Census of the Prairie Provinces, 1916

About the Census

• How the Census Was Collected
• From Paper to Microfilm
• Column Headings and Interpretation
• Common Abbreviations
• Further Research

How the Census Was Collected

The British North America Act (also known as the Constitution Act of 1867) called for the taking of a census every ten years, to determine parliamentary representation based on population. Under the provisions of the Census and Statistics Act (which received Royal Assent 16 May 1905) a general census of Canada was to occur in 1911, and every ten years thereafter, and a census of population and agriculture was to be taken in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1906, and every ten years thereafter. The 1916 census was the ninth census for Manitoba and the third census for Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Thirteen commissioners were appointed to co-ordinate the census effort. Reporting to the commissioners, enumerators were then assigned to a clearly defined area.

In all, 1,365 enumerators visited forty three districts, divided into 1,327 enumeration area units. In addition to the regular enumerators, 45 Indian agents were employed. In the northern parts of the districts of Nelson in Manitoba, of Prince Albert and North Battleford in Saskatchewan, and of East and West Edmonton in Alberta, members of the Northwest Mounted Police acted as enumerators.

Three schedules were used to collect the data regarding the population and the agriculture. Schedule no.1 was similar to the ones used in previous censuses and was designed to record information of the population such as name, age, sex, origin, religion etc. It included a special column to procure the enumeration of all persons domiciled in the Prairie Provinces who had enlisted for military service and were either in training camps in Canada or had gone overseas.

Schedule no. 2 was designed to obtain the information concerning farm property, field crops, animals and animal products. Schedule No.3 provided for a record of domestic animals, dairy products and eggs "not on farms". Those two schedules have not survived.

Regardless of the date when a particular family was actually enumerated, the population was to be counted as it existed on June 1, 1916.

A census family was defined as a group of people legally domiciled under the same roof or who shared the same food. The following were all examples of a single census family: the occupants and employees of a boarding house (if that was their regular place of residence); a single person living alone; the family and domestic servants living in a house.

On an enumerator's folio (a sheet in the enumerator's book), the head of the household was listed first, followed by the other members; therefore, each household took up as many lines as there were people living in the household. Like other censuses, the 1916 Census aimed to highlight generalities rather than specific occurrences; consequently, enumeration was expected to be systematic and fit individuals' information into categories that could be easily compiled and interpreted.

The enumerators were instructed to provide the name of the province, the district, and the sub-district at the top of each census page; the enumerator's name was also provided at the beginning of each schedule.

Overall, the enumerators collected information for 1,698,220 individuals distributed as follows in the Prairie provinces:

From Paper to Microfilm

In 1955, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics sought authority from the Public Records Committee (PRC) to destroy the paper census schedules for the 1916 Census. After consultation, the PRC agreed to the destruction, on the condition that the population schedules be microfilmed. As a result, a microfilm copy is the only remaining archival holding of the population schedules from the 1916 Census. The microfilming of these records was not of consistent quality and not all images can be deciphered. Unfortunately, the destruction of the paper records means that there is no recourse when a record is unreadable.

The reels include all completed Schedule no. 1 forms. On each microfilm reel, researchers will find a title page listing the year of the census (1916), the name of the province, the name and number of the district and sub-district, and the number of pages in the grouping.

The digitized copies of the census schedules found on the Library and Archives Canada website were made by scanning the microfilms of the 1916 Census. Because the digitized versions are exact copies, a page that was illegible on microfilm is still illegible on a computer screen. The introductory pages from the microfilm that identify the year of the census, the name of the province, the name and number of the district and sub-district, and the number of pages are not accessible online since this information is included in the database.

These records and those of previous censuses are described in the Statistics Canada fonds (R92), formerly Record Group (RG) 31.

Column Headings and Interpretation

Number in the order of visitation

Residence and Personal Description

Nativity and Religion

Citizenship

Race and Language

Education

Profession, Occupation or Means of Living

Common Abbreviations

Column 4

Column 10

Column 11

Column 13

Further Research

For more detailed information regarding the collection of the 1916 Census and how responses to each question were to be entered, please consult the Instructions to Enumerators published in the Canada Gazette, volume 50, 31 May 1916 and Population and agriculture: Manitoba, Saskatchewan. Census and Statistics Office, Dept. of Trade and Commerce, 1918. (AMICUS 5004976).