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Step 1
Play detective with your family tree—follow the clues. Record details about your parents, and then work backwards one generation at a time. A good place to start is by talking to family members and studying family records. Older relatives and family Bibles are treasure troves of information.
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Step 2
Make note of names, date and places. These are the clues that will take you deeper into your Canadian roots. Get copies of records, including birth, marriage and death records. Add information to genealogy forms that you've downloaded for this purpose.
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Step 3
Trace your family history on the Internet as more and more resources become available online, particularly databases of ship passenger listings, military records and more. Some of these are available through subscription-only services, but exhaust the free databases first. The more information you have at your disposal when you log on to a paid service, the quicker and more successful your search will be.
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Step 4
Look for your Canadian roots at libraries, particularly those with genealogy sections. Due to the large amounts of information, some archives make information available on microfilm. A librarian can teach you how to work it and make a print copy of relevant records.
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Step 5
Consult with Library and Archives Canada for records regarding your ancestors. Avitus, a directory of Canadian genealogical resources, can show you other places to search. See Resources.
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Step 6
Familiarize yourself with Canadian history and geography in order to make better sense of the information you gather about your Canadian roots.
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Step 7
Search the resources in specific Canadian towns, provinces or territories once you have locations to draw information from. The local genealogy society for the area can point you in the right directions. At some point, plan a trip to the place your ancestors hailed from.
