Alberta Births - What else you can try
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This page will give you additional guidance and resources to find birth information for your ancestor. Use this page after first completing the birth section of the Alberta Guided Research page.
Additional Online Resources
Additional Databases and Online Resources
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- (List of collections) Canada Births and Baptisms, 1661-1959
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Online Images (Browsable Only)
Currently, there are no browsable-only collections.
How to Request the Record When It's Not Online
Province-wide registration for births started in 1898. General compliance occurred by 1930. A few birth records also exist from 1870-1898.
To learn more about record limitations and restrictions, see the article Alberta Vital Records.
To order birth records from 1870-1898, contact:
- Provincial Archives of Alberta
8555 Roper Road
Edmonton, Alberta
T6E 5W1
Phone: (780) 427-1750
Website
To order birth records after 1898, contact:
- Registry Agents Services
Phone: 780-427-7013
Website
NOTE: Birth records are confidential for those born within the last 100 years. Only a close relative may order the birth registration during this restricted period (see Restrictions for more details).
Substitute Records
Additional Records with Birth Information
Substitute records may contain information about more than one event and are used when records for an event are not available. Records that are used to substitute for birth events may not have been created at the time of the birth. The accuracy of the record is contingent upon when the information was recorded. Search for information in multiple substitute records to confirm the accuracy of these records.
| Use these substitute records to locate birth information about your ancestor: | ||
| Why to search the records | ||
| Death records may include the birthdate or age of the deceased. With the age, a birthdate can be approximated. Click on the link to the left to return to the "Death" page. | ||
| Alberta can be found in Canada censuses from 1881 to 1921. Alberta can also be found in the regional censuses of 1906, 1916, and 1926. Census records often give ages of the recorded individuals, allowing researchers to calculate birth years. | ||
| Gravestone inscriptions and cemetery records may include a birthdate. | ||
| Baptism records occasionally provide a birthdate. In addition, a death or burial record may include an age that can approximate a birthdate. To access church records, first determine the denomination. | ||
| In addition to obituaries, newspapers publish notices of marriages, divorces, deaths, and funerals. In recent years, birth notices have also been published providing the names of the parents and sex of the child. | ||
| Obituaries often include the birthdate and place of the deceased. | ||
Improve Searching
Tips for finding births
Successfully finding birth records in online databases depends on a few key points. Try the following search suggestions:
- Spelling variations. Your ancestor's name may be misspelled. Search with spelling variations for the first and last name of your ancestor.
- Search parents. Search for the parents, if known, as the child's first name may not be on the birth record.
- Search given name. Search by given name (leave out the last name) with the approximate date of birth.
- Add information. For common names, add more information to narrow the search such as approximate birth date or parent's names if known.
- Date range. Expand the date range of the search by 5 years.
- Search province. Search using the province name only instead of by smaller locality.
Why the Record may not Exist
Known Record Gaps
Records Start
- 1870-1898 Few birth records exist.
- 1898 Civil registration began.
- 1930 General compliance occurred.
