Millions of Americans who have just begun researching their family history have new found cousins and branches in Canada. They are sometimes able to find these connections by piecing together what they know or can gather from their immediate family members. They can also tap the international community of Internet genealogy web sites, message boards and email lists. Confirming these connections often requires research in Canadian birth, marriage, death and census records.

Such records usually have restricted access for time periods prescribed by law to protect the privacy of living individuals. The most recent Canadian census records available for inspection are the 1901 census. However, this may be the last Canadian census ever released to the public.

The Canadian government is currently pondering a series of laws in the early 1900s which may have been motivated by taxation concerns, as well as later laws protecting privacy. These Canadian laws have been interpreted to mean that the 1901 census is the last Canadian census to be made public. Previous census data was made available after 92 years, when any person living at the time of the census was likely to be deceased. Some proposals are reported to actually include records destruction. Census returns include information on household occupants, neighbors, property, age, birthplace, ethnic origin, occupation, religion, health, economic and lifestyle issues. Irish and French groups form the largest populations of the recent century's migrations to the US, but immigrants from many countries are represented in the groups that passed between the US and Canadian borders, especially in the twentieth century.

Without access to the post-1901 census, many links to early or pre-Canadian heritage and migration patterns in prior centuries will be lost. Historians and hobbyists are not the only ones affected. The ordinary Canadian citizen's ability to challenge or correct extrapolations of census information based on outdated social policies, ignorance and statistical methodologies or provide new insight to direct medical research would be completely unavailable. Many human rights issues throughout history have been hampered by the withholding of information and destruction of important records.

On a very personal level, family histories are essential for genetic disease studies and donors. Genealogists are often involved in family research for medical issues such as locating bone marrow donors for leukemia victims. Detailed reassessments of historical information are often needed to understand the growing complexities of our daily lives. This historical information also provides perspective on the current challenges of the global economy and mobility. No other historical record can provide both the big picture and the essential details found in the census information.

Does the Canadian government have a responsibility to protect the rights of deceased persons or is the current interpretation of the law being confused with completely different concerns for privacy in today's electronic data gathering? An Ottawa genealogy web site reports a response from the office of Dr. Ivan Fellegi, Chief Statistician of Canada as follows, " There are no exceptions in the legislation that would permit the disclosure of information from the Census that can be related to individuals, without their written consent."

Genealogists and historians throughout Canada have organized the Post-1901 Census Campaign to inform representatives in the Canadian government about the views of the current constituency. Canadian Senator Lorna Milne has been working with the Census Campaign organizers to call attention to this matter. The Campaign group urges Canadian citizens living in Canada to write to their MP and sign Canada wide petitions. They are also collecting signatures on petitions from Canadian citizens outside of Canada and non-Canadian citizens with research interest in the census data.

US family researchers in the northeast region are especially affected. The 1990 US census statistics show that New England has the highest concentration of reported Canadian ancestry. It seems quite likely that the year 2000 census will reflect even higher concentrations as the recent surge in family history research uncovers previously unknown branches in the hundreds of years that migrations circled the borders.

Recently, George F. Sanborn, Jr., F.A.S.G. of the New England Historic Genealogical Society wrote to Senator Milne to voice his support:

"I am writing to you to voice my support for opening the post-1901 Canadian census records. As a Canadian citizen living in the U.S.A., I do not have an MP to whom I can write and express my opinion. I am told that you welcome letters from outside the country on this important subject.

As a professional genealogist, I live in New England and work in Boston at the New England Historic Genealogical Society where I am the Canadian specialist. I have led genealogical research tours for the Society to different parts of Canada; authored and edited books on Canadian research; and lectured all over North America on Canadian genealogical research. I cannot stress to you strongly enough how important it is to both our countries to have these records open to family historians and to scholars alike."

The September 20, 1999 issue of Maclean's, the award-winning Canadian magazine, has the cover story "The Search for Roots". The story author John Nicol made a telling comment about his visit to the Mormon church Archives in Salt Lake City, Utah: "What amazed me was how many Americans were researching their Canadian roots. ... Each story I heard added to the puzzle of putting Canada's history together."

American family history puzzle pieces are also often found in Canada. Seafarers and traders began circling the Atlantic coast and rivers before the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts colonies. Large migrations from New England occurred when a series of Maritime Province settlers in the mid-1700s, called the Planters, were given economic incentives to replace the expelled Acadians. Fleeing Loyalists and post-Revolution families who had outgrown their land moved up into the Canadian provinces during the late 1700s, often on their way into western territories.

Steamship travel aided the movements and trade between the states and the provinces throughout the 1800s. The industrial revolution and railroad lines greatly increased the concentrations of eastern Canada families moving into New England. These families went to work in the mills and the construction of towns and cities. Some branches then radiated into the rest of the states and provinces with the railroads or during the various land and gold rush periods.