This how-to is for getting a certified copy of baptismal, marriage, and burial records from 1924 or earlier. These can be requested from BAnQ, la Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec (the National Library and Archives of Québec).

IF THE NEEDED RECORD IS WITHIN THE LAST 100 YEARS, this doesn’t apply to you and you will need to reach out to Service Québec and/or the État Civil. 

1. Find the record (ancestry.com, the BAnQ site, the Drouin collection, etc.). 

2. Go to the page linked in this post. The page appears only to be available in French; fear not, you can ask for service in English. 

3. Fill it out. 

Nom: your last name
Prénom: your first name
Courriel: your email
Confirmation du courriel: your email again
Adresse: your street address
Ville: your city (include state if US)
Code postal: postal code or ZIP code
Pays: country (États-Unis d’Amérique for US)
Province/Territoire: province/territory
Langue de correspondance: language (Anglais)
Téléphone: phone number

Choose either basic service (15 working days) or accelerated processing (5 working days, costs double). 

4. Click on Ajouter un document (add a document)

5. Fill it out:

Baptême (baptism) / Mariage (marriage) / Sépulture (burial)

Nom et prénom de la ou des personnes impliquées: last and first name of the person in the record (there are two lines for this, add parent names if a baptismal record)

Date de l’acte: date on the document (for baptisms this is the baptism date, not the birthdate)

Nom de la paroisse: Parish name (f.ex., Church of England)

Lieu: location (f.ex., Sherbrooke)

Nom du centre d’archives conservant le document: name of the archival centre that has the documents (should be in the scan, if not pick the nearest city, use Google Maps)

Nombre de copies certifiées: number of certified copies

Nombre de copies non certifiées: number of non-certified copies (can’t leave this blank, choose 0)

Format de reproduction (PDF, photocopy, high resolution, only paper copies can be certified)

Informations complémentaires: additional information (you can send this in English)

Fichier joint: Attached file. IMPORTANT: upload the photo of the record here so they can find it faster!

6. Click ajouter un document if you need another document.

7. Fill out billing information:

Modes de livraison: post, pickup, or email. You will need to choose poste. 

Courriel pour le paiement: email address to send the bill to 

Courriels additionnels pour la facture: additional emails to send a copy of the bill to

8. Check the box that says « Utiliser les mêmes informations que Vos Coordonnées »

9. Click Soumettre (submit). 

You will get an « accusé de réception » (confirmation of receipt) and then you will get a separate email asking you to pay. The 5- or 15-day clock starts once you pay. 


HOW-TO: Requesting a certified copy from Québec (pre-1925)