![[Legacy Tool] The Obituary section](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6ac7f1383ced156d4cbe2ba4/6ac7f17fbbb3e0e5e5b3ffbd_GenealogyQuebecPNGmedium.png)
- The Obituary section groups most of the website’s obituaries, memorial cards and headstones into four indexed subsections.
- Internet obituaries date from 1999 to today and the collection is updated every week.
- Newspaper obituaries include close to 1,300,000 death notices published since 1860.
- The close to 100,000 memorial cards mostly pertain to individuals who died in Quebec.
- The 740,000 headstone pictures come from cemeteries in Quebec and Ontario and can be searched by inscription.
⚠️ Note: This guide pertains to one of Genealogy Quebec’s legacy tools, which are no longer updated. Their content is now integrated into the new unified search engine.
The Obituary section is one of 15 tools available to Genealogy Quebec subscribers.
This section contains a majority of the obituaries, memorial cards and headstones available on the website. It is divided in 4 sub-sections:
- Internet obituaries, which contains obituaries published online from 1999 to today.
- Newspaper obituaries, which contains obituaries from newspapers published between 1860 and today.
- Tombstones, which contains pictures of headstones from hundreds of cemeteries in Quebec and Ontario.
- Memorial cards, which contains tens of thousands of memorial cards published between 1860 and today.
All of these subsections are indexed and can be browsed using a search engine.
Internet obituaries
This section contains obituaries published online by various Canadian newspapers and funeral homes between 1999 and today. The collection is updated weekly, with the addition of many thousands of obituaries every month. It contains, as of November 2019, around 2.7 million obituaries.
Using the Internet obituaries
The internet obituaries section is equipped with a search engine allowing you to search by first name, last name, date of death and content of the notice.
In addition, the obituaries are organized by province, city and publication.
This allows you to manually browse through every obituary from a specific province, city or publication.
Newspaper obituaries
This section contains close to 1,300,000 death notices published in newspapers from Quebec, Ontario and the United States between 1860 and today.
Using the newspaper obituaries
This section is equipped with a search engine that lets you search by first name, last name as well as date of death.
It is always advisable to keep your initial search more vague and to narrow it if the number of results is too high. For example, it may be better to omit the deceased’s first name in your search if you already include their last name and the year of their death. Making several variations of your search (last name + date, first name + last name, first name + date, etc.) can also increase your chances of finding the record, in the event that some of the information entered is incorrect.
To view the full-size version of the obituary, click on it.
You can use the “%” character to search for a partial name. A search for “%” will find all the obituaries where the subject has a name beginning with “Des” (Desjarlais, Desjardins, Deslauniers, etc.). This allows you to perform more generic searches and is particularly relevant for names with multiple spellings.
Memorial cards
This section contains close to 100,000 memorial cards published between 1860 and today. Most of these cards pertain to individuals who died in Quebec.
Using the memorial cards
The memorial cards collection is equipped with a search engine that allows you to search by first name, last name and date of death.
As with the newspaper obituaries, it is always advisable to keep your initial search vague and to narrow it if the number of results is too high. For example, it may be preferable to omit the date of death in your search if you already include the name and surname of the deceased.
To view the full-size image of a card, simply click on it in the list of results.
You may use the “%” character to search for part of a name in this collection. For example, a search for “Lar%” will give you all the memorial cards whose subject has a name starting with “Lar” (Larrivière, Larue, Larramée, etc.). This allows you to perform more generic searches and is particularly relevant for names with multiple spellings.
Tombstones
This section contains 740,000 indexed pictures of headstones from various cemeteries in Quebec and Ontario. Here is the list of cemeteries available in the collection.
Using the tombstone section
This section is equipped with a search engine allowing you to search by family name or text on the stone. You may limit your search to a specific cemetery, or search within every cemetery available in the collection.
The Text field can be used to search for the names of other individuals inscribed on the stone, often the spouse or children of the couple. It may also contain the date of birth and / or death of the deceased. If your initial search does not allow you to find the gravestone you are looking for, you may want to try searching using any other information you have about the deceased. For example, you could find an individual’s headstone by looking up their year of death and their spouse’s name rather than looking for their name directly.
When you perform a search, the results will be presented as files. The files contain the name of the deceased, the name of the cemetery where they are buried, the date on which the picture of the gravestone was taken, and the text inscribed on the stone. To view the photo of the stone itself, simply click inside the appropriate file.
As with the memorial cards and the newspaper obituaries, the “%” character may be used to search for a partial name.
Useful links
Frequently asked questions
It has four indexed subsections: obituaries published online since 1999, newspaper obituaries published since 1860, memorial cards published since 1860, and pictures of headstones from cemeteries in Quebec and Ontario, all searchable with a search engine.
Yes. Besides searching by first name, last name, date of death and content of the notice, the Internet obituaries are organized by province, city and publication, so you can manually browse every obituary from a given province, city or publication.
Use the Text field, which searches the inscription on the stone. It often includes the spouse’s or children’s names and dates of birth or death. For example, searching a year of death and a spouse’s name may find a headstone that a name search missed.
Use the “%” character to search for part of a name: “Lar%” returns names such as Larrivière, Larue or Larramée. Keep your first search vague, and try several combinations, such as last name and date, in case some of your information is incorrect.
