Immigrants from the Russian Empire, 1898 to 1922
Search for names of immigrants from the Russian Empire who had contact with the Russian consular offices in Canada.
On this page
Search tips
- Start with a broad search and narrow your results from there
- In All these words, enter a last name or a keyword.
- Try various spellings of the name or use the * wild card character (for example, Alex* for Alexei, Alexander, Aleksandr)
- Keywords could be an ethnicity or a country, such as "Lithuania"
- Optional:
- In Year of birth, enter a year or a range of years
- In Religion, leave the option at "All," or select from the drop-down box
If you cannot find the person in the database, browse the Likacheff-Ragosine-Mathers collection index. It has digitized images of the original index cards showing:
- how a name was spelled
- alternative names that may have been used (for example: “Abaeff, Basile," see "Abaev, Vasilii-Adzyrt”)
About the records
From the mid-1880s to the early 1900s, the Russian Empire had consulates throughout North America. The Russian Empire included areas that are now Ukraine, Eastern Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and other eastern European regions.
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has microfilm copies of the Canadian consular records from Montréal, Vancouver and Halifax, known as the Likacheff-Ragosine-Mathers (LI-RA-MA) collection. It is named after the last Russian consuls in those cities. The collection includes genealogical information for immigrants who had contact with the consulates for documents or services.
The collection includes:
Passport and Identity Papers (MG30 E406, volumes 37–121, microfilms M-7620 to M-7672, M-8270 and M-8271.
These files are about Russian citizens who requested documents or services at a consulate in Canada. Most were applying for new Russian passports (because of the change of regime in 1917) or for travel visas to Russia. Some needed to prove their Russian citizenship, so they would not have to register for the 1917 wartime conscription into the Canadian Expeditionary Force. These records are digitized and searchable.
The files may include:
- the questionnaire and photograph needed to get a new passport
- documents to prove identity or to show previous Russian military service
- correspondence with family members
- passports from other countries that were once part of the Russian Empire
There are three other files on microfilm:
- Operational Records of the Russian Consulate-General in Montréal (includes the Russian Vice-consulate in Halifax)
- Operational Records of the Russian Consulate in Vancouver
- Registers and journals of the Russian Consulate-General in Montréal
For more information on the files, see the description of the Likacheff-Ragosine-Mathers collection. It has:
- an overview and historical background (in English only)
- brief descriptions of each series (in English only)
- a full description of the Passport and Identity Papers series (in English and French)
- issues with recording and translating names, including tips for spelling Ukrainian and Finnish names (in English and French)
- a sample of the applicant questionnaire (in Russian)
- translations of the questions asked (in English and French)
- an explanation of the fields in the index cards (in English and French)
Access the records
The Passport and Identity Papers series of the Likacheff-Ragosine-Mathers collection are digitized in the database.
For the other records in the series that are not digitized, you will need to see them in person. If you cannot visit us in person, you may want to order copies or hire a researcher.