Census of Canada, 1891

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 1891 Census marked the third regularly scheduled collection of national statistics. This enumeration was managed by Canada's new Dominion Statistician, George Johnson, a journalist by training. Johnson followed the path of his predecessor, Joseph-Charles Taché, using a set of census questions focused on qualitative results gathered according to consistent standards that were developed through observational protocols; these results created data that was easier to analyze and upon which the government could reliably base decisions when the compiled results were made public. Consequently few changes were made for the collection of 1891 Census information.

Schedule 1 was designed to enumerate the entire population of Canada by name. Every individual whose habitual home was within an enumerator's district as of April 5, 1891, was to be listed on the population schedule of that district.

Regardless of the date when a particular family was actually enumerated, the population was to be counted as it existed on April 5, 1891. When members of the household were temporarily absent from their usual place of residence, they were enumerated under the de jure system, which placed people in the area where they usually lived or slept. However, the enumerators were instructed to ask if a person has been away from the country for twelve months. If the answer was yes, then this person was not to be taken in the census.

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 the 1881 Census, the 1891 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. At the end of each day, the date was to be entered opposite the last name registered for that day of enumeration.

The other schedules collected information regarding deaths that had occurred in the last twelve months (Schedule 2); real estate, orchard products, nurseries, vineyards and market gardens (Schedule 3); farm products and all relating to agriculture (Schedule 4); livestock and animal products (Schedule 5); industrial establishments (Schedule 6); products of the forest (Schedule 7); production related to shipping and mining (Schedule 8); and fisheries (Schedule 9).

Overall, the enumerators collected information for 4,833,239 individuals distributed as follows in Canada:

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 1891 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 1891 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.

Information was collected in the 1891 Census from Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories (which at this time covered much of modern-day Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut). Nine schedules with a total of 226 questions were used by enumerators to collect information from households and businesses across the country; however, only Schedule 1, a nominal return listing the people living in Canada by name, has survived. In this schedule can be found the age, sex, and marital status of individuals, the type of housing in which they lived, the occupations by which they made a living, as well as citizens' country of birth.

The reels include all completed Schedule 1 forms. On each microfilm reel, researchers will find a title page listing the year of the census (1891), 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 1891 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

Common Abbreviations

Gender

Marital Status

Provinces

Religion

Only a brief list of short-form examples were given to enumerators, compared to the large number of denominations represented in the tabulated census results.

Adventist
Baptist
Bible Christian Methodist Brethren
Congregational
Church of Canada Methodist Church of England
Church of Scotland Presbyterian
Disciple
Episcopal Methodist
Episcopal
Jewish
Lutheran
Mennonite
Other Methodist
Other Presbyterian
Pagan
Primitive Methodist
Protestant
Quaker
Roman Catholic
Unitarian
Universalistic
Other Denomination
No Religion
None Given

Other

Fractions are used for age of children less than 12 months old

Further Research

For more detailed information regarding the collection of the 1891 Census and how responses to each question were to be entered, please consult the monograph from which this guide was written:
Canada-Department of Agriculture (Census Branch). Manual Containing the "Census Act" and the Instructions to Officers Employed in the Taking of the Third Census in Canada, 1891. Ottawa: Dept. of Agriculture, Census Branch, 1881. Paper Copy: Amicus #10084463.