JGS-Montreal Research Services

JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
OF MONTREAL

Research Services

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal (JGS-Montreal) has developed or obtained access to a number of very significant genealogical resources for Montreal, Quebec and Canada. These include:

The Drouin collection of Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke Jewish birth, marriage and death (burial) records for 1842-1942. Our indices allow us to search by nearly any element in the record including names of parents and event dates. See http://jgs-montreal.org/vital for additional information.
Additional birth, circumcision, marriage and death indices and records based on the records of local rabbis, mohels and synagogues.
Indices to Canadian Naturalization records (all religions) from 1915 to 1932 (soon to be 1951). See http://jgs-montreal.org/naturalizations for additional information.
Marriage and death indices for Quebec (all religions). Many entries include date of birth or age, and death entries often include full or partial names of parents and/or spouse's surname.
Cemetery records for many of the Jewish Cemeteries in Montreal, and virtually all Jewish Cemeteries in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Tombstone photographs are often included.
Historical and biographical documentation of Canadian Jews which we are gradually digitizing.

This has taken many thousands of dollars but more importantly, many thousands of hours of volunteer labour. We make these resources available in several ways:

Freely available over the Internet. The largest of these collections is the index of 1915-1932 Canadian Naturalizations available at the Government of Canada Genealogy Centre. The collection includes over 200,000 naturalizations, and we are in the process of adding an additional 400,000 covering 1932-51. The JGS-Montreal is in the process of creating a new, enhanced web site, and when it goes into production, we will make a number of our resources available there.
E-mail Requests. We have some resources which, for privacy or contractual reasons we cannot make publicly available, or are currently available only on paper. We offer search services of these in a number of ways described below.
In addition, we increasingly work in cooperation with the Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives (CJCCC-NA - formerly the Canadian Jewish Congress National Archives). Research materials from these projects will typically be available online through the JGS-Montreal or the CJCCC-NA web sites or via direct inquiry to the CJCCC-NA.
We will provide individual records for a fee as described below. These records will be delivered either electronically or via postal mail at our option. Many of these records are available within our databases and can be sent on relatively short notice. Others require requesting or retrieving them from external agencies and the time taken will vary from a week or so to several months.
For exceptional cases where there is a clear desire to re-unify families (either due to adoption or holocaust separation), we generally waive fees.

Service	Description	Terms
Birth, marriage and death indices and records	Quebec Jewish birth, marriage and burial records augmented by the personal records of a number of Rabbis, circumcision records of a number of mohels, and synagogue registers.	Typically there is no charge for simple searches (see next category). We make individual records available at $15 per record.
Enhanced or complex index searches	We have recently completely re-indexed many of our records to include (where available) the names of parents, event dates and city and country of origin. Enhanced searches use these indices. Other complex requests require the merger of multiple indices.	The fee is $35 and is refundable if we find nothing. It can be used against the cost of any records that you may later choose to order from us (based on index entries found).
Tombstone photos	The Society holds a large collection of tombstone photos, mostly from the Montreal area, but including many from other parts of Quebec and provinces east of Quebec.	Typically no charge for searches. If we have the tombstone photo available, the fee is $10 for the first image, and $5 for additional tombstones requested at the same time. In cases where we need to conduct a field trip to photograph the stone, there is an additional fee of $5 per tombstone (Montreal area only). Note that cemetery photography is only possible during the summer, and since this is a volunteer service, there will be delays.
Canadian Naturalization Records	Complete naturalization files (applications and correspondence) are available for anyone naturalized since 1915, subject to privacy restrictions (person naturalized must have demonstrably died more than 20 years ago, or was born more than 110 years ago. Individuals can order these records themselves if they are Canadian citizens or residents. The JGS-Montreal offers this service for those who do not qualify.	$25 per file. There is typically a delay of several months to receive these records.
Quebec 1926-96 marriage and death indices	These indices cover most marriages and deaths in the province (all religions). Marriage indices may include the age of the parties, or years of birth. Death records may include the birth date, and full or partial names of parents. See also Health Department marriage records below.	No charge if volume is not large, but we expect a donation if the information is useful.
Quebec Marriage Health Department Records (1926-96)	These records include various items of information about the parties. Parents names are generally included only for 1926-27 and after about 1975. See http://jgs-montreal.org/marriage.html for details.	No charge for searches. $20 per record. (long turn around time since collection is not on site)
Services related to tracing descendants for estate settlements	The Society has a number of members who provide professional genealogy services. Depending on the nature of the request, we may be able to refer you to one.	Fees negotiable.
Additional research for individual family history researchers.	The Society has a number of members who provide professional genealogy services. Depending on the nature of the request, we may be able to refer you to one.	Fees negotiable.

Most services provided by the JGS-Montreal are carried out by unpaid volunteers. We appreciate any donation in consideration of our efforts to help. Such donations allow us to continue our work expanding the information available to researchers.