British Columbia Genealogical Society
Wintery BC
Photo Courtesy of Chris Albrecht
Welcome to the British Columbia Genealogical Society
We are a registered charitable organization with over 300 members from a variety of backgrounds and, like you, we all have an interest in researching our family history in British Columbia and beyond. We hope you will consider joining our Society.
Come to the BCGS Library to jump-start your family history research in 2026. The Library is OPEN Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10AM - 3PM.
〰️
Come to the BCGS Library to jump-start your family history research in 2026. The Library is OPEN Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 10AM - 3PM. 〰️
The BCGS would like to acknowledge the ceded and unceded Indigenous ancestral territories of BC and Canada. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn the history, culture and traditions of the First Nations Peoples, alongside our personal investigations of familial settler history and encourage everyone to reflect on the Indigenous history of the lands where they reside.
BCGS Activities and Highlights
-
Coffee Chat Registration is now live!
We have been working hard on implementing a new system for coffee chat registrations. The system is now open and you are invited to register for the coffee chats of your choice.
The dates of upcoming chats can be found on our Events Calendar below.
Please note that all previous attendee lists have been cleared so you will need to re-register for this year’s sessions.
To register for a chat, click on the entry in the Calendar for your chat then click on the Register Here link. A box will open asking for your name, email address and BCGS membership number, or for Affiliate Society members, the name of your Society and the secret word for 2026. Complete that information and click on Register. You will then see a notification that your registration is pending approval.
Once your registration has been approved, you will receive an email with the Zoom link for your chat. This may take a few days. You will also receive a reminder email a day or two ahead of the chat.
The Web Team will be making a short presentation at the Members’ Meeting on January 14th to go over the new system. If you are having any difficulty, please contact Sheila at webeditor@bcgs.ca. -
Call for Board Nominations
The March Members’ Meeting & AGM will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, 11 March 2026, at 7:30 pm. In addition to the regular meeting, elections will be held for a number of positions on the BCGS Board of Directors.
We are grateful that many of our current Board members have agreed to stand for positions on the Board.
Please consider putting your name forward if you are interested in participating.
Click on the link below to access the nomination form.
Calendar of Upcoming BCGS Local & Zoom Events
14 January 2026
BCGS Members’ Meeting
via Zoom
Members Chat - 7:00 - 7:30 pm
Meeting Starts - 7:30 pm
Members will receive a ZOOM invitation a few days ahead of the meeting. Non-members please contact info@bcgs.ca.
“What’s Up” In Genealogy in BC and Beyond
-
![]()
ProQuest - Online Access to BC Newspapers
ProQuest provides free online access to past issues of the Vancouver Sun (1912-2010), Vancouver Province (1894-2010) and Victoria Times Colonist 1884-2010) for anyone in B.C. or the Yukon.
-
![]()
Canadian Prairie Genealogy: An Online Webinar from Surrey Libraries
Canadian Prairie Genealogy: Tracing Ancestors in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
Wednesday, January 28 2026, 6–8pm
Join us to learn about family history records in the Canadian Prairies.Beginning with First Nations communities and the Fur Trade, we will look at the Red River Settlement, Métis history, and Manitoba’s role as the gateway to the West. We will also learn how the government encouraged people to move to Canada and the different ways newcomers arrived.
The session will highlight a variety of sources.
Presented by Kendra Gaede, PLCGS, BJ, BFA.Registration Required
-
![]()
Scottish Indexes Conference XXXI , online January 31, 2025
The Scottish Indexes Conference is an opportunity to learn new research skills, discover diverse records and see how others have put these into practice. If you want to trace your Scottish family tree, this is the event for you.
Don't live in the UK? No problem. We are live from 7 am to 11 pm UK time. . Each presentation is shown twice, once between 7 am and 3 pm UK time, then again between 3 pm and 11 pm. A schedule will be posted on our website a week or so before the conference.
FREE or by donation -
![]()
KDGS Meeting February 2, 2026 - Broad Context: How to Find it and Use it!
Date: Monday, February 2, 2026, 7pm, PST
Presenter: Jill Morelli
Location: via Zoom
Price: KDGS members Free; non-members $10; REGISTRATION REQUIREDBy understanding the broad context of our geographic area and the era we can interpret the evidence more accurately and thereby understand the decision-making of our ancestors more clearly. We sometimes view context as just the historical events that affected our ancestor. We will broaden that definition and explain the difference between it and social history. Examples clarify meaning and illustrate how this is a project long process and not effort applied at the end.
-
![]()
"Migration Trails"
Campbell River Genealogy Society Celebrates its 40th Anniversary - Saturday 18 April 2026
The 40th Anniversary of the Campbell River Genealogy Society is taking place this year. In celebration of this milestone, we will be hosting a genealogy conference in Campbell River on Saturday, April 18, 2026; the theme is Migration Trails.
This is an “in-person” conference.
Conference Venue:
Maritime Heritage Centre
621 Island Highway, Campbell RiverConference details and registration below.
-
![]()
Canadian Letters and Images Project
Canadian Letters & Images Project - A digitization project for those who served Canada in conflict or war. Learn how you can contribute and what has already been digitized.
-
![]()
Legacy Family Tree Webinars
The world’s most popular webinar website for genealogy and DNA testing, where you can enjoy a robust offering of live and recorded webinars presented by top speakers. Over 2000 webinars to choose from.
