1865 to 1935 is a very significant era for immigration to Canada, with 5.7 million immigrants landing on Canadian shores. Approximately 11.6 million present-day Canadians (one of every three) have ancestors who arrived during this time.

Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website has now made it easier for Canadians to trace their roots and learn about the immigration process of their ancestors. The website has launched the Canadian Passenger’s Lists of more than 4,000 ships that docked in Canadian ports during that time period. The collection is indexed by name, month, year, ship, and port of origin and arrival. It also includes images of over 310,000 pages of historical records. Individual passenger records also include information about birth year, occupation, other family members listed, and final destination in Canada.

Most immigrants arriving at this time were British, Irish, Ukrainian, Russian, German, Chinese, and Polish.

“This is the first time that these important records have been brought together in one place online, making them accessible to so many; they will be of significance to literally millions of Canadians who want to know when their ancestors first came to Canada and how far they came,” stated Josh Hanna of Ancestry International.