Priests enumerate 44 settlers in the colony of New France.
1608
Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
1617
Louis Hébert and his family, the first colonists, settle in Québec.
1665-66
Jean Talon enumerates 3,215 inhabitants in the first census of the colony of New France.
1847
The Census and Statistics Act of 1847 is passed, providing for a decennial census and the registration of births and deaths in the United Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.
1851
The first decennial census is taken.
1864-1905
Legislation enforcing the registration of births, marriages and deaths with the civil authorities is passed by various provinces.
1867
The British North America Act creates the Dominion of Canada through the union of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
1871
The first census of the Dominion of Canada is conducted. Published results include the compilation of vital statistics on the French Roman Catholic population of Quebec from 1608 to 1871.
1879
The Dominion of Canada's first Census and Statistics Act provides for the decennial Census of 1881, and for the collection, abstraction and tabulation of vital, agricultural, commercial and other statistics.
1881
Census takers are required to take an oath of secrecy.
1898
An American Public Health Association meeting in Ottawa recommends the adoption of the International Classification of Causes of Death by registrars of Canada, the United States and Mexico.
1905
Canada's first permanent Census and Statistics office is established.
1915
The Office of the Dominion Statistician is created.
1918
The Statistics Act of 1918 is passed, creating the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
1919
An Order-in-Council detailing the establishment of a national system of vital statistics is approved by the dominion government.
1921
The first detailed report on vital statistics is published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, covering eight provinces.
1926
A national vital statistics report covering all of Canada (i.e., nine provinces plus the Yukon and Northwest Territories) is published.
1935
Improvements are made to registration techniques and procedures (e.g., revision of the medical certificate of death).
1941
The fifth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-5) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
1944
National tabulations on births and deaths begin to be reported by place of residence, in addition to place of event. The impact of the proposed social legislation for family allowance is discussed at a special vital statistics meeting.
1945
The national scheme of Family Allowances is implemented on July 1.
1945
The original Dominion Provincial Agreement of 1918 is revised.
1945
The Vital Statistics Council of Canada is created.
1946
Record linkage is discussed at the Vital Statistics Council.
1946-47
Development of the National Index is discussed at the Vital Statistics Council's meetings.
1949
Uniform Vital Statistics (Model) Act is adopted. The principles found within this new Model Act then become the basis for provincial vital statistics legislation.
1949
Newfoundland enters Confederation, and statistics for that province are assumed by the national system of vital statistics.
1950
The sixth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death (ICD-6) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
1956
First quinquennial census. Previously, censuses had been conducted every ten years since 1871.
1958
The seventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-7) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
1960
The Dominion Bureau of Statistics receives its first in house computer.
1965
The Standard Geographic Code (SGC) becomes the Bureau's standard geographical classification system.
1966
Canadian life tables are produced by computer for the first time.
1969
The eighth revision of the International Classification of Diseases-Adapted (ICDA-8) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
1969
The Divorce database is created at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
1971
The Statistics Act is revised.
1971
The Dominion Bureau of Statistics is renamed Statistics Canada.
1973
The United Nations publication, Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, makes reference to Canada's national vital statistics.
1973
Vital Statistics Council meeting is held in Quebec City, starting the routine of holding every second annual meeting outside of Ottawa.
1973
Statement of Policy Governing Access to and Release of information from vital statistics records for research and statistical purposes was adopted by the Vital Statistics Council.
1974
Computerization leads to a major redesign of the vital statistics processing system at Statistics Canada.
1979
The ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) is implemented in Canada.
1980
Principles of vital statistics registration were discussed by the Vital Statistics Council.
1988
Creation of the National Health Information Council (NHIC).
1989
Health Division becomes the Canadian Centre for Health Information (CCHI) at Statistics Canada.
1989
Health Reports, a Statistics Canada Quarterly, is launched.
1990
National Health Information Council (NHIC) commissions a National Task Force on Health Information.
1993
Incorporation of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
1994
Canadian Centre for Health Information (CCHI) becomes the Health Statistics Division at Statistics Canada.
2003
Following provincial court rulings in 2003, vital statistics registries in Ontario and British Columbia started registering marriages of same-sex couples.
2004
Subsequent rulings by courts in Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon expanded the number of jurisdictions registering same-sex marriages.
2005
A court ruling in New Brunswick allowed same-sex marriages, a month before federal legislation legalized same-sex marriages across Canada, on July 20th, 2005.
2010
Marriages and divorces programs cancelled by Statistics Canada.
