How I did it: In my case, I used a website. I checked over a few things with grandparents (names that go back as far as they could remember and the like) to verify that the website was giving me the right information, but beyond that I went with what made sense. Different sides of the family were more difficult, but on one side I managed to trace back 8 generations (which was as far as my trial membership would let me get, unless I wanted to switch to a different type) to find out where the side of my family I previously knew nothing about originally came from. 

Lessons & tips:

• Try to verify things, since you could get way off track if you input the wrong name/records as being correct
•  If you're trying to be quick, just focus on parents, rather than brothers and sisters and so on of your family, so you don't get bogged down in going sideways rather than back 
• Unless you want to track everyone, and amass records and such, a trial membership should be as long as you'll need - then you can just print it off and you're good to go (I believe you can also access your account, although not all the services you enjoyed while on trial, after it's cancelled if you choose to do so) 
• If an entire family is interested, it's much more manageable financially (if a full membership is desired) to have different members who are interested pitch in to cover costs, and you can report your findings back to them  

Resources: Ancestry.ca

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Jan 22, 04:44PM PST | 1 comment | 8 cheers