Land Records - Indigenous & Métis

Land records apply most often to male ancestors, particularly if they were of European descent. Please see the provincial research guide for your province of interest for full information on accessing land records for your province of interest.  Many land records are also available on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.  

Land records can have a language all their own and be difficult to understand.  Whenever you search for land records using a particular resource, be sure to look for provided guides and explanations and review them before searching.

Below are some examples of key record sets for the western provinces.

With the acquisition of Rupert’s Land in 1869, western lands came under federal control. In 1930, responsibility for Crown Lands was transferred to the provincial governments of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The federal government retained a copy of the original patents issued for these lands which are indexed in the Western Canada Land Grants database at Library & Archives Canada. The actual homestead applications and files relating to the grants were transferred to the provincial archives.

The BC Archives holds the print records for provincial crown land grants, applications for homesteads, and purchases of crown lands. However, they have shared these resources with FamilySearch and they are available for browsing.

In most cases you either must know the specific location, grant number or year to narrow down your search for information. Below is a list of collections available at FamilySearch.org.

• “British Columbia Crown Land Grants Records 1851-1874” - by location
• “British Columbia Crown Land Grants 1869-1930” – by year or volume number (vol)
• “British Columbia Crown Land Pre-Emption Registers 1860-1971” – by location
• “British Columbia Dominion Land Branch Records 1885-1949”

The government of British Columbia has an online resource, searchable by name, known as “GATOR”.  If your grant is found you can find 2 documents related to it: a type of contract explaining the conditions of ownership, and a map which shows the legal description of the land. Free access.

Our Family History Department also holds microfilm for the Inspector of Indian Agencies British Columbia Letterbooks 1910-1920 which pertains in large part to Indigenous and Metis land claims. Please consult with our staff for access to these microfilms.

University of Calgary Glenbow Library and Archives: Archives CPR Land Sales Catalogue:

• Database of records of agricultural land sales by Canadian Pacific Railway to settlers in Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan from 1881-1927.
• Searchable by name and location.

The Manitoba Land Index 1870-1930 is available on microfiche in our Family History Department. Please consult with staff about accessing these records. The fiche is organized by surname or corporate name and is an index of administrative records related to Dominion lands that were made available for settlement through homestead entry. Since records from this index are also duplicated in Library and Archives Canada’s Western Land Grants database, search there first:

If you find an entry on the microfiche index, but not in the online database, copy the information from the fiche and contact the Archives of Manitoba.

Note that local history books will often have individualized information on land occupation within the locality. See Local Histories section of this guide.