The Provincial Archives of Alberta has good news — and bad news — for researchers who are anxious to look for their ancestors’ birth, marriage, and death records.
First, the good news. The 2026 release of Alberta’s vital statistics has officially arrived at the Provincial Archives of Alberta.
This past week, the archivists started unboxing the 1950 marriage registrations for public access. A number of marriages from that year are already in the index. Also available, perhaps in part, are the 1905 births and the 1975 deaths, which were released this year.
Now, for the bad news. Alberta’s birth, marriage, and death records are not available to view online.
You must first search the online index to find a person’s name, location, year of event, and registration number.
Once you have found the record in the index, you can make a request and pay for your vital statistics record by completing a Vital Statistics Request.
The good news is the fee for ordering a digital record is only $5.25. A photocopy is only $1.05, but you’ll have to pay mailing costs, which are $5.25 within Canada and $10.50 outside Canada.
Information and access to the indexes can be found on the Find Birth, Marriage and Death Records page. These indexes are also on Ancestry.
