Your family tree is a list of leads, not evidence
How to verify a family tree before using it for a Canadian citizenship by descent application
By Carolyn Watson, RCIC-IRB, CEW Immigration Consulting.
The short version
Use the Source, Holder, Link test on every document. If it can’t pass all three, it stays out of the file.
Source: where did this document come from?
Holder: who holds the original?
Link: how does it connect to the person in my chain?
Canadian records must come from the archive or church that holds them. US records are more flexible.
Cite every record, and keep a log of every search that came up empty.
Processing for a citizenship by descent application is currently running past 33 months, and it’s likely to get longer. More people than ever are building trees with online genealogy sites and AI tools, and those tools can repeat errors already sitting in other trees. The wrong link found in year three costs you years. I found one in my own tree: a man credited with Revolutionary War service who died years before the war began.
This post is a serious look at how to check a lineage for citizenship by descent. It’s written for people who want a clear decision on their file: what goes in, what stays out, and what’s still missing. You may have a tree that looks finished, or a folder you can’t make sense of. Either way, you’d rather have someone read it the way an officer will than spend your weekends in archives.
What did my family tree claim, and what held up?
I started on FamilySearch out of curiosity. It told me 25% of my ancestors came to Canada from the United States, a figure that may be an underestimate. The tree took my line back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony around 1640 and said several ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, one of them at Valley Forge.
I checked each generation the way I check a client’s file. Here is what I found.
What the tree claimed | What I checked | Result |
The line runs back to Massachusetts around 1640 | Massachusetts birth records, then US censuses placing the family in New York City and upstate New York by the 1790s | Held |
My 6th great grandfather Thomas fought in the Revolution | Vital records for his death | He died in 1761. The soldier was his son Thomas, my great uncle, a 15 year old fifer |
A 5th great grandfather was at Valley Forge | Revolutionary War rolls for New Hampshire, not Massachusetts, his home state | He served as an 18 year old private in New Hampshire for 28 days in 1778 and again in 1780. He is not on the Valley Forge rolls |
The family crossed into Canada | US censuses, then Methodist baptism and marriage records in Ontario, then Library and Archives Canada (LAC) census records in the 1840s | Held. They stop appearing in the US in the 1820s. The first Ontario baptism I found is from 1823 |
The Revolutionary War rolls were where I found the family. A couple of brothers served, and one was a captain. In Ontario, the earliest evidence of the family was in Methodist church records, and the census confirmed them later. I found the 1823 baptism through LAC, which holds the record, so the image I have comes from the source.
The lineage held and the war stories only partly did. One ancestor’s birth record still cannot be found. I found her brothers’ records on either side of her birth, one born in upstate New York and another in Ontario, with the same parents, and that closes the gap.
Why do family trees get ancestors wrong?
Four patterns showed up in my own tree, and they appear in most trees I see.
Reused names. The same first names repeat across generations, so a father and son, or an uncle and nephew, are easy to mix up. In my tree, two men named Thomas, one dead in 1761 and one a fifer in the war, had become one person.
Transcription differences. The indexed name on a site can differ from what the original image shows.
Trees copying trees. One wrong parent can be repeated across a hundred trees, which makes the error look confirmed.
Missing sources. Many tree entries do not say where the information came from.
If you have a folder of records and a tree with five men of the same name, this is why you can’t tell which one is yours.
What records does an officer accept for a citizenship by descent application?
An officer looks at each document and at where it came from. The strongest records are primary documents: civil records issued by a vital statistics office, and naturalization certificates. They aren’t always available, especially for 19th century ancestors.
Secondary records fill the gaps. These are baptisms, church marriages, death records, and census entries. Their dates of birth often vary a good deal from one record to the next. With enough of them pointing to the same person, a case can be made, and a short explanation of each difference helps the officer follow it.
Canadian documents must come from the archive that holds them, whether that is LAC, a church archive, or another repository. US documents are more flexible, because Ancestry digitizes NARA collections, but birth, marriage and death certificates should come from the office of vital statistics.
How do I check a family tree with the Source, Holder, Link test?
I’m an RCIC-IRB with a PhD in History, and I spent years doing archival research before I started immigration work. The test below draws on both. Ask three questions about every document:
Source. Where did it come from?
Holder. Who holds the original?
Link. How does it connect to the ancestor in my chain?
If a document can’t pass all three, it stays out of the file. Then work in this order:
Use the tree to find the archive, church, or vital statistics office that holds each record.
Get the record from the office that holds it, or cite it properly if you’re using an image from an online repository.
Read it against the ancestors in your chain. Check names, dates, places, and parents.
Write a short explanation for every difference between records.
Keep a log of every record you searched for and could not find: where you looked, when, and what the office told you.
A proper citation includes the names of the people in the record, the type of record, the original repository, where you obtained it, the URL if it is digital, the date of the record, and the date of your search.
When a birth record doesn’t exist, other records can support the link. A census entry, a baptism entry, or siblings’ records with the same parents on either side of the missing date can carry it. This works only when your search is documented and gaps explained through evidence.
What does working with me look like?
The IRCC document checklist does not list which ancestry records to send. It asks you to show your Canadian ancestry, and how you do that is up to you. That’s where most people stall.
I work in two ways, and start with a paid consultation and or a service agreement:
A consultation for specific questions. You have a few minor issues and want a professional read on them. You receive a written summary of our consultation.
Full service. I take the tree or the tangle of records, work out which documents belong to which person, and put together a complete application. It cites the primary and secondary documents properly, explains the gaps, and backs up missing documents with evidence. You get your weekends back.
Every file I prepare includes a written explanation for each difference between records, written for the officer who will read it. I do limited, targeted searches. When a file needs deep genealogical research, I pass that to a specialist.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a family tree site or an AI tool as proof of my ancestry?No. Use them to locate records, then obtain or cite the records themselves.
Do I need a certified copy of every record?Not necessarily. The document has to come from the source that holds it, so in many cases that means a certified copy. Properly cited screen prints from Library and Archives Canada are also acceptable.
What if my ancestor’s birth record does not exist?Look for other records that support the same fact, such as a baptism entry, a census record, or siblings’ records with the same parents. Document every search you made.
Can church records be used instead of civil records?Yes, in many cases. Baptism and marriage entries can carry a link when they come from the church or archive that holds them and are cited properly.
Next step
On Saturday, November 14 at 1pm ET I’m teaching a free one hour webinar, Your Path to Canadian Citizenship: Proving Descent with Confidence. We cover what birth and death certificates prove, when you also need a marriage record or census entry, and how to explain your lineage so an officer can follow it. Registered attendees can watch the recording for a few days afterward. Register here.
If you have a tree you can’t make sense of, or one you want checked before you file, send me a message with what you have and where you’re stuck. I’ll tell you whether a consultation or the full build fits.
General information only, not legal or immigration advice. For advice on your situation, consult an RCIC licensed by the CICC or a lawyer licensed with a provincial law society.
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