Getting started

Hello all. Following C3 in December, I can claim Canadian citizenship. I am just now getting started on beginning an application.

Some background.

G0: Great-grandmother. Born in Ontario and immigrated to USA when she was ~2.

G1: Grandfather.

G2: Mother.

G3: Me.

Now, I have all the documentation for me through my grandfather. My great-grandmother is difficult, though.

I have US census records and her US marriage certificate, all of which list her as being born in Ontario or Canada. (With the exception of the 1920 census, which randomly listed her as being born in the US)

However, I cannot for the life of me find a birth certificate or any church records for her. I’ve tried so many different spellings of her name, searched for her parent’s stuff, and searched for her siblings’ stuff. None of this has yielded any useful documents. She was born and left Canada between censuses, too, which consequently means she was not on any of them.

I have done some research and have read through this forum. My understanding is that at this point, it’d be wise to contact the Archives of Ontario. They may be able to find her birth certificate—or maybe not, but either result should help my application. I just want to make sure I understand this properly.

I must admit, though. I am a college student in my early 20s—I don’t have a ton of experience navigating bureaucracy or governments. I need some help; this whole thing boils down to 2 main questions:

1. Does anyone know exactly where I should contact the Ottawa Archives/how I should go about it? I saw on their site a spot to contact them that wanted me to give them a document number—but I don’t have one, that’s the issue!

2. If I cannot find another piece of evidence, is what I have sufficient? (Clear links up to my great-grandmother and US census/marriage listing her as being born in Canada.

Thank you all for any help you may offer. I really feel passionate about this and I really hope I can get through this and get to fully embrace my heritage.