By Tamie Dehler
Like the United States, Canada also has a trove of census records that are useful for those wanting to research their Canadian ancestry. But Canada’s history is very different from ours. The first Canadian census was taken in 1666. At that time, Canada was called New France and was held by the French. This early census recorded 3,215 inhabitants of New France.
In 1757, France ceded its lands in what is now Canada to the British. The land was divided into Upper and Lower Canada in 1791 and became Canada West and Canada East in 1841. These territories soon became the first provinces, Ontario and Québec. In 1867 Ontario, Québec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united to become the Dominion of Canada. Manitoba was annexed in 1870, British Columbia in 1873, Prince Edward Island in 1875, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, and finally Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949.
Starting in 1831, there was a census roughly every 10 years, enumerated on the first year of each decade. Because of the different dates that the provinces were admitted into Canada, plus extra interim censuses taken in some provinces, the following list for each province should prove helpful. (This information was taken from the New England Historic Genealogical Society Web site at www.neweng
landances
tors.org/research/services/arti
cles_intro_canada_census_records.asp#).
Censuses were enumerated in the following provinces in the years indicated: Alberta 1881, 1891, 1901; British Columbia 1881, 1891, 1901; Manitoba 1831, 1849, 1870, 1881, 1891, 1901; New Brunswick 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901; Nova Scotia 1770-71, 1785-87, 1791-95, 1811, 1817-18, 1827,1838, 1851, 1861, 1871,1881, 1891, 1901; Ontario 1801, 1803, 1842, 1847, 1848, 1850, 1851, 1861,1871,1881,1891, 1901; Prince Edward Island 1841, 1860-61, 1881, 1891, 1901; Québec 1666, 1667, 1681, 1811, 1813, 1825, 1830, 1831,1832-35, 1842, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1901; Saskatchewan 1881, 1891, 1901; the Territories 1891, 1901.
In addition to this list, there have been national censuses released for 1906, 1911, and 1916. According to Canadian law, a census cannot be opened to the public for 92 years. This would make the 1921 census scheduled to be released in 2013.
Censuses conducted before 1851 list only the heads of households; starting in 1851, the following details were recorded: name, age, sex, country or province of birth, religion, racial or ethnic origin, occupation, and marital status. From 1901 onward, each person’s actual date of birth was recorded. French Canadian women kept their maiden names throughout their lifetime and can be found on the census under their maiden names. The children took the surname of the father. By 1881, some of these women were using their husband’s surname, and be 1901 all were. In 1851 and 1871, the deaths that occurred during the census year were recorded (not unlike the American mortality schedules). The 1851, 1861, and 1871 censuses also contain an agricultural census. The 1871 census recorded the most extensive information, including eight additional schedules for deaths, public institutions, real estate, cultivated land, livestock and animal products, homemade fabrics and furs, industry, forest products, shipping and fisheries, and mineral products.
The Canadian censuses were originally not searchable by surname, but by geographical region only. Gradually, various groups and Web sites have created surname indexes and search engines. The returns from 1851 to 1916 have been digitized and can be found on various Internet sites.
