be naturalized.

In the early 1800s, many people were coming from the United States to settle in Upper Canada, later known as Canada West, now Ontario. Concerns were raised by authorities about their loyalty to the British monarchy, since most of these new settlers grew up under a republican government. The Act to Secure and Confer upon Certain Inhabitants of this Province the Civil and Political Rights of Natural Born British Subjects was passed in 1828. Under this act, alien men who had been living in Upper Canada for seven years, were expected to take an oath of allegiance before the County Registrar and thus become British subjects. After the union of Lower and Upper Canada, a second Naturalization Act was passed in 1841. Finally, a third act was passed in 1845 that reduced the required period of residence from seven years to five years.

Library and Archives Canada

Choose from Naturalization Records Before 1854 ~ Naturalization Records 1854-1917 ~ Naturalization Records After 1917 ~ National Registration File 1918 ~ National Registration File 1940 ~ Sessional Papers ~ Passports ~ Border Crossings ~ Oaths of Allegiance