Original Ship Registers
An abstract of ship information which includes most of the surviving ship registers in Canada can be found in the Naval Marine Archive’s Ships database.
Most of the surviving manuscript registers were microfilmed at Library and Archives Canada and are available via the Héritage site of Canadiana.ca. A handful have not yet been digitized. This collection reproduces the microfilm. Unfortunately, a number of reels are titled by only one of the array of registers on that film. The links below are to the first reference for that port
Montreal: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_134562
Note: Due to an odd twist in British Imperial and provincial legislation governing vessel registration, for over 20 years American built hulls could not be acquired by Canadians and placed on the provincial registry, but could be registered on the British imperial registry, the closest port being Montreal. Consequently, many vessels built in the United States and bought by Canadians were registered in Montreal even though they were incapable of transiting the locks of the Welland or St. Lawrence canals. In addition, many Canadian vessels registered in Montreal occasionally or routinely traded on the Great Lakes if they were of a size to transit the canals.
Belleville: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3191/686
Bowmanville: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3188/265
Brockville: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2471/550
Chatham: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2472/96
Cobourg: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3184/259
Deseronto: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2470/565
Dunnville: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2470/369
Erieau:
- (reel C-3191) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3191/747
- (reel C-3192) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3192/5
Goderich: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3188/389
Hamilton: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2465/103
Kincardine: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2471/640
Kingston:
- (C1210) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1210/331
- (C-1211) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1211/670
- (C-1212) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1212/1
- (C-1213) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1213/1
- (C-2473) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2473/1
Napanee: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2471/453
Newcastle: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2471/477
Oakville: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2470/445
Port Rowan:
- http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3188/154
- http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3188/310
Picton:
- (C-2434) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2434/354
- (C-2435) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2435/4
Port Arthur: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3188/633
Port Burwell:
- (C-2435) https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2435/164
- (C-2471) https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2471/643
- (C2472) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2472/5
- (T12336) https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_t12336/9
Port Dover: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2471/73
Port Stanley: https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_t12336/58
St. Catharines: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c1214/3
Southampton: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2058/15
Toronto:
- (C3192 http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3192/234
- (C-7635)http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c7635/6
Wallaceburg: (C-3191) http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3191/565
Note: additional volumes of registers were reported on C-1214, C-3185 and C-1473 that were not located on the digitized versions of those reels
Whitby: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2470/527
Windsor: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3187/5
Notes:
Owen Sound: reported to be on C-7635 which appears to be all Toronto
Milford: C-390 (not digitized yet.
Ports in Ontario not on the Great Lakes:
Lindsay: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3188/318
Ottawa: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c2472/166
Peterborough: http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c3191/429
Register of vessels closed out (1904-1964)
The Closed out registers include documentation gathered at the national level each year as vessels passed out of registry. Typically the following year the vessel is dropped from the List of Shipping. A significant number of these registry documents can be searched by vessel name through the Archives Search option at the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) site. Not all of them have been digitized yet. Or they can browed via the link below
Browse registers at Library and Archives Canada
Canada Shipping List
The Canada Shipping List went through a variety of titles, and was only published intermittently before 1901. In 1917, the first pages of the List covered the international Rules of the Road, and the specific set for the Great Lakes.
1877: http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08052_11_3/18
1886: http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08052_20_14/751
1895: http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08052_29_8/819
1898: http://eco.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_08052_33_10/34
1901: https://archive.org/details/sessionalpaperso369canauoft/page/n337
1902: https://archive.org/details/sessionalpaperso379canauoft/page/n29
1903: https://archive.org/details/sessionalpaperso389canauoft/page/n29
1904: https://archive.org/details/sessionalpaperso399canauoft/page/n341
1905: https://archive.org/details/n09sessionalpaper40canauoft/page/n793
1906: https://archive.org/details/n09sessionalpaper41canauoft/page/n235
1907: https://archive.org/details/n10sessionalpape42canauoft/page/n803
1908: https://archive.org/details/n12sessionalpaper43canauoft/page/n341
1909: https://archive.org/details/n12sessionalpaper44canauoft/page/n169
1910: https://archive.org/details/n14sessionalpaper45canauoft/page/n133
1911: https://archive.org/details/n15sessionalpaper46canauoft/page/n897
1912: https://archive.org/details/n16sessionalpaper47canauoft/page/n121
1913: https://archive.org/details/n16sessionalpaper48canauoft/page/n531
1914: https://archive.org/details/n17sessionalpaper50canauoft/page/n49
1915: https://archive.org/details/n17sessionalpaper51canauoft/page/n409
1916: https://archive.org/details/n13sessionalpaper52canauoft/page/n345
1917: https://archive.org/details/n09sessionalpaper53canauoft/page/n313
1918: https://archive.org/details/n08sessionalpaper54canauoft/page/n167
1919: https://archive.org/details/n07sessionalpaper56canauoft/page/n147
1920: https://archive.org/details/n07sessionalpaper57canauoft/page/n737
1921: https://archive.org/details/n07sessionalpaper58canauoft/page/n39