37 Million French-Canadian Records

Quebec records spanning 346 years from 1621 to 1967 have just been put online by genealogy Web site Ancestry.ca (also available on Ancestry.com). The new database of digital images as well as fully searchable indexes from the historic Drouin Collection, and will eventually include 37 million names taken from baptism, marriage and burial records of Quebec, as well as a compilation of church records from Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and various New England states.

The Drouin Genealogical Institute was founded in 1899 by a lawyer named Joseph Drouin, who used Quebec's vital records to research and sell family genealogies. His son took over the business in 1938 and dedicated himself to microfilming and indexing Quebec's vital records. The Drouin Collection is considered by many as the world's best resource for researching French-Canadian family history.

Over 12 million images from the collection were launched in 2007. Now, in partnership with The University of Montreal, Ancestry.ca has indexed the collection. Over 29 million searchable names from 1850 to 1967 are available now with this launch, with the remaining 8 million indexed names expected to be available for searching by mid-2008. Records in the Drouin Collection can be searched in French or English (a majority of the collection is in French, so be sure to try both French and English words and spellings), by name, date, place, church or institution, and religion. The collection is only available online through a subscription to Ancestry.ca or Ancestry.com. If you don't have a subscription, they are currently offering a 14-day free trial. Yes, you have to give a credit card - but as long as you cancel before the trial period ends (and you can cancel online), then your card won't be charged.