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Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

An organization of family historians, some with Toronto roots, others who live in Toronto, we have ancestors around the world.

Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

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Sandy cliffs of the Scarborough Bluffs with Lake Ontario in the foreground
Houses on brow of hill overlooking Withrow Park.
Roofline of the south St. Lawrence Market building
Gothic arches of the main door of the yellow brick Cathedral Church of St. James.
Light filtering through mature trees on a wide variety of grave markers in St. James Cemetery and Crematorium.
Skyline of downtown Toronto from Riverdale Park in evening light. Shows CN Tower and skyscrapers.
Red and white streetcar passing under the steel superstructure of the bridge at Queen Street and the Don River. The superstructure has a big clock and a sign that says: This river I step in is not the river I stand in.
group of people with suitcases

Thinking of packing your bags for family history travel? The key to making it a success is planning! Be sure to join us for a special in-person-only meeting on the afternoon of Saturday June 14 in the Auditorium at the North York Central Library, located at 5120 Yonge Street at the North York Centre subway station. Genealogy educator Christine Woodcock will lead off our program, beginning at 1:30 pm (EDT), with Preparing for a […]

Planning a genealogy trip

Watercolour painting of mansion

The Toronto Branch meeting took place on Monday May 26, online via Zoom. Branch meetings are free to attend and open to all. Our May speaker Paul Jones has been researching his own and others’ families for 35 years, and he told us about his most complex search yet for a single ancestor. Finding the Father of Regina Diamond Pearl Hole is a success story that involved cutting-edge DNA sleuthing but also hundreds of […]

May 2025 meeting—online

City street filled with pedestrians and vendor carts

Toronto Branch is delighted to present new opportunities to learn about researching Italian ancestry, with Brooklyn-based genealogist Pamela Vittorio. We’ll begin with an introductory lecture in early May on how to build your Italian or Sicilian family tree, when you’ll learn the basics about key Italian research resources and naming patterns. A two-part lecture series in June will take a deep dive into the immigration of Italians to Canada—how they made the journey from […]

Researching Italian Roots

Toronto Branch celebrated the return of spring with two meetings in April! A special in-person only meeting was held on the afternoon of Saturday April 26, in advance of our regular monthly meeting online on the evening of Monday April 28. Our April 26 meeting took place in the Auditorium of the North York Central Library. The theme of the afternoon was artificial intelligence. Our main speaker Marian Press explained how AI works and […]

April 2025—spring bonus!

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Toronto research sources

  • Research Guide
    • Toronto Chronology
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    • Street Name Changes
  • Libraries & Archives
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  • City Directories
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      • Finding Aid to Wards
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  • Land records
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  • Manuscript Collections
  • Probate Records
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Related organizations

  • Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto
  • Ontario Genealogical Society (parent society)
  • United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada

Toronto Branch Meetings

Jun
23
Mon
7:30 pm Toronto’s Home Comers’ Festival
Toronto’s Home Comers’ Festival
Jun 23 @ 7:30 pm
Toronto’s Home Comers’ Festival @ ONLINE LECTURE
In the summer of 1903, Toronto had a party—a four-day blowout over the Dominion Day long weekend. The organizers invited well over 4,000 former Torontonians to “come home” from all across Canada, the United States,[...]
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Courses starting and Workshops

Jun
19
Thu
7:30 pm Italian Immigration to Canada: A...
Italian Immigration to Canada: A...
Jun 19 @ 7:30 pm – Jun 26 @ 7:30 pm
This two-part online series is a follow-up to our introductory webinar Researching Your Italian Heritage. Now we take an in-depth look at the rich sources of records dealing with your ancestors’ immigration to North America[...]
Aug
5
Tue
7:00 pm The Toronto History Lecture
The Toronto History Lecture
Aug 5 @ 7:00 pm
THE 2025 TORONTO HISTORY LECTURE Join us for the 14th annual Toronto History Lecture. This year’s lecture will be: Toronto’s Streetcars: How the past shapes the present Presenters Brian Doucet and Michael Doucet will weave[...]
Sep
11
Thu
7:30 pm Understanding Ontario’s Crown La...
Understanding Ontario’s Crown La...
Sep 11 @ 7:30 pm
Three-session online course: 7:30 pm to about 9:00 pm September 11, 18 and 25, 2025 $35 OGS members / $40 non-members This online course will focus on the process involved in acquiring (or attempting to[...]
Oct
18
Sat
10:00 am The Whys of Y-DNA—Beyond the Basics
The Whys of Y-DNA—Beyond the Basics
Oct 18 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
The Whys of Y-DNA—Beyond the Basics @ Lansing United Church
Save the date! The Toronto Branch Education Committee is very exited to announce that David Vance, a recognized worldwide expert on Y-DNA and vice-president of FamilyTreeDNA, will be presenting an advanced-level, in-person workshop on Y-DNA[...]
Nov
13
Thu
7:30 pm Understanding Ontario Land Regis...
Understanding Ontario Land Regis...
Nov 13 @ 7:30 pm – Nov 27 @ 9:00 pm
Understanding Ontario Land Registry Records @ THREE-SESSION ONLINE COURSE | Toronto | Ontario | Canada
Three-session online course: 7:30 pm to about 9:00 pm November 13, 20 and 27, 2025 $35 OGS members / $40 non-members Despite the 2020 closure of Land Registry Offices, Ontario land registry records are becoming[...]
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Recent posts

  • Planning a genealogy trip
  • May 2025 meeting—online
  • Researching Italian Roots
  • April 2025—spring bonus!
  • March 2025 meeting—online
  • February 2025 meeting—online
  • January 2025 meeting—online

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Accessibility Statement: Toronto Branch is committed to making this website accessible to all. We welcome your comments on how we can better meet your needs. If you have difficulty accessing materials on this site, please e-mail our accessibility coordinator and tell us: the page where you had the problem (URL in your “address bar”); what the problem was; and how we can contact you. We'll do our best to fix the problem or give you the information in another format as soon as possible. To report broken links or other issues relating to use of the website, please e-mail our webmaster 

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Toronto is situated on Indigenous land. This is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This land is also part of the Dish with One Spoon territory, a treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (aka Six Nations Confederacy), the Anishinaabek and allied nations, to peaceably share and care for this land, its waters, and all of the biodiversity in the Great Lakes region. We are all responsible for honouring this treaty in the spirit of peace, friendship, and respect.

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