Canadian Military Records for Citizenship by Descent

Library and Archives Canada holds more than 600,000 fully digitized service files from the First World War, plus separate collections from the Second World War. Each file records the soldier's place of birth, date of birth, and parents' names. If your ancestor served in the Canadian military, that service file may be the most specific birth evidence available when no civil certificate exists.

Canadian citizenship by descent traces through birthplace and lineage. A CIT 0001 application requires proof that each generation in your chain was born where you claim, or that a link naturalized as Canadian. When a civil birth certificate is unavailable, IRCC accepts alternative evidence including military records, alongside census records, church records, and hospital records.

Military service files are original-source documents created by the Canadian government at the time of service. An attestation paper signed at enlistment in 1915 noting a birthplace of "London, Ontario" is contemporaneous, official evidence, not a later reconstruction from memory.

The records are most useful for ancestors born between roughly 1870 and 1925, the generation most likely to have served in the First World War or the early years of the Second World War. These are the same birth years where provincial civil registration was inconsistent or delayed.

Library and Archives Canada has fully digitized the service files of every Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) member who served between 1914 and 1918. In November 2023, LAC integrated this collection into its main database, Collection Search. The records are free to access at recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca.

Every CEF soldier signed an attestation paper at enlistment. The form captured:

• Full legal name at time of enlistment
• Date of birth (day, month, year)
• Place of birth (town and province, or country for foreign-born soldiers)
• Marital status and next of kin (name, relationship, full address)
• Occupation at enlistment
• Physical description (height, complexion, eye and hair colour)

For citizenship purposes, place of birth and next of kin are the most valuable fields. If the attestation paper shows your great-grandfather was born in Truro, Nova Scotia, and lists his father's name and Truro address, you have direct evidence of Canadian birth and a generational link between two people in your chain.

Go to recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca and search by surname under the CEF Personnel Files collection. The database supports wildcard searches, which helps when a name appears under variant spellings across records. Most files include digital images of the attestation paper as the first document; download and save the pages you need before submitting your CIT 0001 package.

The Second World War collection is not fully digitized for public access, so the approach depends on whether your ancestor survived the war.

If your ancestor died in service between 1939 and 1947, their file is available through LAC's Second World War Service Files collection at bac-lac.gc.ca. Search by name for direct access. The Canadian Virtual War Memorial at veterans.gc.ca is a useful starting point: it records name, service details, and burial location for all Canadian war dead, confirming whether your ancestor died in service before you decide where to request records.

If your ancestor survived the war, their service file is not online. Submit an Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request to Library and Archives Canada at aiprp-atip.bac-lac.gc.ca. There is no fee.

Include the veteran's full name, date of birth, service number if known, branch of service (Army, Navy, or Air Force), and approximate years of service. LAC provides digital copies of the file. The statutory processing period is 30 days, though complex requests may take longer. LAC completed 85% of ATIP requests within the statutory timeframe in 2025 after clearing a significant backlog. For Regular Force members who served before 1998, requests can also go directly to the Department of National Defence at canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/contact-us/military-records.html.

Military records work best as corroborating evidence alongside another source, not as the sole proof of birthplace.

Consider James from Connecticut, whose great-great-grandfather David was born in Nova Scotia around 1878. No civil birth certificate exists for David from that period. James found David's CEF attestation paper through LAC's collection search, showing David's birthplace as Truro, Nova Scotia, and his father's name and Truro address as next of kin. He also pulled the 1881 Canadian census, which confirmed David as a child in Colchester County with his parents listed.

Together, the attestation paper and census entry established David's Nova Scotia birth and his parents' names. James included both in his CIT 0001 package with a brief cover letter explaining that David was born before consistent civil registration in Nova Scotia. That combination satisfied IRCC's documentation standard.

If your ancestor's attestation paper lists a Canadian province as their birthplace and names a parent whose name matches other records in your chain, that file is strong evidence for that generation's birthplace on its own. Government-created, contemporaneous, and original-source. Where you still need additional documents is the rest of the chain: the marriage certificate connecting that ancestor to a Canadian-born parent, or the birth certificate of the generation between you and your Canadian ancestor.

One important note: the attestation paper records where the soldier said they were born. If the place of birth listed is a Canadian province or city, it is strong evidence. If it lists the United Kingdom, Ireland, or another country, the record shows your ancestor was not born in Canada, even if they later naturalized. Read that field carefully before building your application around it.

Cross-reference the military record against census records and provincial vital records as described in the Library and Archives Canada research guide. If the CEF file names a parent, search the 1901 or 1911 Canadian census at bac-lac.gc.ca to confirm that parent's birthplace. You may extend your chain further back than you expected using records that are already free online.

For the full picture on what IRCC accepts when a civil birth certificate does not exist, see the guide to proving Canadian ancestry without a birth certificate.

MaplePass identifies which records you need for every link in your chain and reviews your document set before you submit. Our guided CIT 0001 application is $199 at getmaplepass.com.