Land Records - Ontario
Finding land records can be challenging research that may take considerable time. Our guide Canadian Family History Resources offers instruction about how to locate Ontario land records, across a wide range of record sets. These include Crown land, patents, sales, petitioners, grantees, and wills. You will also need to consult one or more of the Archives of Ontario’s excellent guides for researching land records, several of which are noted in the paragraphs below.
The Archives of Ontario has also kindly provided our department with an excellent resource guide, “Researching Land Records at the Archives of Ontario”, which is available in print in our department. Please ask staff for a copy.
For a list of the Archives of Ontario guides for land records, see this page and scroll down to the Land Records section.
These guides are critical in helping you find your way through this potentially complex research.
The best starting point would be to first study the Archives of Ontario’s research guide 215 entitled: Early Land Records from the 1780s to the 1850s. This should help you with any unfamiliar legal terminology and processes used in earlier times, and with understanding the many types of documents available that were generated during the land grant process.
Documents covering original transactions in which land is “alienated” from the Crown and granted to homesteaders are generally held separately from documents about subsequent changes of ownership. The original grant from the crown, as well as the secondary transactions of changes in ownership are usually found in Ontario’s Land Titles Registry, now online at OnLand (see below).
United Empire Loyalists (UEL) arrived by the thousands to Ontario in the late 1700s. If your ancestors can be found in Ontario this far back, there is a good chance they were Loyalists. People researching Loyalists will benefit from studying land records; in particular, land petitions. In return for being loyal to the Crown, UEL people were entitled to land grants. They applied for these grants with “Land Petitions.” Our guide book Canadian Family History Resources, lists the various films with these petitions and other related documents found in Land Books, under the heading Land Records, section 6 -1.
If you are looking for original homestead records, including land grants to United Empire Loyalists, the Ontario Archives guide 205, Ontario Land Records Index might be a good place to start. This index consolidates numerous land record documents under one index.
FamilySearch.org also has an excellent wiki guide to Ontario Land Records.
Library and Archives Canada is another good starting point and also has many collections of records regarding Ontario land. Their “Research Guides and Other Resources” list is found here (land records are half-way down that list).
Note that many of Library and Archive Canada’s microfilms have been digitized for online searching, specifically the Upper Canada Land Books, and have uploaded to to Heritage Canadiana. You will need to know the microfilm number you require, which can be researched from the above.
Online
The Land Registry office of Ontario, ONLand, plays a crucial role in historical record keeping for Ontario land records. (Up until the 1900’s most wills were registered with the Land Record Office as well.) Of note, private land transactions were not legally bound to be recorded until 1846.
You will need to know the location (Land Registry Office, aka LRO) of the person/property you are looking for. If you do not know the location, resources such as censuses, directories, and our print book The Central Canadians, 1600- 1900 (see print section below) can assist you. Once you have selected the LRO and clicked on search, on the next page select “Historical Books” from the “Find Your Land Registry Service” list. From there, select “Browse Books.” On the next page, select “Browse Abstract Parcel Register Books”, and that will give you a list of townships and municipalities within that LRO. From there select your municipality ;and the associated “Details” link, which will provide a digitized microfilm with the land transactions and associated personal names involved.
Aside from the guides, the Archives of Ontario can also be contacted for assistance.
If you have identified a particular microfilm that is not digitized online and not available in our Family History Department, it may have been uploaded to Heritage Canadiana.
If it is located at the Archives of Ontario, you may be able to request it from there through our Interlibrary Loan service; ask staff for assistance.
Microfilm
Our Family History department holds microfiche and microfilm regarding Ontario land records. This information can be found in our guide; Canadian Family History Resources pages 6-4 to 6-14.
The three main categories are;
- Upper Canada Land Petitions and Land Books C-10810 to C-10836
- Upper Canada Land Books 1764-1867 C-100 to C-110
- Ontario Computerized Land Records Index 1780’s to 1920 Microfiche by surname or location
The McGill Historical Atlas project created a collection of historical atlases for each of the Ontario counties, focused on the late 1800s. This is a unique and valuable resource that describes the county, its towns and smaller communities, many of its prominent residents, and includes charcoal drawings of many homes. It also provides maps of the lots of most communities and often includes the surnames of the owners of the lots. It is worth examining if your research includes this period.
The series is shelved in the Family History Department’s map stand. While many researchers prefer the print atlases because of the large format, there is an online version as well.
Corupe, Linda. From Settler to Land Owner, Records of the First Heir & Devisee Commission. 2023.
This is a series documenting records of the first Heir & Devisee Commissions for the districts of Midland, Johnstown, Eastern, London/Western, Home/Newcastle/Niagara. Library call number GEN 929.3713 FRO
Murphy, Sharon L. Researching Canadian Land Records. Toronto: Heritage Productions. 2001. Library call number GEN 929.1072 MUR
A Guide to Ontario Land Registry Records. Toronto: The Society, 1994 Library call number GEN 929.3713 GUI 1994
McFall, A. David and Jean McFall. Land Records in Ontario Registry Offices: a Genealogical Research Guide. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, 1982. GEN 929.3713 MCF 1982
For assistance in locating where your ancestor may have lived:
The Central Canadians, 1600-1900. Toronto: Genealogical Research Library, 1994. Library call number GEN 929.3713 CEN