British Columbia Genealogical Society
A British Columbia Vista
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.
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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
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Coffee Chat Registration is now live!
The new coffee chat registration 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. -
Highlighting our members' blogs
The French Canadian Genealogist
My name is Kim Kujawski and I’m originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. I grew up in a small Franco-Ontarian village with a German-born father and Québec-born mother. I'm fluent in both French and English, and conversational in Spanish. My love for genealogy began over a dozen years ago and I’ve been researching my own family, and that of many others, ever since.
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BCGS AGM and Members' Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the BC Genealogical Society was held on Wednesday, March 11, 2026 at 7:30 pm via Zoom. A big thank you to all our members who attended.
We offer a warm welcome to our
2026-27 Board of DirectorsPresident: Linda Fleury
Vice President: Terri Mackenzie
Vice President: Jan Graf
Treasurer: Sheldon Johnson
Society Secretary: Jane Baggott
Administrative Secretary: Moyna Laing
Past President: Eunice RobinsonDirector (2024-2027): Claire Belzer
Director (2024-2027): Kim Kujawski
Director (2025-2028): Debra Cole
Director (2025-2028) Carol Rudek
Director (2026-2029): Lynne Fletcher
Director (2026-2029): Tara Sutherland
Calendar of Upcoming BCGS Local & Zoom Events
8 April 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
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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.
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Ulster Historical Foundation - FREE Online Workshop
Friday 13 March, 16:00-17:00 (GMT)
With a particular focus on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this illustrated presentation explores how we can find out more about our emigrant ancestors from Irish records. The talk will highlight the potential value of church records, census returns, landed estate papers, testamentary papers, workhouse records, gravestone inscriptions, newspapers and Valuation records, to name a few, in helping us to understand when, where, why and how our ancestors left these shores.Presented by William Roulston, with input from colleagues Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt, this lecture is free to attend but registration is advised to secure your place. The talk will be also be recorded for those of you unable to join live.
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KDGS: March 24 Family History Forum
March 24, 2026: A Person of Interest: leveraging the FAN Club to Reveal your Ancestor – a Case History
Researching the FAN Club (Friends, Associates, Neighbours) can unlock surprising information about your ancestors! This case study will describe how George RAMSAY, the 9th Earl of Dalhousie intersected with several of Claire Smith-Burns’ ancestors lives and led to some exciting discoveries.Date: Tuesday, March 24, 2024, 6:30pm PDT
Presenter: Claire Smith-Burns
Location: via ZoomREGISTRATION REQUIRED -through the Okanagan Regional Library’s Events: https://orl.libcal.com/calendar/kelowna/fhf
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"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.
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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.
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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.
