Canada Resources

Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives (formerly Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives) – Montréal, QC

The Canadian Jewish Archives collects and preserves documentation on all aspects of the Jewish presence in Quebec and Canada. Notable aspects of the Canadian Jewish community reflected in the collections include immigration, integration into Canadian society, community organization, Zionism, human rights issues and discrimination, oppressed Jewry in other countries, education, literature, and genealogy. Resources are found here: https://www.cjarchives.ca/en/c-j-archives/major-collections/genealogy-resources/

Association for Canadian Jewish Studies (ACJS) – Toronto, ON

As part of its mission “to promote and disseminate historical research concerning the engagement of Jews to Canadian society,” the ACJS encourages the identification and preservation of properties, sites, and districts related to Canadian Jewish heritage. They publish a peer-reviewed journal, Canadian Jewish Studies / Études juives canadiennes, which publishes scholarly work on all aspects of the Canadian Jewish experience.

Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (CJHN) – Montréal, QC

The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network has brought together a number of online collections searchable in ‘galleries’ titled:

• Audio-visual Content
• Canadian Jewish military casualties in the Canadian Armed Forces
• Congregation Shaar Hashomayim Treasures
• Dolls for Democracy from JWIC / B’nai Brith Women
• Highlights of the Allan Raymond Collection
• The Album of the Jewish Legion
• Ukrainian Jewish Orphan immigrants, 1921

CJHN also brings together databases and digital materials from other heritage institutions in Montréal, and a variety of smaller Jewish communities, including Ottawa, Ontario, and Saint John, New Brunswick.

CanGenealogy – Victoria, BC

Compiled by journalist, local historian, and genealogist David Obee, CanGenealogy is referred to as “Your guide to Canada’s best family history resources.” He presents genealogy resources by region and by category, covering a wide range of tools and topics. Of note is his listing of genealogy blogs, many by well-known Canadian genealogists.

Facebook for Canadian Genealogy – Montréal, QC

Facebook for Canadian Genealogy is a list of more than 1,000 Facebook groups and pages that can help genealogists research their ancestors who lived in Canada. In addition to listing resources for all Canadian provinces and territories, it includes genealogical and historical societies, national and provincial archives, museums, military, photos, New France, British Home Children, First Nations, United Empire Loyalist groups, vintage photos, military history, and special interests — in English and French.

Genealogy à la carte – Montréal, QC

Genealogy à la carte is a daily blog written by Gail Dever, a Canadian family historian, about genealogy news, resources, and issues facing the genealogy community across Canada, as well as in the United States and elsewhere around the world — all written from a Montréal point of view.

Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC

The JGS of British Columbia was founded in 1992 to bring together people interested in pursuing their Jewish family history. A non-profit, the society was originally named the Jewish Genealogical Institute and became the Jewish Genealogical Society of British Columbia in 2015. It works closely with The Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. (see link below).

One focus of the JGS of B.C. is on documenting the history and genealogy of the western Canadian Jewish community. They have collected some short histories and lists of resources available to do this research.

The Society has links to archives of community and regular newspapers from all over the world. Most are historical and consists of papers in English, French, German, Hebrew, Ladino, Polish, and Yiddish. Newspapers are sorted into three categories: Canadian, American, and International. Of note are western Canadian Jewish newspapers from Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, as well as those out of Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, and Hamilton.

Jewish Genealogical Society of Montréal – Montréal, QC

The JGS Montréal, which was formed in the early 1990s, holds regular lectures, Sunday morning family tree weekly workshops, and makes numerous resources accessible to support research into the Jewish communities in Montréal and Quebec. Dating back to 1994, they have a meeting archive of over 200 presentations, including some presentations since 2020 that can be viewed on YouTube.

In addition, the Society has had indexing projects for the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association, death records from the Keneder Adler, a Yiddish newspaper, and the Library and Archives Canada naturalization files. To use the products of this work, go to https://jgs-Montréal.org/projects.html These research resources, and others, can also be searched via their Genealogy Dashboard.

Of note are their exceptional Montréal cemetery indices, including over 50,000 photographs of burials in the Montréal area of the Baron de Hirsch Cemetery, 6,500 burials at the Back River Memorial Gardens Cemetery, and Eternal Gardens. Other smaller cemeteries are also available, including those for Sherbrooke, Quebec City, Laval, Ste. Sophie, and the Spanish and Portuguese Cemetery, all in Quebec. These are also available on the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry site.

Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada – Winnipeg, MB

The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The archival material in their collection reflects the social history of lives and events in the Jewish community over more than a century. They are in the process of digitizing the entire collection and making it available online. This will include photographs, Jewish newspapers, cemetery information, oral histories, manuscripts, synagogue, union and other records, Yiddish music collections, newspapers, and films. In addition, the artefacts in the collection will be photographed and made available online. Exhibitions are also available online, including A Stitch in Time: Winnipeg Jews and the Garment Industry.

Jewish Museum and Archives of B.C. – Vancouver, BC

The Jewish Museum and Archives of British Columbia (JMABC), located in Vancouver, acquires textual records, photographs, artifacts, and oral interviews that document Jewish life in British Columbia. The museum has over 325 linear metres of textual records, 325,000 photographs, and 1000 oral history interviews. Some of these resources are available online, including their oral history recordings and exhibitions, including one about Oakbridge, a Jewish neighbourhood from 1940 to 1970, and  another related to Jewish architects in Vancouver, 1955-1975.

Jewish Public Library of Montréal – Montréal, QC

The Jewish Public Library (JPL) has a library collection and archives, and holds events and courses They actively support their visitors in their genealogical research.

• Library collections include historical newspapers such as the Montréal Gazette (1857–2019), yizkor books, and Jewish encyclopedias.
• Archival collections include documents, photographs, posters, and records related to the social, economic, political, and cultural life of Montréal’s Jewish community over the past 250 years.

Museum of Jewish Montréal – Montréal, QC

The Museum of Jewish Montréal was founded in 2010 as a digital project and, as of 2016, opened its first physical storefront. Among its projects is a focus on Montréal’s Jewish heritage through virtual exhibits, an interactive map of the city’s Jewish history since the 1760s, and an oral history initiative about Jewish life in Montréal. These stories can be found on the museum’s website.

Saint John Jewish Historical Museum – Saint John, NB

The Saint John Jewish Historical Museum tells the story of the Jewish community in Saint John. It was formed in 1784 and is still active to the present day. A short history of the Jewish community is at http://jewishmuseumsj.com/my-new-page_1.html

Simon Fraser University – Vancouver, BC

Simon Fraser University’s library houses over 130 collections, including 1.3 million digitized newspapers, photograph, documents, sound recordings, and other objects. A national catalogue listing can be downloaded here: https://newspapers.lib.sfu.ca/sites/default/files/SFU_Digitized_Newspapers_KBART_2020-06-09.xlsx

Of particular interest to Jewish researchers is its collection of community newspapers including:

• Jewish Western Bulletin, which changed its name to the Jewish Independent in 2005, has been the British Columbia Jewish community’s newspaper since 1930. Issues of the Bulletin and its earlier publications dating from 1925 to 2004 have been digitized: https://newspapers.lib.sfu.ca/jwb-collection.
• Canadian Jewish News: Issues of this weekly English-language newspaper, published in Toronto, dating from 1 January 1960 to 23 December 1993, and for Montréal as of 2010, have been digitized: https://newspapers.lib.sfu.ca/cjn2-collection.
• Canadian Jewish Review was founded in 1921 in Toronto and added a Montréal office and edition in 1929. In 1966, it merged with the Canadian Jewish Chronicle to become the Chronicle Review, publishing until 1976. This collection has been digitized for the years from 1921 to 1966: https://newspapers.lib.sfu.ca/mcc-cjr-collection

Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montréal – Montréal, QC

The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of Montréal is the oldest Jewish congregation in Canada, which was formed in 1768. It explores its history at: https://www.thespanish.org/250th-home. Burials of 1393 members of this congregation have been indexed by the JGS of Montréal.

Survey of Jews in Canada, 2018 – Environics Institute, Toronto, ON

A major national scale study was conducted in 2018 by the Environics Institute for Survey Research. The first of its kind in Canada, explored the perspectives of Canadian Jews, addressing themes of identity, practice, and experience. The survey was modelled on the 2013 Pew Survey of American Jews, allowing a comparison of U.S. and Canadian Jews across a variety of indicators.

Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE) – Mississauga, ON, and Kyiv, Ukraine

The Ukrainian Jewish Encounter (UJE) is a privately organized, multinational initiative launched in 2008 in Toronto, Canada as a collaborative project involving Ukrainians of Jewish and Christian heritage and others, in Ukraine, Israel, and the diasporas. Sources explore the history of Jews on Ukrainian Lands, Ukrainian-Jewish Relations History, the Holocaust in Ukraine, the Holodomor, and the Metropolitan Andrei Sheptystsky.

Information on research and publications, panels, symposia and conferences, and university-level courses can be found at: https://ukrainianjewishencounter.org/en/about-us/what-we-do/ and historical analysis at https://ukrainianjewishencounter.org/en/category/history/ .