Research With Us

Please email or call the Archives to book appointments to use original records stored in our  Collections Room. Appointments should be made at least a week in advance of your visit. If you are not a resident of Perth County or Stratford, a small admission fee will apply. Please see our Hours & Announcements page for our current hours. For those wishing to use resources like microfilms, stored in the Reading Room, we welcome drop-in visitors during our open hours. 

Before or during your first visit, you will be asked to fill out a Registration Form and given a researcher card to use when you come back. 

All researchers must agree to the Rules for the use of Stratford-Perth Archives Collections. 

You will have access to a public computer workstation / microfilm reader with:

• Ancestry Library Edition where you can view Canadian census collection (1841-1921); Voters lists, travel and immigration records, and vital statistics such as Birth, Marriage, and Death records
• Local newspapers (on microfilm and via the Stratford-Perth Archives newspaper database)
• Indexes to early birth, marriage and death announcements
• Local directories
• Perth County OGS Cemetery Headstone Transcriptions
• Finding aids for collections at Stratford-Perth Archives
• Local Township history books 

When you book a research appointment, staff will work with you to determine what materials will be most relevant to your request. When you arrive, the material you requested will be waiting at your workstation. For more information about collections available, please see the Finding Aids and Digitized Collections page.

If you are unable to visit the Stratford-Perth Archives, we can do about an hour of  research each year on your behalf. Please email, call, or write us a letter with your query. We ask that you include what you would like us to research (what you want to find out) including relevant names, dates, and places, as well as a list of resources that you have already consulted.

A fee of $30 an hour will be applied for any additional research. We take credit cards over the phone and accept cheques made out to the County of Perth. 

We can make photocopies of materials for researchers unless the item is too fragile. Please consult with a staff member before using images for social media, publication, or display.