Researching Mennonite Genealogy: Immigration, Land, Census Records

• Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization Data Extraction Project
  The Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization (CMBoC) of Rosthern, Saskatchewan created a registration form for each family that came to Canada from the Soviet Union under its auspices (1923-1930). These forms were cross-referenced to the ledger books which recorded the transportation debt, which the CMBoC owed to Canadian Pacific Railway. See also: Index to Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization Registration Forms (1947-1964). See also the digitized scans.
   
• Russlaender Immigrants to Ontario: Sources and Stories
  This site commemorates the arrival of "Russian Mennonite" immigrants from the Soviet Union to Ontario beginning in 1924. Digitized church registers, primarily from the 1920s, are included.
   
• Library and Archives Canada Genealogy and Family History
  This site provides access to census, citizenship, immigration records, and more. Check back frequently as digitization projects are ongoing. Of particular interest for Mennonite genealogy:
   
• Citizenship and Naturalization Records

  From 1763 until 1947, people born in Canada, Great Britain or the Commonwealth were all British subjects. Before 1947, aliens could petition for naturalization.

• Archives of Ontario birth, marriage, death, estate, immigration, and land records.
  Many Ontario vital and census records are available through the FamilySearch Historical Records Search database. You need to create a free account to search this site.
   
• Ontario Land Registry Access (OnLand)
  OnLand is the online information source from the Ontario Land Registration and Writs system. The site is still being developed. 
   
• Vernon's Directories Project on Familysearch
  City directories were a popular publication for many Ontario municipalities from the 1880s through to recent years. These directories typically contained both an alphabetical listing of all inhabitants as well as a street directory listing all inhabitants. There were a number of publishers of these directories, however one of the best known may be the Vernon’s City Directories, which began publishing around 1897 and finally ceased publication in 2014.  This project is ongoing, and more directories are being added.
  
  Note that you will need to create a free account on Familysearch and be signed in, or else the link Vernon's Directories Project on Familysearch will not work.

• Microfilm copies of census records (1842, 1851, 1861, 1871) for areas in Ontario with significant Mennonite populations.
• Microfilm copies of land transactions (surveyor's records and Upper Canada land petitions) from the Archives of Ontario and Library Archives Canada.
• Microfilm and digitized copies of the Einwandererzentralstelle (Immigration Center) files of the German government, containing information on approximately 2.9 million ethnic Germans who were processed by the center for immigration and naturalization during the war. These files include data on Mennonites who made their way to Germany in the Fall of 1943, as well as information on their immediate ancestors. Note: These files are only accessible in-person at the Archives.
• Canadian Mennonite Board of Colonization Ontario Sub-Committee Lists. Lists of Russian Mennonite immigrants arriving in Ontario in 1924, and their Swiss Mennonite hosts and billets, in pdf format.

Published censuses of various areas with Mennonite populations as well as books on the history of Mennonite land settlement and migration are located in the Milton Good Library. Search the catalogue for subjects such as: census, migration, emigration, immigration, settlement and land.

Selected Books About Land Development in Waterloo Region