Canadian Genealogy Centre

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Census and Enumerations

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Census Indexes

Census returns were enumerated geographically, not by 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 on the Internet or publish them as books or CD-ROMs. Due to the poor legibility of some census pages, indexes are not 100% accurate. Indexes provide references to actual census pages. We recommend that you always consult those pages to find additional details.

All census returns from 1851 to 1916 have been digitized and are currently available on multiple websites. By the summer of 2011, all digital images and indexes to those census returns will be available on Library and Archives Canada website.

Census	By Place	By Name
1851	Census of 1851 (Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia)	Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		FamilySearch.org [http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ start.html#p=allCollections;r=0]
		The 1852 and 1881 Historical Censuses of Canada [www.prdh.umontreal.ca/1881Browser/ en/formLogin.aspx]
1861		Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		FamilySearch.org [http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ start.html#p=allCollections;r=0]
1871		Census of Ontario, 1871
		Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		FamilySearch.org [http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ start.html#p=allCollections;r=0]
1881		Census of Canada, 1881
		Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		Census of Canada, 1881 [www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/ frameset_search.asp? PAGE=census/search_census.asp]
		The 1852 and 1881 Historical Censuses of Canada [www.prdh.umontreal.ca/1881Browser/ en/formLogin.aspx]
1891		Census of Canada, 1891
		Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		FamilySearch.org [http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/ start.html#p=allCollections;r=0]
1901	Census of Canada, 1901	Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		Census of the Alberta District and the Northwest Territories, 1901 [www.agsedm.edmonton.ab.ca/census.html]
		Automated Genealogy [http://automatedgenealogy.com/ census/index.html]
1906	Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906 (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta)	Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		1906 Census of Canada (Prairies) Transcriptions [www.afhs.ab.ca/data/census/1906/]
		Automated Genealogy [http://automatedgenealogy.com/ census/index.html]
1911	Census of Canada, 1911	Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]
		Automated Genealogy [http://automatedgenealogy.com/ census/index.html]
1916		Ancestry.ca (subscription required) [www.ancestry.ca]

Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm, 1666-1901 database allows you to identify the microfilm reel numbers for specific places and counties. Use the Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906 and the Census of Canada, 1911 databases to identify microfilm reel numbers for those years.

Census indexes for specific places are available on many other Web sites.

Use AVITUS to search for indexes for your area of interest.

Research in Published Sources

Consult our Bibliography for further information on this topic.

Search for census index in AMICUS using authors, titles or subject terms such as:

• census index Alberta; and
• census index Halifax.