- In Quebec, public death announcements began with newspaper obituaries, and in the 1960s they were also shared on the radio.
- A recent obituary can usually be found by searching the deceased’s name, adding "obituary" or "death notice" if needed.
- A very recent obituary may be on an aggregating website before search engines have indexed it.
- For obituaries from before 2000, you will need a specialized genealogy website such as Genealogy Quebec.
- Genealogy Quebec offers over 1,700,000 newspaper obituaries published in Quebec and Ontario since 1860.
In Quebec, the practice of sharing the passing of an individual on a public platform started with the publication of obituaries in newspapers. In the 1960s, obituaries were not only shared in paper media but also on the radio.
Today, Quebec obituaries are still shared in the papers but are more easily accessed on the internet.
Finding Quebec obituaries on the internet
Numerous websites exist for the purpose of aggregating and sharing obituaries. These websites are indexed by search engines such as Google and Bing, which makes it extremely easy to find an obituary on the internet.
In most cases, a simple search for the deceased name in your favorite search engine will bring you to their obituary. It may be necessary to add “obituary” or “death notice” to the research for more common names. If the obituary is present on one or many of these aggregating websites, you will usually find it within the first few results of your research.
It is possible for an obituary to be available on a website without having been indexed by the search engines. If the notice you are looking for belongs to a recently deceased person, it may be a good idea to search for it on the aggregating websites directly, as search engines may take a few days to index it.
Note that these websites are usually limited to obituaries that have been published within the last few years. For obituaries from before 2000, you will have to look into specialized genealogy websites such as Genealogy Quebec.
Quebec obituaries collections on Genealogy Quebec
Obituary section – Tombstones, obituaries, memorial cards
Genealogical research website GenealogyQuebec.com offers its members over 1,700,000 newspaper obituaries published in Quebec and Ontario between 1860 and today, 739,000 headstone pictures from cemeteries in Quebec and Ontario, as well as 100,000 memorial cards. You can try Genealogy Quebec FREE with a 7-day trial!
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Online obituaries
GenealogyQuebec.com also offers its subscribers a collection containing more than 3,000,000 obituaries from everywhere in Canada. These obituaries are dated from 1999 to today.
You can search all of the website’s obituaries and death related documents using the search engine.
Frequently asked questions
Search for the deceased’s name in a search engine such as Google or Bing and check the first few results. For common names, add "obituary" or "death notice". If the person died very recently, search the obituary aggregating websites directly, as search engines may take a few days to index it.
Obituary websites are usually limited to the last few years. For older obituaries, turn to a specialized genealogy website such as Genealogy Quebec, which offers over 1,700,000 newspaper obituaries published in Quebec and Ontario between 1860 and today.
The obituary section includes over 1,700,000 newspaper obituaries, 739,000 headstone pictures from Quebec and Ontario cemeteries and 100,000 memorial cards. Another collection contains more than 3,000,000 online obituaries from across Canada, dated from 1999 to today.
