Canada Day Special on Ancestry!

Ancestry.ca is offering free access to their Canadian records for Canada Day! Offer ends July 3, 2016

Register (free registration) then start your search for your Canadian ancestors on Ancestry.ca or Ancestry.com

Happy Birthday Canada!

Canada Day is a celebration for everyone even though some are working today and taking the holiday on another day. It's still a celebration – whether you’re enjoying fireworks, outdoor concerts or fun with friends and family.  

What are you doing on Canada Day? I'm spending time with my son and his family before they move to Colorado. We'll barbeque and laze around the pool for the day. 

For Canada Day events from the Government of Canada, see

Canada Day from Coast to Coast to Coast

Celebrating Canada Day from coast to coast to coast on July 1, 2015! Come back soon for more information and follow on Twitter at #CanadaDay.

Celebrate Canada Day with FREE Access to Ancestry.ca!

To celebrate Canada Day ^[FN1], Ancestry.ca is providing free access to all 235 million Canadian records on their site. The offer is in effect until July 1, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

You will need to register (for free) with your name and email. A username and password will be emailed to you which you can use to log in to view the free records. After July 1, 2015, you will only be able to view these records using an Ancestry.ca paid membership. 

^[FN1] On July 1, 1867 Canada became a new federation with its own constitution by signing the Constitution Act - formerly known as the British North America Act. Canada Day is a national statutory holiday celebrated in all provinces and territories.

Happy Canada Day, eh!

The Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. In typical British-Canadian ways, it didn't require a Revolution to spark the formation. It wasn't nationalistic pride. No, it was an orderly and planned start to uniting what was then called British North America. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia,  Canada West (Ontario) and  Canada East (Quebec) formed the new Dominion of Canada. Other provinces and territories were slowly brought into the Dominion in later years.

We Canadians should be proud of the formation of our country. We should celebrate Canada Day with remembrance of how Canada began and the steps it took to becoming an independent nation. Instead we spend more time thinking about a 3-day weekend with a 2-4 in the back yard and a barbeque with friends. (For those unfamiliar with our Canadian lingo, a 2-4 is a case of 24 beer). Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with wanting to spend holiday time with our buddies! We Canadians are passionate about our summer barbeques after our long, often brutal winters. But are we as passionate about our country?

One man who is, is TV personality Rick Mercer. His pride in Canada and passion for encouraging the rest of us to step up and care recently earned him the honour of being awarded the Order of Canada. i wish more of us were like Rick Mercer - committed to our country, caring about its future and passionate in trying to change things for the better.

I'm not one of those. Yes I care about Canada. I am proud to be a Canadian (and believe me I know many Canadians who shrug their shoulders and dismiss such pride with a "whatever..."). But I don't have the energy and motivation that is needed to encourage more patriotism.

I wish we as Canadians knew more about the history of our country- the Loyalists who settled here and opened up what had been wilderness, the  various wars Canadian soldiers fought in. I doubt that many Canadians could name our Prime Ministers, even our first one Sir John A. MacDonald!

But in general our culture and way of life doesn't permit passionate nationalism. It's just  not the way it's done - don't make a scene, don't stand out, be polite and reserved are traits we are taught from childhood. And those are all good things! But I sure would like to toss in a little flag-waving pride to that mix. And we have so much to be proud of! If you can't think of anything, please take a few minutes to read 50 Great Gifts Canada Gave the World

As for me, I'm staying quietly at home this Canada Day but I'll be thinking about all the wonderful things I love about Canada and how our nation came into being. For all my Canadian friends and family, Happy Canada Day, eh!!

You Know You Wanna Be Canadian

My friend and fellow blogger Kathyrn Lake Hogan of Looking4Ancestors posted this nice summary of Canadian Confederation on her Facebook page this morning: On 1 July 1867, the provinces of Canada (Canada East & Canada West), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia joined together under the term of Confederation to form the Dominion of Canada. 

Today is our celebration of Canada Day! What are Canadians like? We're polite, respectful, generous, easy-going and we have cute accents! Watch this video called "Canadian Please" and see if you can resist the temptation to be Canadian