In partnership with the Government of
Canada, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), Ancestry.ca completed the world-first
online launch of the Historical Canada Census Data from 1851-1916. All of the nine
available national census were published online in June 2009, fully indexed and
including original document images. The census data contain more than 32
million names of those living in Canada from the mid 19th century through to
the early 20th century which was a period of nationhood, new arrivals, great
change and significant growth.
It is estimated that half of all living Canadians (about 16
million people) will be able to trace their ancestors in the census data. Digitizing
and indexing the nine census data, which contain a range of information about
individuals, families and residents living at a particular address, took an
estimated 600,000 hours to complete. FamilySearch
International also worked on this ambitious project to deliver the images
and indexes for the 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1916 Census.
Making all the historical censuses available and fully
searchable online enables both new and advanced family history researchers to
learn more about all members of a given household including family, lodgers and
helpers, on the day that census was taken. For many, this will mean having
first-time access to vital information to help them search and map their
personal history of family members, their ages, occupations, religions, native
tongue and ethnicity, addresses and house type, their parents birthplace where
applicable, and immigration year and military service (in selected census years)
at both given and multiple points in time.
