Where to find the census

Canadian censuses are transferred to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) 92 years after they are conducted. Those from 1825 to 1926 are available for research in online databases. By selecting a database, you can access more information about a particular census, as well as the link to the database itself. Only one census can be researched at a time.

LAC also holds census records that have not all been digitized or put into a database, including those from 1640 to 1825. Records in microfilm format from Newfoundland and Labrador are available for the years 1921, 1935 and 1945. Visit LAC's Finding Aid 300 page to learn more about the information available from these time periods and how to access it.

There are other websites that allow you to research Canadian censuses—in some cases, multiple censuses at once—though many require a paid subscription. These databases include the following:

• Ancestry
  • 1825, 1842 to 1921
  • subscription required, free at many public libraries
  • available in English and French
• Automated Genealogy
  • 1851, 1901, 1906, 1911 and some of 1921 in New Brunswick
  • free
  • available in English only
• FamilySearch
  • 1825 to 1926; Manitoba, 1831 to 1870; and Newfoundland 1921, 1935 and 1945
  • free
  • available in English and French
• FindMyPast
  • 1825, 1842 to 1911
  • subscription required
  • available in English only
• Programme de recherche en démographie historique (PRDH)
  • 1666, 1667, 1681, 1688, 1700, 1716 and 1744
  • subscription and free versions available
  • available in English and French.

Starting your family history research

To get started, all you need is some information. Ask relatives about the names of your ancestors, where they lived, their dates of birth and anything else you can uncover. Listen to family stories and write down everything you learn. Now you can start doing some research.

Each website has its own search engine. Since most Canadian census documents come from Library and Archives Canada (LAC), we will focus on its search engine. Using the information you have gathered, choose the census you think will be most relevant. For example, if your ancestor was born in 1869, the 1871 Census would be the first to list a record of them.

Most databases allow you to search by name, place and location. Many also have the option to search by keyword, so you can look for just about anything. Then, all you need to do is use "Enter."

Once you have entered your search terms, you will see a list of results that contains additional basic information. For example, if you're looking for a John Smith in Sherbrooke who was born around 1823, the first entry below looks promising.

Choose to view the actual manuscript census as either a JPG or a PDF and then browse the list of names to find the one you're looking for. You can select the item number to see the full reference, including birthplace and religion.

Best practices to keep in mind

In an ideal situation, you would simply enter a name into a census database and be rewarded with the information you're looking for. But in many cases, research is a little more complicated. Sometimes you'll have trouble finding the information you want, and other times you'll see so many entries that it will be difficult to find the right one. Here are some suggestions to make your research go smoothly.

Check names

When it comes to using the census to research your family history, it is important to avoid searching only by name. Names provided on the census can be deceptive for a number of reasons. Sometimes names are repeated from generation to generation or they are very common. Sometimes there are errors in the database because the indexer could not read the enumerator's handwriting. The spelling of a name can also change over time.

Cross-reference

Whenever you can, it's always a good idea to cross-reference any information you find. Sometimes this means going back and forth to trace your family through multiple censuses. You can cross-reference information with birth, marriage and death certificates; city directories; immigration records; military records; and more. For example, you can imagine that there may have been more than one John Smith born in 1823 in Sherbrooke. So how do you know if you have found the right one?

Now let's say you have found your relative John Smith's marriage certificate declaring he wed a woman named Christie. After you have downloaded the image, you can zoom in and see that the census record for this John Smith shows that he is married to a woman named Christie and that together they have nine children. You know that John Smith and Christie Smith are married because it is marked in column 15. So there is a good chance you found a match. If not, you can go back to the search results and try another option.

Be creative

Research can be more of an art than a science and, in many cases, it can be helpful to take a creative approach. For example, you can try tracking your ancestor through multiple censuses to ensure you have the right person. This can mean going backward and forward in time. In other cases, you can try using several different search terms in combination. You can also find information by looking at the neighbourhood a person lived in, the kind of work they did and even how their lives changed over the years.

Don't give up!

Researching your family history can be challenging, but that's alright. This work is more of a marathon than a sprint, and it will take time. At the same time, new censuses are being released every few years, and databases are constantly being updated with new information as well as corrections. So be sure to keep checking back. If you run into problems, you can always ask for help. There's an amazing community of family historians and genealogists around the world.

Conclusion

We can learn so much about our family history through the census. Sometimes the search can leave us with some interesting questions, but it's certainly an adventure worth having. In our next post Using the census to research your family history—Part 3: concrete example, we will look at a more detailed example of a family's history through the census.

If you would like more information on using the census to do research, check out this detailed guide from LAC.

Manuscript vs. printed census

The first censuses came in two different forms: manuscript and print. The manuscript census contains detailed information about every individual in the country. This information was collected by official census takers, who are also called enumerators. Today, the manuscript census refers to the questionnaires that you fill out and send back to Statistics Canada. But before 1971, census information was actually collected by enumerators who went from door to door to interview everyone.

Once each enumerator had collected the information for everyone in their area, they would send these answers back to Statistics Canada (formerly under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture). After the manuscript census was received, it was studied for several months or years. Once this was finished, the results would be shared publicly in an official report. This is what we call the printed census.

To do family history research, you should use the manuscript census. This is because the manuscript census collects information about individual people. In contrast, the printed census contains more general information and statistics.

Available censuses

There have been hundreds of censuses in this land that we now call Canada over the last 400 years. The first official census in Canadian history was taken by the governor of New France, Jean Talon, in 1666. From 1666 to 1870, different governments would take a census whenever they felt they needed to do so. That means that for some areas, there were censuses every year, while in other regions decades could go by between censuses. In this same period, 98 censuses were conducted.

Everything changed in 1871. This was the first national census, since it was the first census taken in Canada after confederation. The earliest national censuses were taken every ten years until 1951 (except for the prairie provinces censuses, which happened more frequently). As of 1951, the Census of Population is taken every five years.

Since the information collected by the census is private, manuscript censuses are kept confidential for 92 years. It is only after that point that they're accessible for research. The most recent manuscript census to be released is from 1926.

What you can learn from the census

We can learn many things from the census. Each census is different—the questions asked may change from census to census and so do the potential responses to each question. These fluctuations reflect not only how Canadian society has transformed but also what the government wants to learn about its population. For example, censuses of the 17th and 18th centuries were often concerned with taxation, so questions were focused on property. Others were concerned with assessing military strength, being focused on enumerating soldiers and officers. More recently, the funding of government programs has become more of a concern, so the census was focused on better understanding the characteristics of the Canadian population.

In general, you can expect that most (but not all) censuses after 1871 contain the following information:

• age
• sex
• marital status
• country or province of birth
• religious denomination (since 1951, questions about religion are asked only every 10 years)
• ethnic origin
• occupation
• education.

It is important to note that the earliest censuses might be missing data. In the past, hazardous weather and even natural disasters sometimes made it impossible for enumerators to gain access to the information they needed. For example, the 1861 Census was conducted in January, so poor weather prevented information from being collected in several areas. In other cases, original records were lost to fire or suffered water damage.

In our next post Using the census to research your family history—Part 2: tips and best practices, we will suggest tips and best practices for using the census to research your family history.

The 1871 Census

The national census was established as part of the Constitution Act of 1867, also known as the British North America Act. This is the legal document that created the Dominion of Canada. This act specified that a census would be taken in 1871 and every 10 years after that.

Although we refer to the 1871 Census as national, it included only New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Manitoba and the Northwest Territories joined Confederation in 1870, but they were not counted in this census. Neither was British Columbia, which joined Confederation in 1871. The primary purpose of the 1871 Census was to determine how many members of Parliament should be accorded to each district, with reference to population size. It was mandatory so all Canadians were legally obligated to complete it.

The 1871 Census consisted of 211 questions in nine different groups (also called schedules). These included the following:

• Schedule 1, Nominal return of the living
• Schedule 2, Nominal return of the deaths
• Schedule 3, Return of public institutions, real and personal estate
• Schedule 4, Return of cultivated land and products
• Schedule 5, Livestock, animal products, home-made fabrics and furs
• Schedule 6, Return of industrial establishments
• Schedule 7, Return of products of the forest
• Schedule 8, Return of shipping and fisheries
• Schedule 9, Return of mineral products.

Life as an enumerator

To conduct the census, the government had to hire staff called enumerators. We can learn about their lives by looking at the manual for enumerators from the 1871 Census.

This census required a total of 2,789 enumerators working across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Those hired to do the job were "honest, intelligent, well-instructed, and paid close attention to detail." Sometimes they were local to the community they surveyed, while others were not. An enumerator's most important duty was being discreet and protecting the confidentiality of personal information. As the manual explains, all enumerators were expected to "bring to the accomplishment of their task that discretion generally necessary on the part of all public servants, but especially so where duties of great trust and delicacy are to be performed." In other words, they were responsible for ensuring that all information collected remained private.

Each enumerator was given "moderate size sheets of paper, with only twenty lines to write on each page." This paper was designed to hold all the responses from one schedule on a single page, in order to reduce the amount of paper shuffling. These pages would be stored in a folder or portfolio to make them easier to carry. The portfolio doubled as a sturdy surface for the enumerator to write on. Each page had a list of headings for enumerators to enter information about the area they were surveying. All pages had to be numbered in order.

Enumerators were also required to date and sign at the end of the day and on the last line of Schedule 1.

Enumerators would go from door to door to interview members of each household and record the answers. Being accurate was extremely important. If any errors were made while the information was entered, they would be corrected with a line in faint ink. Enumerators were expected to be courteous yet firm if any individual refused to respond. In these cases, individuals were warned that refusing to answer census questions could result in a fine.

Once all interviews were complete, every official sheet of paper (even those that had not been written on) were sent to the Department of Agriculture (Census Branch). It was prohibited to make copies of survey answers.

Unusual questions and responses

One of the most unusual aspects of the 1871 Census was that it was the first to collect information on the national, racial or ethnic origins of all Canadians. Previous censuses asked only about birth country and religion, so the 1871 Census is particularly important for historians because it shows the diverse nature of the country as early as 1871. Enumerators were expected to enter the exact response given by each individual.

Enumerators were also given instructions for entering the profession, trade or occupation of certain individuals. For instance, if sons worked for their fathers, they were listed as being in the same trade. So if a man was a carpenter and his son worked for him, the son was also listed as a carpenter. But any young man who was studying, whether at school or as an apprentice, was listed as a student.

Women's occupations were listed only if their work was outside their regular duties in the home. In these cases, a woman's occupation was noted as a dash "—," which was the same mark entered for children.

In Schedule 6: Industrial establishments, the manual includes very specific examples. We often think of industrial establishments as factories or large-scale projects, but according to the census manual, they were locations where people worked to manufacture, alter, create or change materials from one shape into another, for sale or consumption, regardless of the amount of output. In this particular census, mills and potteries, as well as shoe, dress and tailor shops, all counted as industrial establishments.

Conclusion

We can learn so much about the 1871 Census, the work of enumerators, and the perspectives of late-19th century Canadians just by looking at the census manual. Today, the most important point hasn't changed: being an enumerator remains an important responsibility.