Our Ancestors

Simon Fraser, famed BC explorer, as his name appears with
his siblings and widowed mother, on Folio 62, of the “Old
U.E. List”, preserved in the Crown Lands Dept., Toronto
- from the Haldimand Papers, (formerly RG1, L7, Vol. 52A),
Library and Archives Canada
(Click here for high resolution)

Number of Loyalists

Loyalists came from each of the Thirteen Colonies. While some historians put the number of Loyalists as a percentage of the total American colonial population as high as 33%, it is also estimated that over 80,000 United Empire Loyalists went into exile after the American War of Independence.

More than half that number fled to the colonies that were to become the Dominion of Canada.

Today, while approximately 10% of Canada’s population can trace their family lineage back to these United Empire Loyalists, many Loyalist descendants also live in the USA, the Caribbean Islands and other commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand.

Our ever-growing list of United Empire Loyalists is constantly being updated. Look for your ancestors' names in the Dominion site's Directory of Loyalists.

If you are interesting in researching and documenting your own Loyalist lineage, please click here for a starting point and contact information.