Vital Statistics Part 6 - Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut

In the first 5 parts, we've traveled across the Provinces from the Maritimes to British Columbia. In the final installment of the series, we're going to look at the Canadian Territories.

Source: http://ontheworldmap.com/canada/province/yukon/yukon-road-map.html

Yukon
Yukon was originally part of the Northwest Territories. The first non native person to reach the Yukon was Sir John Franklin in 1825. Though the Hudson's Bay Company kept contacts in the area, we didn't really see a boom in population until the 1890's during the Gold Rush. Some civil registration records go back to this time period, but they are very scarce. Records did not become more complete until the 1930s and 1940s. All records are held by Yukon Health and Social Services. Fees for documents are only $10.00, which is nice to see. These are their guidelines on access:

Birth Certificates:

• The person named on the certificate
• The recorded parents
• Written authorization of one of the above
• Guardian of the person named (proof required)
• Executor of the Estate ( copy of death certificate required)

Marriage Certificates:

• Either party of the marriage
• Written authorization of one of the above

Death Certificates:

• You must show valid reason for obtaining the certificate

This series of articles is about civil registration. However, from the initial research that I've done so far, someone researching here is definitely going to have to think "outside the box". The records are just too new and incomplete to go about it the same way as you would for other areas of Canada. So I'm including links to the Yukon Genealogy website and their PDF download "Genealogical Research at the Yukon Archives". If you have an ancestor that was in the Yukon, you'll need these links.

The FamilySearch wiki on Yukon civil registration is here

Ancestry has a very small Yukon BMD collection here

Cyndi's List has BMD links for all three Territories together here

Source: http://ontheworldmap.com/canada/province/northwest-territories/nwt-road-map.html

Northwest Territories
This area has been a part of Canada since 1870. Before this it was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company and the British Government. At various points it has included parts or all of the Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Ontario, and Quebec. Vital Statistics go back to 1925, but as with Yukon they are incomplete. All records are kept by Health and Social Services. Fees are $20.00. Here are the guidelines for access:

Birth Certificates:

• Person named on the certificate
• Recorded parents
• Written authorization of one of the above
• Legal representative of the child or parents
• Child or grandchild of the person named
• A person who needs it for legal purposes
• An officer of the Crown or government employee who needs it in the official duties

Marriage certificates:

• Either party of the marriage
• Legal representative of either party
• Parents or guardian if the party was under 18 at the time of marriage
• Children of the marriage, for legal purposes
• Written authorization of either party
• A person who needs it for legal purposes
• An officer of the Crown or government employee who needs it in the official duties

Death certificates:

• Member of the immediate family or next of kin
• A person who needs it for legal purposes
• An officer of the Crown or government employee who needs it in the official duties

The Northwest Territories looks to be another area where you will have to be creative for BMDs. I looked, but there does not seem to be any genealogy information or links on any of the government websites. I would suggest looking at GenealogySearch.org for helpful links.

The FamilySearch wiki on civil registration of the NWT is here.

Ancestry has no collection unique to the Northwest Territories. However, they suggest you look at the broader collections that are here.

Cyndi's List's Territorial collection of BMD links is in the above Yukon collection.

Source: http://ontheworldmap.com/canada/province/nunavut/map-of-nunavut-with-cities-and-towns.html

Nunavut
Our newest area of Canada, Nunavut came into existence in 1999. For records before then, researchers will have to look at the Northwest Territories. Nunavut records are held by Registrar General. I went onto the Government of Nunavut website. It is very difficult to navigate. It was only by typing in "Birth Certificates" in the search box was I able to find out information. Here's the guidelines:

Birth Certificates (fee is $10.00):

• Person named on the certificate
• The recorded parents
• Written authorization of one of the above
• Legal representative of the person named
• Spouse of the named person
• A person requiring it for legal purposes
• An officer of the Crown or government employee needing it in their official duties

Marriage certificates (fee is $25.00):

• Either party of the marriage
• Legal representative of either party
• Parent or guardian of either party if they were under 18 at the time of marriage
• Children of the marriage if needed for legal purposes
• Written authorization of either party
• A person needing it for legal purposes
• An officer of the Crown or government employee requiring it in the official duties

Death Certificates (fee is $10.00):

• Immediate family or next of kin
• A person needing it for legal purposes
• An officer of the Crown or government employee needing it in their official duties

A search using the word "genealogy" had no results. Like the NWT, I would look at  GenealogySearch.org for helpful links.

There is no wiki on Nunavut on FamilySearch.

As with the Northwest Territories, there are no unique Nunavut collections on Ancestry. They suggest using the collections listed here

The Cyndi's List links on civil registration in the Territories is in the Yukon section.


As this series of posts has shown, navigating Canadian records depends a great deal on provincial legislation. Some areas are more "genealogist friendly" than others. Happy searching!