Land records at Library and Archives Canada
Upper Canada Land Petitions (RG 1 L3)
The records have been indexed and digitized. Read the database main page for information about the records. Under "How to obtain copies" there is a link to the digitized microfilm.
Database: Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865
Upper Canada Land Books (RG 1 L1)
After a petition was submitted, the Executive Council of Upper Canada made a decision of granting or not granting a Crown land. The record of those decisions are in the minutes, commonly known as the Upper Canada Land Books. These books contain the deliberations, decisions and recommendations of the Land Committee of the Executive Council of Upper Canada.
The microfilm copies of those books are digitized on Héritage. For a list of contents of each microfilm reel see Upper Canada Land Books, February 1787 – February 1841. That page also includes search tips and other resources.
The Ontario Ancestors (Ontario Genealogical Society) indexed the records by name. The Index to the Upper Canada land books (9 volumes) is available in book format in many libraries. It was also published as a CD-ROM. Copies of the books and the CD-ROM are available in the Genealogy reference room at Library and Archives Canada.
Upper Canada Sundries (RG 5 A1)
This collection includes some petitions for land, 1791 to 1841. The index to those petitions is included in the following database.
Database: Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865
The records are digitized on Héritage. For more information about the records and a list of contents of each microfilm reel see Upper Canada Sundries, 1766-1841.
Upper Canada Land Board, 1765 to 1804 (RG 1 L4)
Land Boards were established in 1789 to facilitate settlement in the districts then known as Hesse, Nassau, Lunenburg and Mecklenburg by granting certificates of location to the early settlers. The records include, minutes, reports, correspondence and instructions or regulations for the operation of the Land Boards.
The index of the Upper Canada Land Board is available online. It includes names of settlers and references to the original records (volume, page and microfilm numbers).
Database: Land Boards of Upper Canada, 1765-1804
The microfilm reels are digitized on Héritage.
Lower Canada Land Petitions (RG 1 L3L)
This series includes some land petitions and documents relating to the part of the colony of Québec that later became Upper Canada (present-day Ontario), up to and including 1791.
Database: Land Petitions of Lower Canada, 1764-1841
Heir and Devisee Commission - Upper Canada, 1797 to 1854 (RG 1 L5)
The Heir and Devisee Commission was established in 1797 to clarify the titles to lands. Records can include affidavits, bonds, location certificates, powers of attorney, orders-in-council, copies of wills, mortgages, deeds of sale and testimonial letters.
Library and Archives Canada holds most of the records of the first Heir and Devisee Commission (1797 to 1804) and some of the records of the second Commission (1805 to 1854). These records have been microfilmed, but there is no index by name. The records are arranged by district, then by type of document (RG1 L5, volumes 1 to 104, microfilm H-1133 to H-1153). For more information about these records, see the archival description (Mikan 205142).
Heir and Devisee Commission: List of districts, descriptions, volume numbers and microfilm numbers.
A more detailed description of the content of each volume can be found at the start of each microfilm reel.
Those microfilm reels are digitized and can be viewed free on our partner website Héritage.
Other Heir and Devisee records are held at the provincial archives, as described below.