Local History & Genealogy

Getting Started

This guide had minor revisions in October 2014 and May 2023.

Trace your Chinese ancestors in Canada using immigration records and head tax certificates. The Humanities and Social Sciences Department at the Toronto Reference Library has an extensive Asian genealogy collection. Unique collections are also available in our Chinese Canadian Archive. In both cases, some resources are written in the language of origin. 

Searching the library website

Suggested subjects and keywords

• [name of ethnic group]  genealogy  e.g. Chinese genealogy
• [name of ethnic group]  names   e.g. Japanese names
• [name of ethnic group] place  e.g. Koreans Ontario

Suggested titles

• Asian American genealogical sourcebook
• Ethnic genealogy: a research guide
• Family lineage records as a resource for Korean history
• Family of no prominence ….Korea 1590-1945
• A gazetteer of Japanese place names: in characters and in Romaji script, giving latitudes and longitudes
• In search of your Asian roots: genealogical research on Chinese surnames
• Shuben xungen baijiaxing
• Tracing your Philippine ancestors
• They came in ships: guide to finding your immigrant ancestor's arrival record
• Tree without roots: the guide to tracing British, African and Asian Caribbean ancestry
• Xing shi jian jie [Chinese names]

Using online resources

Chinese

• Library and Archives Canada Genealogy – Chinese Canadians
• Library and Archives Canada Genealogy – Immigrants from China, 1885 to 1949
• Vancouver Public Library – Chinese-Canadian Genealogy

East Indian

• Families in British Indian Society

Japanese

• Sedai: Japanese Canadian Legacy Project
• Landscapes of Injustice

Korean

• Inje University Genealogy Library

Newspaper databases

• Globe and Mail Historical Newspaper Archive (Toronto Public Library card login required)
• Toronto Star Historical Newspaper Archive (Toronto Public Library card login required)

In library resources

• Ancestry Library Edition (access from any Toronto Public Library computer)

Need more help?

Answerline: 416-393-7131
answerline@torontopubliclibrary.ca

Toronto Reference Library, Humanities and Social Science Department, 416-393-7175