A New Way to Trace your Alberta Roots

Looking for a long lost relative? Doing research on your family history in Alberta? As a centennial gift to the province, the Alberta Genealogical Society has developed the online Alberta Homestead Index. With around 250,000 entries, the database is a record of all homestead applications made in Alberta between 1870 and 1930.

Unlike other databases, such as census results that require an exact land title location, people interested in researching their family history only have to enter a surname to get a listing of all homesteaders with that name. In addition to the land location, the Alberta Homestead Index database gives users an index number for microfilms found in the Alberta Provincial Archives. An archivist would still have to retrieve the microfilm for anyone interested in a specific listing.

The Alberta Homestead Index is more complete than other records of its kind. The database provides not only who had the title, but anyone who also claimed it, the application for homesteading and letters between the homesteader and the land titles office.

More information

Alberta Genealogical Society

Provincial Archives of Alberta