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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.
Poster for Victory Bonds showing soldier in poppy field

The next Toronto Branch meeting will take place on the evening of Monday October 27, beginning at 7:30 p.m., via Zoom. Many Toronto neighbourhoods were once home to soldiers who left to serve in the First World War and never returned. In our main October presentation, The Dead from Down the Street, lawyer, writer and lecturer Drew von Hasselbach will show us how to look up the addresses where they lived and bring their […]

October 2025 meeting—online

Screenshot of webpage

Big news if you have early Ontario roots! The Ontario Land Records Index (OLRI) is now available free of charge online—thanks in large part to Toronto Branch volunteers! The OLRI is an index to settlers who were allocated Crown land in the province over more than 100 years, from the 1780s to the early 20th century. This land was all considered “Crown land”, but it is essential to recognize that it had been home […]

Ontario Land Records Index—now online!

man standing at edge of swamp

We launched the fall season at Toronto Branch with a bonus in-person event on Saturday September 20, in advance of our regular monthly meeting online the evening of Monday September 22. Our September 20 meeting took place in the Auditorium of the North York Central Library, located at 5120 Yonge Street at the North York Centre subway station. The theme of the afternoon was Preserving Family Archives. Our main speaker, Kyla Ubbink, runs a […]

September 2025—fall launch!

Man standing in front of a wall sign that reads Gene by Gene

Toronto Branch is thrilled to be hosting an advanced-level, full-day workshop on Y-DNA testing on October 18, led by David Vance, a worldwide expert on Y-DNA and vice-president of FamilyTreeDNA.   Y-DNA is passed down from father to son, and can be a big help to genealogists researching direct paternal lines. Develop your skills and deepen your understanding of the Y-DNA test and its potential uses with sessions on the latest from FTDNA, testing […]

Why Y-DNA? Find out!

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  • The Ontario Name Index: “TONI”
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  • St. James Cemetery

Toronto research sources

  • Research Guide
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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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  • 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

Nov
24
Mon
7:30 pm Great Moments in Genealogy
Great Moments in Genealogy
Nov 24 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
Great Moments in Genealogy @ Online webinar | Toronto | Ontario | Canada
In keeping with our November, last-meeting-of-the-year tradition, Toronto Branch members will be sharing “great moments” in their family history research in a series of short, inspiring and frequently humorous presentations. The following presentations have already[...]
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Courses starting and Workshops

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

  • October 2025 meeting—online
  • Ontario Land Records Index—now online!
  • September 2025—fall launch!
  • Why Y-DNA? Find out!
  • Learn about Ontario land records!
  • The Toronto History Lecture for 2025
  • June 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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