Tag Archives: sub-district

Why are the 1931 census returns organized geographically?

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At Library and Archives Canada (LAC), we receive questions about why materials in our collections are organized the way they are.

When it comes to the census returns, typically we explain that, as an archive, we acquire the census returns as they are—even when the writing is blurry or unreadable—as historical records. We also strive to maintain the records’ original order and context.

For the 1931 census returns, maintaining the records’ original order is not difficult. Rather than receiving 234,678 pieces of paper, we received 187 microfilm reels. On the microfilm, the imaged census returns are organized, overall, by province (east-to-west) and then by northern area (west-to-east). This is because the Dominion Bureau of Statistics imaged the census returns in order of census district number, and, within each census district, in order of census sub-district number. When we digitized the archival records here at LAC, we worked to ensure that the digital access copies would reflect the archival records’ original order and context to the extent possible. For instance, we grouped digitized images according to the title cards used in the microfilmed images. To each group of digitized images, we added additional metadata, extracted from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics’ listings accompanying the census returns.

A handwritten index card.

Example of a title card used to organize 1931 census returns on microfilm. This title card is for the eight pages of returns from Prince Edward Island, census district 3 (Queens), sub-district 10 (MIKAN 5744023)

But this explanation does not answer the original question: why are the returns from the 1931 census of population organized geographically—by census district and sub-district—in the first place?

For answers to this original question, we turn to the Administrative Report included in the Dominion Bureau of Statistics’ 1936 publication Seventh Census of Canada, 1931, Volume 1, Summary.

Answer 1: Because of the original purpose of the census of Canada. The census returns are organized geographically because of the decennial census’ role in shaping representation in the House of Commons.

“In Canada the immediate, legal raison d’être of the census is to determine representation in the […] House of Commons. Under the [Constitution], the province of Quebec is given a fixed number of seats[…] while the number assigned to the other provinces is pro rata on a population basis as determined by the census[….] The Canadian Census is thus taken primarily to enable a redistribution bill to be passed through Parliament” [Page 32; emphasis added]

It is worth getting a bit technical here. In the early part of the 20th century, redistribution bills updated the number and boundaries of federal electoral districts based on changes in population—as established by the previous decennial census—among other considerations established by law.

A map depicting federal electoral districts in the prairie provinces—the boundaries are indicated by thick blue lines, and the names are indicated in blue type. The map was prepared on a base map featuring rivers and lakes, railways, cities and grid lines.

“Map of Federal electoral districts of Manitoba, Saskatchewan & Alberta” from an atlas created in 1924, prepared by the Department of the Interior (e011315903)

The updated boundaries of federal electoral districts informed the census districts used for enumeration purpose in the subsequent decennial census. In other words, the relationship between federal electoral district and census district had elements of a chicken-and-egg scenario.

Egg: Federal electoral district boundaries, as established in the Representation Act of 1924.

The Representation Act of 1924, sometimes referred to as the Redistribution Act, established the electoral districts to be used in subsequent federal elections. This redistribution of electoral districts was based, in part, on the population count and distribution established by the previous decennial census, namely, the Sixth Census of Canada in 1921.

The Representation Act established the official boundaries of federal electoral districts in form, not in maps.

  • To view transcriptions of these descriptions of electoral districts, consult the Library of Parliament’s online resource “Elections and Candidates” for the 17th parliament; the description of each electoral district can be viewed by clicking on a constituency title listed for the general election of July 28, 1930, and then scrolling below the header “Information” to the description under the subheader “S.C. 1924, c.63,” which refers to the Representation Act.
  • Although the Representation Act did not include maps, the Department of the Interior prepared an atlas with maps depicting the updated federal electoral district boundaries. To view digitized images of the maps in the 12-volume atlas, there are two options. The catalogue record for the Federal electoral district maps, 1924 displays thumbnail images. A 1931 Census Maps research tool supplies links to individual, higher-resolution maps.

Chicken: Census districts used for 1931 census.

1931 census districts used in enumeration mostly corresponded to the federal electoral districts established in the Representation Act of 1924, because

“[f]or the purposes of the census, the Statistics Act requires that the country be first divided into “census districts” corresponding as nearly as possible with the federal electoral divisions or constituencies for the time being—this in view of the association of the census with parliamentary representation.” [Page 51]

Nevertheless, at least eight electoral districts were “too large or too varied in physical or economic character” for the purposes of census work, and so each was split into two or three census districts (in Quebec, Charlevoix–Saguenay, Gaspé, Labelle and Pontiac; in Ontario, Port Arthur–Thunder Bay; in Alberta, Peace River; and in British Columbia, Cariboo and Comox–Alberni). Other areas to be enumerated fell outside a federal electoral district (e.g., Northwest Territories, Royal Canadian Navy ships).

The population established by the Seventh Census of Canada in 1931 was then used to inform the next redistribution of federal electoral districts.

Egg: Federal electoral districts, as established in The Representation Act, 1933…

This chicken-and-egg scenario is why, at LAC, we often use federal electoral district maps as working stand-ins for census district maps to help us navigate the census returns from the early part of the 20th century. To navigate the 1931 census returns, we use maps depicting the federal electoral districts as established in the Representation Act of 1924. In the year 2028, we will likely be using the maps depicting federal electoral districts according to The Representation Act of 1933 to help us navigate the 1936 census returns from the prairie provinces after those census returns are transferred to LAC.

Answer 2: Logistics was another reason why the census returns were organized geographically.

The 1931 Census of Canada, like most population censuses, was meant to enumerate each person within the boundaries of the Dominion of Canada once, and only once. For this purpose, land within the borders of Canada, and navy ships, were divided into 15,167 units of enumeration. Each geographical unit of enumeration—called a census sub-district—was assigned to a single enumerator (more or less), tasked with recording each person residing within the census sub-district.

Four people interacting in a sub-zero-degree landscape.

Enumeration proceeding in 1961: An R.C.M.P. member talks to three people from an Inuit community to collect census information (e011177562)

“The census enumerator is the only census official coming into direct contact with the general public; [s/he] is who makes the house-to-house and farm-to-farm canvass and who is primarily responsible for the details collected on the census schedules. The necessity of providing that no more or no less than a suitable amount of work should be assigned to each enumerator (experience has demonstrated this to be a population of 600–800 in ordinary rural districts, and of 1,200–1,800 in urban) […] renders departure necessary in many cases from the electoral boundaries; […] and the polling subdivisions are not always convenient as census sub-districts. In all such cases, however, the division is effected in a way that permits compilation of the results in the form required for the purposes had in mind by the Act.” [Page 51]

Establishing the geographical boundaries to be used in the census was no minor feat:

“The drawing up of the scheme of census districts and sub-districts is a task of considerable magnitude; it is put in hand about two years in advance of the census date, and is carried out not only in the light of conditions revealed in the preceding census, but in consultation with local officials, so that no inhabited area may be overlooked or left unprovided with the organization best suited.” [Page 51]

Ninety-two years later, the task of finding a particular census return among the 1931 census returns that are organized geographically—organized according to census district and sub-district—may seem a little overwhelming. The blog posts Puzzling through 1931 Census sub-districts – Part 1 and Part 2 describes the approaches we use at LAC to navigate the 15,167 sub-districts used for enumeration in the 1931 census.

Puzzling through 1931 Census sub-districts – Part 2

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This article contains historical language and content that some may consider offensive, such as language used to refer to racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Please see our historical language advisory for more information.

This is Part 2 of the blog series Puzzling through 1931 Census sub-districts. If not done already, you may want to read Part 1, as it provides tools to help identify the census district that would have included your place of interest in 1931.

As a reminder from Part 1, to find the census returns for a place of interest, we generally need to narrow down, in order, the:

  1. province or territory;
  2. census district or federal electoral district; and
  3. census sub-district

that would have included the place of interest in 1931.

In this blog post, we go over the last step.

STEP 3. Determining the census sub-district

Each 1931 Census district was divided into multiple sub-districts – anywhere from three to 148 – for the purpose of enumeration. The majority of census districts were divided into at least 50 sub-districts.

The hitch is that no maps of 1931 Census sub-district boundaries are known to still exist. Figuring out in which census sub-district one’s place of interest was enumerated requires using one of the following tools:

  1. Street indexes (for 11 major cities)
  2. Finding aid for “Indian Reserves” (First Nations)
  3. Written descriptions of sub-district boundaries.

If your place of interest was in neither a major city nor a First Nations Reserve in 1931, skip directly to the last tool, the written descriptions of sub-district boundaries.

Tool 1: Street indexes

Indexes are available for Halifax (N.S.), Saint John (N.B.), Quebec (Que.), Montréal (Que.), Toronto (Ont.), Hamilton (Ont.), London (Ont.), Winnipeg (Man.), Edmonton (Alta.), Calgary (Alta.) and Vancouver (B.C.). Street indexes list street names and indicate in which census district and sub-district(s) those streets were enumerated.

The indexes for Hamilton and Calgary are specific to the 1931 Census. The indexes for the remaining cities cover multiple census years. In those indexes, for the purposes of locating district numbers for the 1931 Census, consider only entries beginning with “31.” The numbers that follow are the district and sub-district numbers, respectively, for 1931. So, for instance, if we are looking for a place of interest on Montréal’s Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges in the census district of Mont-Royal (Census District no. 84), we find:

Typewritten entries for “Côte des Neiges” from the Montréal Street Index.

Excerpt from the Montréal Street Index (Finding Aid 31–80)

The numbers in the first line depicted above – “31–84–39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45” – indicate that, in 1931, Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges was enumerated in Census District no. 84, in census sub-districts 39 through 41 and 43 through 45.

Note: the street names featured in the indexes are historical; in other words, they are as written by the enumerator at the time, generally speaking.

Beware: the same street may have had its name written in multiple ways and thus appear in separate parts of the alphabetically ordered street index. In the case of Montréal’s Chemin de la Côte–des–Neiges, entries are spread across three separate areas of the Montréal index, with the street name written as “Côte-des-Neiges,” “Côte des Neiges” and “Cote des Neiges.”

Tool 2: Finding aid for “Indian Reserves” (First Nations)

A listing of reserves by 1931 Census district and sub-district is available. This unverified finding aid could be useful if your place of interest was (in) a First Nations Reserve in 1931. We are currently working to adapt this pre-existing finding aid to include respectful terminology.

Tool 3: Written descriptions of sub-district boundaries

Written descriptions of sub-district boundaries were compiled by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. These descriptions have been transcribed into finding aids for each province or territory: P.E.I., N.S., N.B., Que., Ont., Man., Sask., Alta., B.C., Y.T., N.T.

Note: the transcription of sub-district descriptions for select major cities may be forthcoming.

You may choose to begin with a keyword search related to your place of interest in the finding aid for a province or territory. For example, searching the Manitoba sub-district description finding aid for “Birtle” yields three results within the census district “Marquette”: sub-district 25 for “Birtle (Town)”; sub-district 24 for “Township 17 in range 26 west of the principal meridian exclusive of town of Birtle”; and sub-district 63 for the residential school of the same name. Alternatively, you may choose to navigate to a particular census district (like “Marquette”), then browse all sub-district descriptions within that census district.

An excerpt of a finding aid for Manitoba. The excerpt features several sub-district names and descriptions for within the Census District “Marquette.” Two instances of the word “Birtle” are highlighted.

Excerpt from the Finding Aid for the 1931 Census Returns for Manitoba (Finding Aid 31–80)

The characterization of census sub-districts varies tremendously. The descriptions may refer to townships, municipalities, city wards, polling divisions, reserves, parishes, meridians, ranges, lots, roads, islands, rivers, etc. Making sense of the descriptions may require consulting local maps from the era or learning about the local, provincial or other federal geographies leveraged for the purposes of the 1931 Census (e.g., municipal boundaries may have been established in contemporary provincial law).

Sometimes the sub-district descriptions do not themselves allow us to narrow things down to a single sub-district. To illustrate what we mean by that, we can look at sub-district descriptions for the census district of Mont-Royal.

A typewritten card listing sub-district ranges for different parts of the Mont-Royal district in Quebec, 1931.

The Dominion Bureau of Statistics’ working description of sub-districts in District 84, Mont-Royal (from material accompanying the transfer of the 1931 Census returns to Library and Archives Canada). Library and Archives Canada/Statistics Canada fonds/District 84, Mont-Royal, Quebec, 1931

The sub-district descriptions for Mont-Royal create a situation in which it is challenging to identify a single sub-district of relevance. If you face this situation, you then have two options:

  1. flip through the census returns for all relevant sub-districts; or
  2. narrow things down using other working tools, such as city directories, which might list wards, or using additional tools such as a Street Index, which is likely the best approach in the case of Montréal.

Sometimes additional sub-district descriptions feature on the title card preceding the sub-district’s census returns. Scans of the original Dominion Bureau of Statistics’ working descriptions of sub-districts are available online and, though cumbersome, may be used for troubleshooting purposes. To view these scans, go to the archival description for the 1931 Census returns in Collections Search, toggle open the details, then toggle open the finding aid section and scroll down.

Additional resources

  • To learn about the system of townships, ranges and meridians used in the three prairie provinces and the railway belt of British Columbia, consult the section titled Western Canada Land System Description on the homepage for our Land Grants of Western Canada database.
  • The blog post “Finding Royalton: Searching the 1921 Census” describes how a staff member locates small rural hamlets or unincorporated villages. It offers insights and ideas about how to overcome stalemates.
  • If you had already found your place of interest among the census returns from the 1921 Census of Canada or 1926 Census of Prairie Provinces, consider viewing the sub-district description in Census Search for that earlier census year. It might assist you in navigating the sub-district descriptions for the 1931 Census.

Again, wishing us all the best in our searches for people and places of the past.

As always, don’t forget that we can help: reach out to our genealogy team by using our Ask genealogy a question online form.

Puzzling through 1931 Census sub-districts – Part 1

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This article contains historical language and content that some may consider offensive, such as language used to refer to racial, ethnic and cultural groups. Please see our historical language advisory for more information.

Sometimes we researchers – including staff at Library and Archives Canada – need to navigate the archived census returns according to how the returns themselves are organized: by census sub-district. We don’t usually navigate census returns this way, since we have Census Search, our one-stop-shop database for genealogy. Once every few years, navigation by sub-district is necessary while we work to incorporate new census records into our database.

When we begin our work – and it is often tricky work – of navigating the archived census returns geographically, we often use a “step-wise” approach to narrow them down by

  1. province or territory;
  2. census district or federal electoral district; and
  3. census sub-district

that would have included our place of interest. We use this approach to be more efficient when searching, because there are so many census sub-districts involved: 15,167 sub-districts in the 1931 Census, to be exact.

This blog series offers five tools to help you find your place of interest among the census returns. Get ready to learn how to navigate the 1931 Census returns geographically!

Map of Canada (without some northern regions) in which each province and territory is a different colour. Major railway lines are indicated with a thick black line. Major sea shipping routes are indicated with a dotted red line featuring the name of the two cities linked, and the mileage between them.

“Map of the Dominion of Canada (Exclusive of Northern Regions)” featured in the Dominion Bureau of Statistics The Canada Year Book, 1931 (OCLC 300543070)

STEP 1. Determining the province or territory

Reminders:

  • The Northwest Territories had different boundaries in 1931 than it does today.
  • Newfoundland and Labrador became a province of Canada in 1949, and so its population is not enumerated in the Seventh Census of Canada. (Information about the separate censuses taken of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1921, 1935 and 1945 can be found on our Newfoundland and Labrador: Census and Enumerations web page.)
Green and white one-cent Newfoundland postage stamp.

Map of Newfoundland and Labrador, July 1931, one-cent Newfoundland stamp, Perkins, Bacon & Company, © Canada Post (s001670k)

STEP 2. Determining the 1931 Census district

Lucky scenarios that let you skip Step 2

There are a few scenarios in which you may go directly to Step 3 (forthcoming in the next blog post); these scenarios include when your place of interest is

  • located on a street in a major city for which Street Indexes have been prepared; or
  • an “Indian Reserve” (First Nations) listed in the relevant finding aid; or
  • included in the description* of sub-district boundaries.

*You can try a quick keyword search of the province-specific finding aids for sub-district descriptions: P.E.I. finding aid, N.S. finding aid, N.B. finding aid, Que. finding aid, Ont. finding aid, Man. finding aid, Sask. finding aid, Alta. finding aid and B.C. finding aid.

If your place of interest is in the territories, note that

  • Yukon was census district no. 241; and
  • the Northwest Territories was census district no. 242,

and go directly to Step 3 (in the next blog post).

If you cannot skip Step 2, your investigation begins with picking your preferred tool.

At Library and Archives Canada, we mainly use five online tools to help us determine in which 1931 Census district our place of interest was enumerated. The online tool that we choose is often a matter of personal preference. Some of us like lists; some of us like scrolling through old maps; some of us like navigating from the present, going backward in time; some of us prefer a quick database search; some of us know county names.

Tool 1: 1931 Census Maps research tool

This research tool lists 1931 Census districts. It also features links to maps approximating each census district. This tool is best used in a situation in which one or two census district names jump out as being likely candidates.

Note: This research tool does not include the census districts of the Northwest Territories, the District of Patricia (northern Ontario) or Unorganized (northern) Quebec.

Tool 2: Atlas of federal electoral district maps, 1924

To get a general sense of the 1931 Census district boundaries within each province, turn to the province-specific overviews in the digitized, 12-volume atlas prepared by the Department of the Interior of federal electoral district maps, 1924.

  • Why federal electoral district? The boundaries of the 1931 Census districts nearly always match the boundaries of a federal electoral district as established by the Representation Act of 1924. (Stay tuned to learn why in our upcoming blog, “Why are the 1931 Census records organized geographically?”)
A map depicting federal electoral districts in British Columbia. The boundaries are indicated by thick blue lines, and the names are indicated in blue type. The map was prepared on a base map of British Columbia featuring mountain ranges, rivers and cities. Additional detail is provided in two inset outline maps, for Vancouver and district, and for the City of Victoria.

“Map of British Columbia showing the federal electoral districts, 1924” from an atlas of federal electoral district maps, 1924, prepared by the Department of the Interior (e011315905)

You can flip through quicker-loading thumbnail-sized images of the atlas maps; the province-specific ones are the first 11 thumbnail images of the atlas. Should you need a higher-resolution image, use the overviews: P.E.I. overview, N.S. overview, N.B. overview, Que. overview, Ont. overview, Man. overview, Sask. overview, southern Alta. overview, northern Alta. overview and B.C. overview. The digitized overview maps are hard to read in some instances, but if they are decipherable for your place of interest, they may help to identify the federal electoral district, and therefore (typically) the census district, of relevance. Should the overview map be too difficult to read, consider browsing through thumbnail images for the entire province volume in the Federal electoral district maps, 1924 atlas. You can consult the thumbnail image range for each provincial atlas in the 1931 Census Maps research tool (“digitized image item no.”). That research tool also provides links to higher-resolution images of individual maps.

Should you want a more detailed sense of the boundaries of a particular federal electoral district (and therefore, usually, census district) in a province or Yukon, consult the map for that individual federal electoral district in the digitized atlas. You can navigate to a higher-resolution image of any particular electoral district in the atlas using the 1931 Census Maps research tool.

A map page from a previously bound atlas featuring a black-and-white map of the electoral district of Mount Royal and a paragraph describing the district.

Electoral district map for the Mont-Royal electoral district in Quebec, from an atlas of federal electoral district maps, 1924 (e011315941)

Note: If you are looking for a place in northern Ontario or Quebec, note that the District of Patricia was census district no. 244, and areas of northern Quebec were enumerated as census district no. 245.

Tool 3: Library of Parliament online list of ridings

This online resource lets you do the following:

  • View a listing of federal ridings as they existed at the time of the 1931 Census. Consult the Library of Parliament’s online resource “Elections and Candidates” for the 17th Parliament, and view the constituency titles listed for the general election of July 28, 1930.
  • Navigate the list of ridings represented in the House of Commons from 1867 to today. You can choose to:
        • Navigate from the current federal riding, going backward in time to 1931. (Note: You can find a current federal riding using Elections Canada’s Voter Information Service database.) From the list of current federal ridings, click on a riding name. From the page for that riding, click through to previous ridings. When you get to a riding that existed in 1931, look for its description under the Information subheader “S.C. 1924, c.63” (referring to the Representation Act of 1924); or
        • Search for historical ridings. On the Library of Parliament landing page for the list of ridings, in the top-right corner of the table, clear the default “currently active” filter by choosing “select all” for active and inactive ridings.

There is usually a very close match between the federal electoral riding that existed in 1931 and the 1931 Census district. You can choose to double-check the correspondence between a federal electoral riding and a census district using the 1931 Census Maps research tool.

Tool 4: Post Offices and Postmasters database

If your place of interest was likely to have had a post office in 1931, investigate what is available in our Post Offices and Postmasters database, which includes electoral districts. Try keyword searching.

Tool 5: Map of counties (and the like)

Try navigating by provincially established county (or the like). Only use this option if your place of interest is in Ontario, Quebec or an Atlantic province.

  • Why counties? Ontario and eastward, provincially established counties (and the like) often, but not always, informed the shape of census districts in the early 20th century. Sometimes counties (and the like) were grouped into one census district, and sometimes counties were split into several census districts. Either way, many county names featured in census district names.
An outline map of Canada, its provinces and Yukon. Each province is then divided further, with each division numbered.

“Index map showing the counties and census divisions as organized at the census of 1931,” in the Dominion Bureau of Statistics 1937 Illiteracy and School Attendance, by Murdock C. MacLean, p. 16 (OCLC 1007622268)

First, identify the county name. To do that, consult the “key to index map” provided below or this very high-level index map of counties (if you need to zoom in). Then, pay attention to the county name (numbers are not important for our purpose). If you identify a county name, search by keyword for that county name in 1931 Census Maps research tool. If you get a unique hit in the list of 1931 Census district names, you are now ready to go to Step 3 (in the next blog post). You can always double-check if you have the right census district by using that same research tool to consult the relevant map. If the county index map is tricky to navigate for your place of interest in Ontario or eastward, don’t bother with the county index.

  • Beware: The county map above does not help us to navigate the census districts used to organize the census returns from the Prairie provinces or British Columbia.
  • Beware also: Census districts used to collect the census returns were sometimes different than the census divisions used to tabulate and publish the census results.
A typed table listing county names for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, as well as the number on the map corresponding to that county.

Counties, not census districts! Key to Index Map, from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics 1937 Illiteracy and School Attendance, by Murdock C. MacLean, p. 16 (OCLC 1007622268)

Don’t forget that we can help! Reach out to our genealogy team by using our Ask genealogy a question online form.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this blog. In the meantime, we wish everyone the best in all of our searches for people and places of the past!