Census records are one of the most useful sources for genealogical research. They can help you discover when and where your ancestor was born, the occupations of a household’s members, what year an immigrant arrived in Canada and many other details.
Census returns were enumerated geographically (according to a person’s residence), not by an individual’s name. The information for each sub-district was recorded in the order in which the enumerator visited each household. Many genealogical societies and individuals transcribe and index census returns by name and make them accessible.
Our census indexes page provides you with helpful links to these indexes. Starting in 1851, a census for all of Canada was held every ten years, with the addition of a census specifically for the Prairie Provinces in 1906 and 1916.
Of course, genealogists and family historians are always eager to consult a new census and we have been receiving questions about the 1921 Census and when is it going to be available.
The 1921 Census of Canada
Census returns after 1916 are in the custody of Statistics Canada, not Library and Archives Canada. The records are closed under the Statistics Act and the Act to Amend the Statistics Act [www.parl.gc.ca/common/Bills_ls.asp?lang=E&Parl=38&Ses=1&ls=S18&source=Bills_Senate_Government]. Under the legislation, when 92 calendar years have elapsed since the taking of a census, those records will be opened for public use and transferred to Library and Archives Canada.
The 1921 Census was taken on June 1st, which means that it will be in the custody of Library and Archives Canada on June 1, 2013. Our intention is to make it available to researchers online, in the same format as previous censuses, as soon as possible after that date.
A few facts about the 1921 Census:
- it was taken on June 1, 1921
- it is the sixth comprehensive decennial census to be taken since the creation of the Dominion
- there were five schedules with a total of 565 questions
- 241 commissioners and 11,425 enumerators were employed
- the most important growth of the population was in the prairie provinces with 47% since the 1911 Census
- the overall population of Canada was 8,788,483 individuals
Share some of your research tips!
Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!
Will LAC please inform us:
– in what form the census exists, microfilm, original pages, something else?
– what measures are being taken to ensure “as soon as possible” is sooner rather than later?
Thank you for your questions. In 1955, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics asked the Public Records Committee (PRC) to destroy the paper census schedules. After consultation, the PRC agreed on the condition that the population schedules be microfilmed; as a result a microfilm copy is the only remaining archival holding of Census records.
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will digitize the microfilms for the 1921 census and make them available online as JPEG and PDF images.
LAC is aware that these records are key elements to genealogical research and are highly consulted; LAC will be pulling from its past experience to have these images added shortly, after their release date of June 1, 2013.
Pingback: · Ruth’s Recommendations
Will all five schedules be available? Do all exist?
Thank you for your question. For the time being, we cannot provide you with a definite answer; we will only know more once the actual microfilms are transferred to Library and Archives Canada from Statistics Canada. However, based on previous censuses, it is likely that only Schedule 1 was kept and microfilmed.
My understanding is that the Canadian government has a name index to the 1921 census. Is this correct? Is it with Statistics Canada or with another department? Is it already in the queue to be transferred? This will be of immediate assistance to researchers and surely easy to digitize / distribute, although a fuller free Canadian 1921 indexing project will still be needed.
I regret to inform you that the Canadian government has no nominal index for the 1921 census. As is the case for previous Canadian census returns, the indexing of the 8.8 millions of names appearing in the 1921 census will be done through a similar process such as partnerships. Details will be communicated in the upcoming weeks.
Pingback: Canada’s 1921 Census to Be Released June 2013 « Relativeity
Pingback: 1921 Canadian Census Countdown! « Carleton Place Local History
Pingback: JewishGen Blog: A Blog about Jewish Genealogy: Canada's 1921 … | genealogygen.net
Pingback: 1940 US Census and 1921 Canada Census « Peter's Family History Blog
What are the plans for indexing it?
Any chance of a partnership with FamilySearch?
Their online indexing system is already well-proven with hundreds of thousands of volunteer indexers and arbritrators doing records from around the world. And now the 1940 U.S. Census is in high gear, with several states already completed within 7 days of its release.
Thank you for your suggestion. As with previous censuses, Library and Archives Canada intends to provide a nominal index and will be exploring various avenues.
Pingback: 1940 US Census and 1921 Canada Census | Peter's Family History Notes
This census should be release to Automated Genealogy/Projet d’indexation du recensement du Canada, and not to foreiner.
Automated Genealogy volunteers have done wonderful work and I’m grateful for it. However, the site is not really well-known, particularly to non-Canadian researchers.
An affiliation with FamilySearch makes the information more readily accessible, and results will often pop up for people who never thought their ancestor might have moved to Canada.
The LDS church has been an extremely well-respected organization in genealogy – worldwide – for decades, offering free help and loans of their collection of 2.4 million microfilms to everyone. The nominal fees charged for the films don’t even cover the postage to/from Canada.
FamilySearch had hundreds of thousands of indexers working on the U.S. 1940 Census, and their indexing accuracy rate is high. They got 132 million names indexed – each by two different indexers, then arbitrated – any differences were judged by a third person, and published online free to everyone within 4-5 months. Volunteers did 17.5 million names in the first week!
I’m not saying they’d do our 8.8 million names that fast, but I’m sure I’m not the only Canadian indexing volunteer to welcome and promote more Canada projects.
Given the recently announced funding reductions to Library and Archives Canada, an affiliation with FamilySearch makes more sense than ever. Why not have the fully searchable census – and images – available online for free at both LAC and FamilySearch?
Please tell us you’re negotiating now….so there’s time to build up volunteer excitement in advance of the release!
I would echo my support of Lori’s comments above. Why any government agency would NOT approach/negotiate with FamilySearch is beyond me! What was accomplished with the 1940 US Census Project was nothing short of a miracle. I’m not sure I would classify them as “foreigners” when they are truly International – in every sense of the word. There’s room to involve both.
I find automatedgenealogy.com/index.html better than familysearch.org
At least you can view the original records and link the various censuses for your family members from one census to the others. I have done so with mine and even transcribed some for the areas of interest to me.
I look forward to doing so with the 1921 census. I wish the 1916 census could be linked to the previous ones.
I found my father on the 1916 census in Manitoba. He was born in the USA in 1901 but his family missed both the US 1900 & the Cdn. 1901 as they were traveling back & forth at those times. He is also on the 1906 census in Manitoba.
He meet my mother in Toronto, ON in a boarding house and they married in 1928. She was in Barrie, ON on the 1911 census (born in 1902) and may have been in Nova Scotia in 1921 working for her uncle -Lt. Cl T.A. Burton of the Salvation Army.
I look forward to finding them and do appreciated any form they appear on line.
Would love to know how you deciphered the townships they used in the 1916 census – meridan lines from certain point – eh?
Thank you for your question. This unique land survey system was developed for the prairies by the Canadian government and eventually led to the creation of more than 1.25 million homesteads.
The Search Help pages of the 1916 census, on Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) website, provide a description of the land survey system and how to identify a particular location. On that same page under “database”, you will find a list of district and sub-districts, which contains the township and range numbers along with the Meridian location.
The townships are arranged in rows that run south to north, parallel to the Canada/United States border (i.e., the 49th parallel). Each row is numbered progressively from the border, with the row closest to the border numbered 1, the second closest numbered 2, etc.
Tip:
A map of the townships in the Western provinces is included in the Search Help pages for the Western Land Grants database. The first step is to identify the area with the Meridian location, then the range number (numbered east to west) and finally the township number (rows run south to north).
Hello !
About a year ago I wrote to inquire when the 1921 census would be released and was told in an email from your office that the date would be January 1, 2013. HOw come your staff gave incorrect information?
I would certainly be in favour of letting FamilySearch have the 1921 census for indexing. Family history information should not be limited to Canada for indexing just because it is a Canadian census. FamilySearch does a wonderful job around the world and makes records freely available.
Thank you for your comments about the blog posting pertaining to the 1921 Census countdown. As indicated in the post, the release date of this census to the public is no sooner than June 1, 2013. We will post more details as soon as they become available. Please continue to watch this space for upcoming information about the 1921 Census.
Will it be possible to access the microfilm at LAC June 2013 or do we have to wait for it to be digitized?
The 1921 Census records will be accessible online as jpeg and PDF images. We’re eagerly looking forward to this upcoming release, and will provide more details as soon as possible.
I certainly hope to see the 1921 Canadian Census available free on-line as soon as practical after its release this year – and with a free (and useful) nominal index. Volunteer indexing and access at AutomatedGenealogy.com would be my first choice, but perhaps Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has lost that relationship. Canadian genealogical societies and groups could step in too. While I am not against LAC *in addition* allowing or facilitating indexing, etc.by other organizations or companies, even if commercial or non-Canadian, I maintain that these relationships and agreements must be open to view and transparent and must *not* preclude free access, in this case, on-line, to our own Canadian historical resources as soon as practical after acquisition.
I am an Archivist myself, and while I stand behind my colleagues at LAC at this difficult time in our profession, I remain appalled that Library and Archives Canada continues to cut the Archival Community, as well as Canada’s Genealogical Societies, out of any participation and discourse regarding Canada’s documentary heritage. Were any of Canada’s Genealogical Societies consulted on this? Did any even have the opportunity to offer assistance? Yes, familysearch is a worthy organization, however, so are our volunteer run Genealogical Societies, as well as AutomatedGenealogy. Echoing the sentiments of an earlier commentator, surely there is enough room for our own grass roots heritage organizations to be involved in indexing their own census!
In recent months LAC has come in for bad press over it’s approach to an employee (and volunteer) code of conduct, and alienation of clients through actions such as cancellation of the interlibrary loan service. Transfer of the custody of the 1921 census offers an opportunity for some good publicity, if action to make it available take place promptly in the hours and and days after transfer. Yet what we get in responses on this blog is nebulous phrases like “as soon as practical after acquisition”, “as soon as possible”, “as soon as they become available”, “will be exploring various avenues”, “in the upcoming weeks”. Why is LAC not being more open about its plans and timetable for public availability of the 1921 census?
I stand by my previous comments about LAC and indexing partnerships. The terms of any ‘call for indexing partners’ by LAC should be freely available. Since LAC here today seems to be saying 1921 census indexing partnerships are being discussed (or are already set), information on these discussions and relationships needs to be communicated openly.
Yesterday I heard an Ancestry rep say that Ancestry is in negotiations with LAC regarding the 1921 Canadian census and that the census may be available like the 1940 US census project – free. The hosting and (almost immediate) indexing of the 1940 US census was a major undertaking with several commercial and non-commercial participants, planned long in advance and widely promoted. (See the 2011 NARA solicitation for hosting quotations here: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=97297dc76322c2e5d9cd32b4d9efccc6&tab=core&_cview=1) What are LAC’s terms and conditions for the 1921 census release and what current proposals are being considered both for access and for indexing?
Thank you for your comment. We acknowledge that the 1921 Census will be an incredible new source for family historians interested in family members living in Canada in 1921. LAC is committed to making the 1921 census available to all as quickly as possible.
I object to Ancestry.com having the Canadian censuses. They are not nominal at all. I downloaded my families Censuses from 1851 to 1911 and have all the names of my ancestors. Recently there is no mention of these names at all. One has to belong to Ancestry to obtain something that is not family specific! Shame on Canada for selling informatioon that should be ours to get free and in entirety.
I’m wondering why the LAC responses here are non-responses. Others are asking well-thought out questions, seeking answers yet LAC responder(s) here continue to offer “answers” that are not answers to the questions asked. I feel like I am reading a political forum with one of our Canadian political leaders engaged in not-so-subtly avoiding all questions!
C’mon LAC – give a straight answer to the good questions being asked about who is in negotiations to do indexing, why aren’t genealogical societies being included, etc ! Don’t keep repeating the same non-answers.
Looking forward to having the 1921 census available as soon as possible!
Yes, the 1921 Census will be an incredible source of information for family historians about their family in 1921 Canada. And, family historians are happy to hear that the digital images will be posted as soon as possible. However, the answers to the questions about LAC partnering with another organization/company to create a nominal index remain vague. Have you considered contacting the Ontario Genealogical Society? This is the largest family history society in Canada. With four weeks to go until the release of the 1921 Census of Canada, it is disappointing how little has been shared with the public.
Family historians couldn’t agree more about how incredible the information in the 1921 Census of Canada will be in helping them learn about their ancestors. Perhaps this is the reason why so many of us family historians want to know what LAC’s plans are for indexing this census. To date, the responses posted to the numerous questions have been vague.
Has LAC considered contacting the largest genealogical society in Canada, the Ontario Genealogical Society? Many members of the OGS are experienced family history volunteers. Why not take advantage of that expertise?
With only four weeks to go until the release of the 1921 Census of Canada, it is disappointing how little has been shared with the public.
I would gladly volunteer to help with indexing the 1921 census. I believe it is the first census taken after my paternal grandparents arrived in Canada from Germany.
I’m very eagerly awaiting the release of the 1921 census and would like to urge the LAC to contact the Ontario Genealogical Society, other provincial genealogical societies, the Association of Professional Genealogists, FamilySearch and automatedgenealogy.com to collaborate on indexing this excellent resource. The more people who get involved – people who are familiar with these kinds of records – the quicker the process will be and the better quality will be the result.
I, like many other amateur genealogists in Canada, are eagerly awaiting the June 1st date but am disappointed with the lack of information provided by LAC. The U.S. did an amazing job in getting its 1940 census online and indexed quickly last year, and I’m very concerned that that effort won’t be mirrored here in Canada.
The indexing of the 1921 census should be given to Automated Genealogy – where everyone can continue to access it totally free. There is no reason to give the database over to an American company like Ancestry who will charge us to access it. Really, this is just totally bizarre. Automated genealogy did a great job with the other census/
I too am anxious about the release. Wondering what kind of timeframe we are looking at for the availability of the census. Depending on what is involved in the preparations, it could be weeks, months or more. Is there any approximation to that? Thanks.