History and Genealogy

Events

  • child drags a suitcase, child kayaks on top of the world, text: Canadian Museum of History / enfant traîne une valise et fait du kayak au sommet de la terre, texte: Musée Canadien de l’histoire
    Wednesday Jul 9, 2025 at 10:00am
    Come drop-in and discover the fascinating (and sometimes mysterious) objects in our History Box! The box contains Canadian historical objects from the Canadian Museum of...
  • A kid walking while reading a book
    Thursday Jul 10, 2025 at 2:00pm
    Come discover the fascinating (and sometimes mysterious) objects in our History Box! The box contains Canadian historical objects from the Canadian Museum of History’s signature...
  • child drags a suitcase, child kayaks on top of the world, text: Canadian Museum of History / enfant traîne une valise et fait du kayak au sommet de la terre, texte: Musée Canadien de l’histoire
    Monday Jul 14, 2025 at 2:00pm
    Come discover the fascinating (and sometimes mysterious) objects in our History Box! The box contains Canadian historical objects from the Canadian Museum of History’s signature...
  • deux enfants partent en randonnée dans le desert / two children set out on a hike in the desert
    Friday Jul 25, 2025 at 2:00pm
    Come discover the fascinating (and sometimes mysterious) objects in our History Box! Explore and learn about them in a game format. Parents are welcome! The...

Explore Further

Online Resources

    Contains name indexes and digitized records for researching family history.
    This bilingual online resource offers historical content about Canada from the first European settlers to the early 20th century. This includes digitized books, magazines and government documents and spans 21 languages.
    FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. Ottawa Public Library is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, this designation means library clients will now have greater and more convenient access to the wealth of genealogical resources available through FamilySearch at our 33 branches. Benefits of an Affiliate Library Due to contractual obligations, some images are only viewable online through FamilySearch centers and Affiliate Libraries Through the affiliate program, OPL customers have access to over 350 million additional records that are otherwise restricted This resource is available for in-library use only. Please note that each individual client must log into FamilySearch using their own unique username and password. There is no institutional login.
    Provides access to over 42,000,000 images and files from the origins of New France to today, drawn from the search tools of the Drouin Genealogical Institute. Includes baptism and death certificates (1621-1849), the Fond Drouin registries from 1621 to 1967, and marriage and death certificates (1926-1997). Many digital documents are also available, such as notarized contracts, post cards, censuses, etc. This product is limited to 10 simultaneous users. Please log in to PRDH separately if you would like to use materials linked to both databases.
    This digitized version of The Globe and Mail includes all of the newspapers' sections, images, classifieds, advertisements, births, deaths, political cartoons and more for the dates covered. Users can browse by date or perform a keyword search.
    MyHeritage Library Edition™ contains billions of historical documents from more than 48 countries, millions of historical photos, public records, indexes and additional resources. Available in 40 languages, it is the largest, most internationally diverse family history research database in the world. Users can access MyHeritage Library Edition either at the library or from the comfort of home via built-in remote access
    This digitized full-images archives of the Ottawa Citizen provides genealogists, researchers and general public with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
    Database containing a directory of civil status records (baptisms, marriages and burials) in Quebec (1621-1799), a genealogical dictionary of families (1621-1765) and a directory of couples and descendants. Please log in to Genealogy Quebec separately if you would like to use materials linked to both databases.