LibGuides: Canadian Census Data: Historical Census Data

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The list of databases that Brandon University students and faculty have access to.

Historical Statistics

History of the Census of Canada
Main Census Page
Use link to "Census Program" to access data, topics, previous censuses, and other services & information.

The 2011 Census Program included the Census of Population, the Census of Agriculture, and the National Household Survey.

Previous Censuses
Census of Population: 2011, 2006, 2001, 1996
Census of Agriculture: 2011, 2006, 2001
2011 Census of Population
"The 2011 Census Program included the Census of Population, the National Household Survey and the Census of Agriculture."
2006 Highlight Tables
2006 Census Topic Based Tabulations
2001 Highlight Tables
2001 Census Topic Based Tabulations

Government of Canada Publications
A catalogue of over 502,000 publications. Access to more than 381,000 digital publications.

Type census and the year of the census you wish in the Title Field. You may opt for pdf as a format near the bottom of the Advanced search page. Items which have been digitized will be returned. The collection is not complete, but additions are ongoing.

Example
census 1971

Census of Canada Report Locator: 1851-1951
Durkin, Kelly; Everall, Kyla; Fisher, Luisa; Galvin-Grant, Victoria; Kingston, Kathryn; Wadden, Joanne, 2015/ "This spreadsheet contains a checklist of Census publications from 1851 to 1951 and provides links to electronic copies found in the Internet Archive when available. The list of reports is taken from the Historical Catalogue of Statistics Canada Publications, 1918-1980 (11-512)."
Statistics Canada Library
"The Statistics Canada Library houses a comprehensive repository of publications produced by Statistics Canada and its predecessor organizations. This includes a collection of historical material dating back to 1841 that provides information on topics such as the census, foreign trade and industrial production."
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"The Library also has a collection of externally published resources on statistical methodology, sociology, economics, industry, trade and other subjects of current and former interest to Statistics Canada."
Some content is full text. Includes links to online Census materials.
Censuses
From Library and Archives Canada/history, links, aids, and strategies for searching.
(Includes link to Finding Aid 300 "...a comprehensive guide to early census and related records found at Library and Archives Canada, which date from 1640 to the 1800s. There are also some records from the 1900s, including Newfoundland and Labrador, 1921 to 1945....")
Internet Archive/Statistics Canada /includes Census
Census of the Prairie Provinces 1916
Censuses of Canada/Scholars Portal
Censuses of Canada, 1665-1871
Censuses of Canada contain 343 tables on the social and economic conditions in Canada from the earliest settlements to 1871. (Atlantic Canada, New France, Lower Canada, Upper Canada, Western Canada)
Census of Canada 1871

The database Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters has a selection of census materials for the Red River Settlement, as well as a few other documents. Search suggestion: search for Census and then filter to Region: Canada. Then click Apply.

Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters
This digital collection of primary source documents helps us to understand existence on the edges of the anglophone world from 1650-1920. Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas.
Government of Canada: Advanced Search
Search government repositories, websites, documents, Statistics Canada. A good choice for beginning a search for Canadian materials.

Canadian Century Research Infrastructure
"The CCRI is a pan-Canadian, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional effort to develop a set of interrelated databases centered on data from the 1911, 1921, 1931, 1941 and 1951 Canadian censuses. These databases will then be joined to other databases that cover the periods from 1871 to 1901, and from 1961 to 2001. The result will be a new foundation for the study of social, economic, cultural and political change."
The aboriginal population and the Census 120 years of information, 1871-1991 /
The paper begins with a brief description of a census....The definitions are followed by counts from 1871 to 1991. The variances, anomalies and discontinuities are highlighted and some explanation is provided of the factors which may have influenced the counts....

Subject Guide

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Subjects: Applied Disaster and Emergency Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Faculty - Science, Geography, Geology, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology