Canada, Census, 1871
This census contains the following nine schedules arranged within subdistricts: 1) Nominal return of the living; 2) Nominal return of the deaths within last twelve months; 3) Return of public institutions, real estate, vehicles and implements; 4) Return of cultivated land, of field products and of plants and fruits; 5) Live stock, animal products, home-made fabrics and furs; 6) Return of industrial establishments; 7) Return of products of the forest; 8) Return of shipping and fisheries; and 9) Return of mineral products.
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Canada, Census, 1871
Source: https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Canada,_Census,_1871_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records
What is in This Collection?
The census day for Canada in this year was April 2, 1871. Census schedules were taken on large sheets of paper with pre-printed rows and columns. The schedules were organized by province and then by census districts and sub-districts. It contains the following nine schedules arranged within sub-districts:
- Nominal return of the living
- Nominal return of the deaths within last twelve months
- Return of public institutions, real estate, vehicles, and implements
- Return of cultivated land, field products, and plants and fruits
- Live stock, animal products, home-made fabrics, and furs
- Return of industrial establishments
- Return of products of the forest
- Return of shipping and fisheries
- Return of mineral products
Following the Constitution Act, 1867, census taking became a federal mandate. The national government of Canada has taken censuses every ten years since 1871 and every five years since 1971. The 1871 census covers the four original provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. The first coast-to-coast census was taken in 1881. Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949. For Newfoundland few 19th-century censuses that list names have been found. They mostly contain statistical summaries.
National census records are arranged by province and within provinces by census districts and sub-districts. Census districts are voting districts, not counties. Although a voting district may have the same name as a county, it may not include the same townships. In some provinces, townships are equivalent to census sub-districts. Since the boundaries varied from census to census, it is not easy to tell which census district an eastern Canadian township or western Canadian village was in. Contemporary maps of the census districts have been lost or destroyed.
Abbreviations are used in the birthplace field for the names of the Province of birth. For example, O is for Ontario and Q for Quebec. Some entries include a second letter appears in the abbreviation, u stands for urban and r stands for rural. Qu would mean that the person was born in an urban area of Quebec.
Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.
What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:
- Full name
- Age
- Gender
- Approximate birth year
- Place of birth
- Marital Status
- Religion
- Ethnic origin
- Town, village, township, or sub-district of residence
Collection Content
Inventory
For a list of all the titles included in this Historical Records publication see Canada, Census, 1871 - Inventory
Collection Details
Language
English
Location of Original Records
Public Archives, Ontario
"Canada, Census, 1871." Database. FamilySearch. https://FamilySearch.org : 3 December 2024. National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
