...helping you research your family history around the world...

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society (SGS) was formed in 1969 by a group of people who were interested in promoting the study of family history, preserving heritage documents and collecting materials for the study of this discipline. Today the society has branches throughout the province and members scattered throughout the world, the largest genealogical lending library in Canada and a professional certification program.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer of SGS, see the Saskatchewan Heritage Resources Directory Project Volunteer Registration Form.  The form asks you where you would like to volunteer and what kind of volunteering your would like to do.

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society has the following program and services that can help you trace your ancestors:

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society Bulletin

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society Bulletin is a quarterly journal designed to inform the membership about genealogical resources in Saskatchewan and throughout the world.

Saskatchewan Genealogical Library

SGS Library is the largest genealogical lending library in Canada. The collection consists of books, gazetteers, maps, indexes and copies of actual records to help the family historian to search their roots from Saskatchewan to other parts of Canada and throughout the world. The public is most welcome to come and study the books but only members can borrow the books and use the extensive microfilm/microfiche collection. Members who live anywhere in Canada are able to borrow books through the mail.

The Saskatchewan Cemetery program was undertaken to locate and record burial sites in Saskatchewan. To date SGS has located more than 3,357 cemeteries and/or burial sites in 299 Rural Municipalities in the province. SGS has cemetery records for more than half of these sites. This is an on- going program.

Every now and then it is useful to review the procedures for locating or recording cemeteries. For experienced recorders the following is a refresher and for those going out to record their first cemeteries there may be some important points you hadn’t thought of. 

The SGS Obituary File contains about 750,000 obituaries from Saskatchewan newspapers. The majority of the obituaries date from 1983, but there are obituaries dating back to the 1880's. This is an on-going program that is added to weekly.

SRI is a database. It is an ongoing program to index the names found in the cemetery collection, local history books, Cummins Maps, Voters’ Lists and other books that list Saskatchewan residents. Currently there are over 2.7 million names in the database.

The printout from the index was designed to provide the following information.

If any of the information is absent, it is because there was no information given for that field in the original source.  See SGS Saskatchewan Resident Index (SRI) for research services and fees.

Saskatchewan Heritage Resources Directory (SHRD)

SHRD is a new project designed to locate and identify heritage resources in Saskatchewan. This program will be placed on the Internet in the next few months.  See Saskatchewan Heritage Resources Directory (SHRD) for more information.

Workshops are provided through SGS Library, the branches around the province, community colleges, the Internet and at special events such as the annual meeting, the annual seminar and the Family History Fair. Certification courses are offered to members who wish to become certified Saskatchewan researchers or instructors.

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society offers a Basic Research Service that checks homestead indexes, cemetery indexes, local histories, the obituary file and the Saskatchewan Residents Index. The applicant or a researcher supplies a written report that lists the findings and makes recommendations for further research that can be conducted.

Some branches of Saskatchewan Genealogical Society offer research services for their particular area. SGS has a list of the branches that provide this service or you can contact them directly.