Ocean Arrivals, Form 30A, 1919-1924

About the records

From 1865 to June 30, 1921, passenger lists (RG 76), which contain information such as name, age, country of origin, occupation and intended destination were the official record of immigration. The passenger lists from 1865 to 1921 are arranged by port and date of arrival. Between 1919 and 1924 the Department of Immigration and Colonization introduced the use of the Form 30A as the official record of immigration.

From June 1, 1921, to December 31, 1924, passengers were required to complete and submit to the immigration officer the individual manifests (Form 30A, RG 76 C1j) at the ports of arrival. The Form 30A was a substitute for the large sheet passenger list manifests that had been previously in use. A separate form was required for each passenger and a parent or guardian was asked to fill out the form for a child. Passengers in transit to the United States were not required to fill out the Form 30A.

The use of Form 30A was inconsistent. Some immigration offices were using them as early as 1919, while some offices continued to use the sheet manifests as late as 1922. For the years from 1919 to 1922, a passenger's name might appear in one or both series. If you cannot find a reference to your ancestor in Forms 30A, then we recommend that you search the passenger lists for that period.

The use of Form 30A was discontinued as of January 1, 1925. From that date, the use of large sheet manifests was reinstated.

The Form 30A records were transferred to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) by Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 1997. The microfilm reels were produced by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration during the 1950s and 1960s. The originals were destroyed after the microfilming.

Each Form 30A usually included the following details:

• name of ship;
• date of sailing;
• port and date of arrival;
• name;
• age;
• occupation;
• birthplace;
• race;
• citizenship;
• religion;
• destination; and
• name of the nearest relative in the country from which the immigrant came.

Note that in the earlier version of Form 30A used in 1919, the names of accompanying dependents were usually included with the head-of-household, not on separate forms.

Definitions and explanations of terms used on Form 30A

Returning Canadians: That question was intended to identify passengers who were born in Canada who had not become aliens and British subjects who had been residents in Canada and were returning to Canada after a temporary absence. Returning Canadians were required to answer only questions 1,2,4,5,6,8,9, 13 and 14. All other passengers were required to answer all questions.

Race or people: Race was traced through the father; for example if the father was English and the mother was Scottish, the race or people was English.

Object in going to Canada: Passengers were instructed to write “To make my home” or “to visit”. Returning Canadians were instructed to write “Returning to my home”.

Destined to: An explanation was required concerning the passenger’s intended destination and their relationship to the person whose name was given as well as the Canadian address. If no name was given; passengers were instructed to write the full Canadian address of the destination.

How the Records Are Arranged on the Microfilm Reels

Forms 30A were microfilmed in quasi-alphabetical order. For each letter of the alphabet, surnames are arranged in groupings based on the initial letters of each name. For example, surnames starting with Ada, Adc and Add are grouped together starting with given names beginning with A. Such a grouping could include the following arrangement of forms:

Anne Adair, Benjamin Adcock, Christopher Addison, David Adair, etc.

Other examples:

Johann Wurmlinger, Kaarlo Wutala, Katarzyna Wusik, Ulrich Wurzer

Giovanni Lemmetti, Joseph Lemoigne, Margaret Lemon, Yvonne Lemoine

Adam Downey, Alexander Dow, Ann Dowd, Arthur Downes

Some of the more common surnames, such as Smith, Adams, MacLeod and Bennett, are grouped separately.

The microfilm reels have been digitized and the images appear in the same order as on the microfilm reels. You can browse through the images as you would through a microfilm reel. You can move through the images one by one, or skip ahead by entering a new page number in the page navigation box. The records are not searchable by name.

For more information about the Form 30A records, consult the archival description.

Important Note

When consulting the Form 30A records, be aware that in most cases each form was microfilmed with the backside first, followed by the front of the form.

Please note that spelling variations of names were common before the mid-1900s. Many names were written phonetically, as they sounded to the person recording them.

How to Obtain Copies

You can easily print the images or save the images on your own computer.

Use the following link for other options such as borrowing microfilm.

How to Access Library and Archives Canada Records

Other Resources

Other archival immigration records exist. Consult our Genealogy and Family History page on What to Search – Topics: Immigration and Citizenship for more information about those records.

List of Content of Microfilm