External Resources
Other institutions may have information useful to your research.
Court Records
BC Laws provides free, searchable, online access to every public Act and regulation of general public interest currently in force in the province of British Columbia, including new and recently amended laws that have yet to be published in official print formats. It includes BC civic bylaw content, Acts, statues, bills, orders in council, Gazettes, and historical collections.
The Canadian Legal Information Institute provides access to court judgments from all Canadian courts. Most judgments date from the early 2000s and forward, but work is ongoing to add historical court data to the site.
Central Registry for Divorce Proceedings
Find the information required by the BC Archives to request access to or a reproduction of post-1968 divorces.
Search for provincial and supreme civil court files and provincial traffic and criminal court files in British Columbia.
Digitized collections and online searches
A Nation’s Chronicle: The Canada Gazette
Search digitized versions of the Canada Gazette produced by the federal government. The Canada Gazette has served to inform Canadians of the operations of government and to involve them actively in the legislative process
Arca provides support to post-secondary and community institutions across British Columbia in managing digital assets. Access a number of digitized newspapers, and some projects supported by the BC History Digitization Program.
Access digitized British Columbia city directories from 1860 through 1955.
Search for names of places and geographic features across BC, including data on the origin and history of the name.
Search through digitized versions of historical papers from across British Columbia.
Search through digitized versions of the British Columbia Sessional Papers, an annual collection of selected papers tabled in the Legislative Council of British Columbia and the Legislative Assembly.
Colonial Despatches: Vancouver Island and British Columbia 1846–1871
Search for correspondence between the British Colonial Office and the colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. Correspondence can be searched by key word, colony, author and more. Digitized images and transcriptions of the correspondence are provided.
Access descriptions and digitized copies of genealogical records such as vital event (birth, death, marriage) registrations, probate files, naturalization records, wills and land records (crown grants, pre-emption registers, dominion land branch).
The provincial government online search and retrieval system for Crown land data.
Land Title and Survey Authority Maps
Provides access to a selection of early British Columbia maps from the Land Title and Survey Authority’s physical collection.
Search archival descriptions from archival institutions across British Columbia.
Official Gazettes of British Columbia
Search digitized copies of gazettes produced by the colonial and provincial government. Gazettes are official publications that disseminate government proclamations, notices and regulations as required.
Search UBC open collections library includes digital photos, books, newspapers, maps, videos, theses and more.
Access to millions of digitized historical records for British Columbia residents.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Access to The Province (1894-2010), The Times-Colonist (1884-2010), and The Vancouver Sun (1912-2010) for anyone in British Columbia or the Yukon.
Search digitized versions of the British Colonist (also called The Daily British Colonist, the Daily Colonist, and other variants) from its first issue in 1858.
Access digitized versions of Victoria Fire Insurance Plans from 1891. The number of plans required expanded to cover the city grew from 31 in 1891 to more than 170 in 1913.
Other institutions
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