Historical Canada Census Data, 1851-1916

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.