They Arrived via Canada

Most immigrants, 75 to 80%, entered the United States via the port of New York. However, many destined for the Midwest or seeking a less expensive option chose to go through Canada. Risa Daitzman Heywood’s presentation, “They Arrived via Canada: Tracing Canadian Manifests and U.S. Border Records,” will explore strategies for researching Canadian passenger manifests, related documents, and U.S. border entry records. Because the records went through many iterations, as the Canadian and U.S. governments worked together to close immigration loopholes, they can often be challenging to work with. The records you seek can differ depending on the time period, immigrant’s final destination, and amount of time spent in Canada. This presentation will tease out the many record collections that recorded immigrants’ journeys to and through Canada.

Risa Daitzman Heywood CG® is a professional genealogist, writer, and presenter. She has over 25 years’ experience researching Jewish families, particularly from the…