Ancestry.ca has added a new Canadian set of records, but I have yet to find much detail in them that would prove useful to my research. Then again, it could be because I only searched for common names, such as Smith, Jones, and Green, and almost none of my ancestors settled in Western Canada. It also appears that only records for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba exist, which makes sense for homesteading during that time period.
The database is called Canada, Soldier Homestead Grant Registers, 1918-1931. Ancestry tells us these are single-line register entries. Apparently, some of the entries contain more than name, date, and lot, but I could not find any after a fairly quick search.
Nevertheless, it is always worth entering family names in any new database, because we never know what may appear.
This is Ancestry’s description of the database:
With the end of the First World War and the troops that would be returning from Europe in mind, Canada’s 1917 Soldier Settlement Act, and its 1919 revision, made land grants and loans available to soldiers. A person who had been in active service during the First World War and who was eligible for a free homestead entry under the Soldier Settlement Act was known as a Soldier Settler.
These records consist of single-line register entries noting applications for grants. Entries list name, homestead number, date of application, date of grant, land description, area (acreage), fee, application number, district number, list number, and remarks.
The early books also contain reference to the date of first occupancy, the expiry of term, folio general register, and patent reference number.
