Rumour about BC Archives this year digitizing birth records from 1904 has been somewhat exaggerated. Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking.
According to an announcement from the provincial archives, we’re going to have wait until Spring 2026.
In early May, BC Archives said that the Vital Statistics Agency had been working to provide birth registrations from 1904 to the archives. That led to some of us expecting to see the records this year.
It has been a long time since new birth registrations from BC have been made available online. For the last two decades, the most recent birth registrations have been from 1903. In 2004, the British Columbia Vital Statistics Act added an extra 20 years to the release of births, extending it to 120 years.
In the meantime, we can search earlier birth records, along with marriage and death registrations in BC Archives’ genealogy section on its website.
