News about Canada's National Registration File of 1940

A few days ago I was reading the General census guide page on the Library and Archives Canada site looking for some information that used to be found on the old Library and Archives Canada site. I decided to check out the link in the Related links section at the bottom on the General census guide page for the 1940 National Registration since last year I heard some possible rumblings about Library and Archives Canada getting the material from Statistics Canada.

Before I go any further, I want to explain what this "National Registration File of 1940" is and why we have it. 

Sample questionnaire for men. Courtesy of Statistics Canada.

Sample questionnaire for women. Courtesy of Statistics Canada.

The National Registration came out of Canada's National Resources Mobilization Act, 1940 and it required all those who were 16 years or older, except for those in the military, in religious orders, or confined to an institution, to fill in a questionnaire. For us genealogy and family history researchers, we can consider this registration as a census substitute. In 2013, the Library and Archives Canada blog posted an informative article "The 1940 National Registration File" that provided details about this registration. Unfortunately for us, at that time it cost $45 to make a request to Statistics Canada to have them search for the file for a single person.

However, that may be changing in the not so distant future. 

Back in April 2025, the link to the LAC's 1940 National Registration page pointed us to the blog post.

Now it points us to a "Preserving the National Registration File" page with the following text:

The National Registration File from the Second World War is arriving at Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Statistics Canada is transferring the records to LAC in batches in June and July 2025.

We are working with care to preserve these valuable records and are temporarily pausing public access during this process. Due to years of use and the deteriorating nature of cellulose acetate film, this important collection is in poor physical condition. To prevent further damage, the records must be stored in cold storage at -10ºC. This will give LAC specialists time to develop a plan to ensure that digital copies of these records remain accessible in the future.

These records are a rich source of demographic information on Canadian individuals, even more detailed than census records. In August 1940, the Department of National War Services initiated a national registration of all persons in Canada aged 16 and older (with some exceptions). Newfoundland conducted a similar registration beginning in 1942. The resulting National Registration File includes approximately eight million questionnaire cards, which were later imaged on microfilm. The questionnaires provide details such as address, age, date and place of birth, general health, and occupation. For immigrants to Canada, the forms also record key details such as the year of arrival and the country of birth of their parents.

To make these archival records searchable and visible online, they must be:

• Assessed — we will assess the stability of the microfilms to determine whether they can be circulated without permanent damage and whether their content remains legible.
• Added to the collection — we will assign reel numbers and storage location, create archival descriptions and add entries in Collection search.
• Accessible — we will determine the best approach for digitizing and providing access to the files.

Thank you for your patience as this process moves forward. We will be updating this page with new information as it becomes available, so please check back regularly.

For those who are used to using the 1939 Register for England and Wales, this is our Canadian equivalent. It also just doesn't include the Dominion of Canada but also the registration held in 1942 for Newfoundland, which didn't join Canada until after the Second World War.

Before we all celebrate, make sure you read what LAC has written on their page, especially the "Due to years of use and the deteriorating nature of cellulose acetate film, this important collection is in poor physical condition." part. It is going to take some effort on Library and Archives Canada's part to figure out how they are going to preserve this material for digitization.

Also buried on that "Preserving the National Registration File" page is a link to the LAC Collection search entry for "National Registration File". If you have watched my talk on "Exploring Library and Archives Canada Online" found archived by Legacy Family Tree Webinars, you know that the LAC Collection search can be confusing at times but can also have interesting information buried in the details.

A few details stood out to me from the item page:

• There are 3064 microfilms in 16 mm format. There are two copies of most microfilms so we are probably looking at about 1532 films to be digitized. That's a lot of material to digitize!
• The original completed questionnaire cards were destroyed in the 1950s after they were microfilmed.
• It does not include the registration certificates that people were to carry with them at all times until the end of the Second World War. 
• The material is NOT available for us to access at this time. So don't even bother asking to see the microfilms!
• Once the microfilms have been digitized, it looks like they will be "Consultation 90 Open" courtesy of ATIP 2025-06-09 BR 439. That means no additional paperwork will be needed to view the questionnaires.

If you are curious about the instructions and the questions asked, I'd recommend visiting the "National registration comes to Canada" page hosted by Wartime Canada to read the National Registration Regulations Instructions 1940 and National Registration Regulations 1940 PDF files.

I'm really looking forward to seeing these completed questionnaires but I'm also going to give Library and Archives Canada plenty of time to figure out how to best preserve these microfilms so that future generations can use the material in their research.