A recent change in Canadian citizenship laws has Americans scrambling to find their New Brunswick roots. The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick is currently dealing with a massive influx of requests from people south of the border looking for ancestral birth records.

Ottawa recently passed a law extending citizenship eligibility to people whose ancestors were born in Canada. As reported by CBC News, this legislative shift triggered an immediate and overwhelming response at archives across the Maritimes.

Archives Face Massive Backlogs

The Provincial Archives in Fredericton currently faces a backlog of over 1,000 requests. Staff receive an additional 400 citizenship related inquiries every single month.

“If they can prove that they were in this place through descent, then they are eligible to become Canadian citizens,” Provincial Archivist Joanna Aiton Kerr told CBC. She noted the calls began in December and show no signs of stopping.

Aiton Kerr views the workload as a core part of their mission. “It’s certainly an increase in work, but the reason archives exist are to connect individuals who are seeking information with that information,” she said. “It’s the job, so we will cope.”

The Challenge of Finding Old Records

If you have ancestors from New Brunswick, you will find that locating old records takes significant time. Many historical documents remain undigitized. Vague requests complicate the process further.

“We get the types of requests where someone says, ‘I think my great grandparents lived in Saint John or in that area, probably in the early 1900s,'” Aiton Kerr explained. “That’s gonna take more work. We need more information.”

New Brunswick also lacked strict birth registration laws until 1888. The province did not widely enforce these rules until the 1920s.

Daphne Wetmore is the president of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society. She told CBC that requests are non stop. “There’s huge gaps in the birth registrations and a lot of these people are looking for a colour copy of a birth certificate from 1840,” Wetmore said. “They just don’t exist.”

A Life Changing Discovery

For some Americans, this legal change opens new doors. Ken Schmahl lives in California but traces his roots to a farm near Florenceville Bristol. He spent years researching his New Brunswick history.

When his daughter informed him about the new citizenship rules, he immediately contacted the Provincial Archives. Schmahl and his daughter are now applying for Canadian citizenship. He is even looking for jobs in Vancouver.

“I thought, if I retired, wouldn’t it be great if I could live up here,” Schmahl said. “But I can’t get citizenship, so, you know, it’s not going to happen. Then my daughter called and said, ‘You can get citizenship.’ That changes everything.”

Concerns Over Commitment

Not everyone celebrates the new rules. Daniel Bernhard is the CEO for the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. He worries the law creates citizens who lack a genuine connection to the country.

“This now kind of creates a sort of second less emotionally resonant, less patriotic, less committed citizen who will hold on to Canadian citizenship in some other home country just in case,” Bernhard told CBC.

Schmahl understands these concerns but plans to fully integrate if his application succeeds. “I would have to become involved in the goings on of Canada. It would have to be my new country,” he said.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are Americans requesting New Brunswick birth records?

A new Canadian law extends citizenship eligibility to people whose ancestors were born in Canada. Americans are requesting birth records to prove their descent and apply for citizenship.

How long does it take to get a record from the Provincial Archives?

The massive surge in requests pushed the expected wait time to about eight weeks. Visiting the archives in person in Fredericton speeds up the process.

Are all historical birth records available?

No. New Brunswick did not require birth registrations until 1888 and did not strictly enforce the law until the 1920s. Many older records simply do not exist.