My grandefather was adopted in 1912 but ontario did not legalize adoption till 1921. Who would have handed adoptions before it was legalized and how would i get a hold of them ?

Was he adopted or was guardianship transferred from his birth parents to those who raised him? If it was a private 'adoption' you may find note of it in church records. If it was a guardianship transfer you'll have to seek out court records.

My great grandmother was born on the 16th of July 1880 on a boat from Scotland name unknown. I am trying to get a copy of her birth certificate but have not got any where, any ideas or the name of the boat would be of great assistance.

Until a ship docked any births, marriages or deaths would likely be filed under the ship's country of origin. As for the name of the ship involved, check the passenger lists for your great-great-grandparents.

I found someone in the 1871 census index and I want more information on this person. Now what?

Don't assume that what you see in the index is all there is - this index only shows heads of households and strays, so to get the rest of the family's names, you are going to have to order the microfilm. This is worth the extra time and effort! It will tell you the names and ages of every family member, as well as place of birth, religion, occupation, and other information too. See if you can order it by Inter-Library loan through your local library or Family History Center.

What are the census film numbers for Interlibrary Loan?

The National Archives published them in a book called Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm. Actually, there are two books; one covers 1666-1891 and 1901 has a book all to itself. Both are available online

Is there an index to the census for a certain township, for a certain year or for all years?

See our page on Census Records page for information on full-year indexes. For local census indexes, if an index exists, and we know about it, it'll be listed on our books page.