All Our Pasts Are History
Free Canadian Ancestry Research Session
Every week I select one entry and get to work — tracing your family one step closer to that
Canadian ancestor.
This is the Opportunity
Canada changed its citizenship law in December 2025, removing the generational limit on citizenship by descent. If you can document an unbroken line to a Canadian ancestor, you may already be a Canadian citizen — with the right to a second passport and the freedom to live and work in one of the world's most stable and welcoming countries.
But citizenship doesn't arrive in the mail. You have to prove the lineage, generation by generation, with official records. That's where most people get stuck.
Millions of Americans are estimated to have Canadian ancestry. Many of them have no idea — because the Canadian chapter of the family story faded quietly, over generations, into an American identity.
My Offer To You
Every week I select one entry from the submissions and conduct a free professional research session — a detailed worked example showcasing my approach.
Depending on where you are in your research journey that could mean:
Tracing your family back one generation toward a potential Canadian ancestor
Documenting a generation you already know about but can't prove
Searching Canadian records for a Canadian-born ancestor you've identified but can't document
Whatever your situation, I work it as a genuine professional research session — the same quality of work I do for paying clients.
Who This Is For
You don't need to know whether you have Canadian ancestry to participate. This opportunity is open to anyone who:
- Suspects they might have Canadian roots and would love to find out
- Has a family story pointing to a Canadian ancestor but no documentation yet
- Has traced their family back to a Canadian-born ancestor but hit a wall in Canadian records
- Is simply curious about their family history and open to whatever the records reveal
How It Works
1. Click the button below. It will lead you to an intake form - fill it out as best you can. The questions are designed to gather the information I need to start the research.
2. Each week I select one entry and conduct a professional research session
3. I report back with everything I found — sources, document images, and next steps
4. If your case is selected, the research is featured in the following week's newsletter — shared with our growing community of Canadian ancestry seekers, anonymized unless you'd prefer to be named
Every week's newsletter tells the story of that week's research — what the challenge was, how I approached it, and what the records revealed. It's a window into the world of professional genealogical research, and a reminder that the answer might be closer than you think.
Not quite ready to submit the form, but would like to read the case studies anyway? Subscribe to the newsletter!
By subscribing, you'll receive my weekly case studies and occasional updates. Unsubscribe anytime. And, your info is safe with me. I’ll never sell or share your email address.
About Your Genealogist
I am Maria Castro, a Canadian genealogical researcher and member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. I am an active member of WikiTree with pre-1700 and pre-1500 certifications. My areas of specialty are Canadian, US, UK, Belgian, German, Dutch, and Spanish records — I have decades of experience and I read cursiv in those languages, which matters when working with original documents. My genealogy journey started as a teenager, poring over old family documents with my dad. My family hails from Spain, Germany and Belgium, my husband's from the UK.
I work personally on every case. When you hear from me, it's me.
One submission selected weekly. Selected research featured in newsletter, anonymized by default. By clicking you agree to join the weekly newsletter. Unsubscribe any time.