Are you researching ancestors who lived in the Yukon Territory? On this page, you will find information about records held at Library and Archives Canada and the Yukon Archives. There are also links to online resources and to other institutions, societies and government agencies.
On June 13, 1898, Yukon became an official territory of Canada.
Before that:
- The first peoples were Indigenous, including First Nations such as Dene, Gwich'in, Nahanni and Tlingit, and Inuvialuit who are the western Artic Inuit.
- European settlement began in the 1800s with the fur trade, followed by gold prospectors.
- In 1895, Yukon became one of four districts within the Northwest Territories. The others were Franklin, Mackenzie and Ungava.
- In 2003, the name changed from Yukon Territory to Yukon.
Civil registration (birth, marriage and death records)
Civil registration is a territorial jurisdiction. In Yukon, the records start in 1896, although the registrations are incomplete before the 1940s. The records are held by Yukon
Vital Statistics. The records are not available online.
Adoption and divorce
The Yukon Archives holds court records prior to 1950, which include some divorce files. Later records are still in the custody of the Yukon Courts.
Courts and criminal records
Library and Archives Canada holds the following records:
-
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Record Group 18)
- B Division, Register of cases tried, Yukon, 1899 (RG18, volume 2452, microfilm
T-4512)
- H and B Division, Register of cases tried, Whitehorse, 1901–1922 (RG18, volume 2456, microfilm
T-4513)
- Police goal record, Dawson, 1899–1903 (RG18, volume 3075 [old volume 1], microfilm
C-2152)
- Convict register, Dawson, 1899–1926 (RG18, volume 3076 [old volume 2], microfilm
C-2152 and
C-2153)
- Police Court record, Whitehorse, 1901–1947 (RG18, volumes 3077 and 3078 [old volumes 3 and 4], microfilm
C-2153)
- Yukon newspaper clippings, court cases, 1904–1905 (volume 3086 [old volume 12], microfilm
C-2154)
Other records are held in the
Courts in Yukon.
Land records
Records are held at the
Land Titles Office in Yukon.
Wills and estate records
The administration of wills and estates is a territorial responsibility.
The Yukon Archives holds a collection of estate files, 1897-1950, which include wills and other documents. See
Estates.
For information about estate files after 1950, contact the
Supreme Court Registry.
Other resources
-
Library and Archives Canada
Census
To find out about other types of records for genealogy research, visit our Genealogy and Family History pages, including Topics.
For any of the following records that are not digitized, see
how to access the records.
Yukon Territorial records (Record Group 91)
Library and Archives Canada holds microfilm copies of some records that are now in the custody of the Yukon Archives, including:
- Applications for liquor licenses, 1898–1901 (RG91-B-2, microfilm M-2883). For information about the records, read the "Scope and content" section of the
series description. To find out if there is a file for an ancestor, use
Collection Search. In the search box, enter the keywords "RG91," "liquor" and a surname.
- Applications for town lots in Dawson, 1898 (RG91-B-3, microfilm M-2882) To find out if there is a file for an ancestor, use
Collection Search. In the search box, enter the keywords "RG91," "Dawson" and a surname.
- Applications for marriage licenses, 1901–1917 (RG91-B-4, volume 76, microfilm M-2883) These records are indexed by name in our
Births, Marriages and Deaths Recorded in Canada database. See the section on
the records for information about the records and how to order copies.
RG91 includes other records relating to a variety of subjects. The Registers and indexes series includes the following records:
- Patients transferred from Yukon to the British Columbia General Hospital for the Insane, 1899–1908
- Death register, 1898–1903
- Journal of court transcripts, 1898–1899
Those records are found in RG91, volumes 220 to 226, on microfilm M-2979 and M-2980. They are itemized in a paper finding aid (91-1), which is only available on site. Many of the records are indexed in
Yukon Genealogy.
There are other records in RG91 that are indexed by name in our
Collection Search database. In the search box, enter RG91 and a surname.
Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Record Group 85)
In the Northwest Territories and Yukon Branch series, there are some files relating to individuals. You can explore that series in
Collection Search. In the search box, enter RG85 and a surname.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police: B Division: Yukon general administration records (Record Group 18)
This series includes records kept by the North-West Mounted Police (NWMP), since they administered the entry of people into the territory:
- Steamer passenger lists, inwards and outwards, 1899–1900 (RG18, volume 3084 [old volume 10], microfilm
C-2153 and
C-2154)
- Register of persons, inwards and outwards, 1898–1900 (RG18, volumes 3079 and 3080 [old volumes 5 and 6], microfilm
C-2153)
- Register of persons incoming and steamer passenger lists, inwards and outwards, 1898–1899 (RG18, volume 3085 [old volume 11], microfilm
C-2154)
You can search for names in
Yukon Genealogy. In that database, references to the above lists are found in the Dawson City Museum Pan for Gold section. If you find a reference, you can use the date and other details provided to look for the actual record in the digitized microfilm listed above.
Department of Militia and Defence (Record Group 9)
The
Yukon Field Force (1898–1900) was sent to the territory during the Klondike Gold Rush. The pay lists are not indexed by name, but they are available on digitized microfilm (RG9-II-F-7, volumes 11 to 13, microfilm
C-4494, images 223 to 596).
-
Yukon Archives
The territorial archives holds many sources for genealogy research. Consult the following links:
Many of the Yukon Archives' collections are indexed by name in the
Yukon Genealogy database.
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Other websites