Census of Canada, 1911

Numbered in the Order of Visitation

Column 1. Dwelling house
A count of the houses, numbered in the order visited by the enumerator.

Column 2. Family, household or institution
A count of the family or household. Two or more families that occupied the same house were to be numbered separately.

Residence and Personal Description

Column 3. Name of each person in the family, household or institution
Surname (last name) first.

Column 4. Place of habitation (Township or parish, city, town or village. Range or concession and lot of cadastral number if in township or parish. Street and house number if in city, town or village. Or other description)

• For cities, towns or incorporated villages, the number of the house and the name of the street, such as "14 Bay Street."
• For rural districts, the name of the township, lot, parish or cadastral number such as "lot 13, concession 1."
• For Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, the location was noted by township, range or meridian such as "T. 14, R. 9, W. 3," for township 14, range 9, west of the 3rd meridian.

Column 5. Sex
Denoted by “m” for male and “f” for female.

Column 6. Relationship to head of family or household

• The head of the family (or household or institution) was entered as such (that is, head), with the remaining members and their relation to the head (for example, wife, son, daughter, servant, boarder, lodger, partner).
• People in an institution were described as officer, inmate, patient, prisoner, pupil, and so on. The chief officer of the institution was designated through his/her proper title (for example, warden, superintendent or principal).

Column 7. Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced or Legally Separated
Denoted by the letter "s" for single, "m" for married, "w" for widowed, "d" for divorced or "l.s." for legally separated.

Column 8. Month of birth
The first syllable for each month (except in the cases of May, June or July, which were written in full).

Column 9. Year of birth
Entered in full for each individual.

Column 10. Age at Last Birthday

• For people one year of age and over, the number of years completed before June 1, 1911.
• For children under one year of age, fractions were used (for example, for 2 months, "2/12" was indicated).

Citizenship, Nationality and Religion

Column 11. Country or place of birth (If in Canada specify province or territory)

• For people born outside of Canada, the name of the country of origin (for example, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, etc.).

Column 12. Year of immigration to Canada, if an immigrant
The year in which the individual moved to Canada from another country.

Column 13. Year of naturalization, if formerly an alien
For persons 21 years of age and over, who were born in a country outside the United Kingdom or any of its dependencies and who had become naturalized.

Column 14. Racial or tribal origin

• Generally traced through the father.
• Aboriginal people were to have their racial or tribal origin traced through their mothers, with the specific name of the First Nation entered.

Column 15. Nationality

• Canadian for those who lived in Canada and who had acquired rights of citizenship.
• For Non-Canadians, the country of their birth, or the country to which they professed allegiance.

Column 16. Religion
The religion to which an individual claimed to belong written in full.

Profession, occupation, trade or means of living

Column 17. Chief occupation or trade

• For every person 10 years of age and over.
• The title that most accurately described the "gainful" work through which the individual earned money or a money equivalent (for example, physician, nurse, carpenter, farmer, stenographer, etc.).
• "Income," for individuals who did not have a specific occupation, but that instead subsisted on an independent income, such as investments, pensions, superannuations.
• "None," for individuals 10 years of age and over who did not have an occupation and who did not live on an independent income.

Column 18. Employment other than at chief occupation or trade, if any

• Any employment or occupation that supplemented an individual's earnings.
• For anyone 10 years of age and over.

The first part of the code refers to one of the general main divisions of occupations or industries.

The second part of the code refers to the class of worker. A special code was created for the third category, Civil and municipal government, to include military ranks.

The third part of the code refers to the trade.

Column 19. Employer
Someone who employed other helpers, other than domestic servants, for his own business.

Column 20. Employee

• Someone who worked for salary or wages, whether as a general manager of a bank, a superintendent, an insurance agent, a railway foreman, or a day labourer.
• The term "W," for wage earner, was to be entered.

Column 21. Working on own account

• Someone who was employed in a gainful occupation and who was neither an employer nor an employee.
• "O.A" for "own account" was therefore to be entered in this column.

Wage Earner

Column 22. State where person is employed, as "on Farm," "in Woolen Mill," "at Foundry Shop," "in Drug Store," etc.
Physical place where the individual works.

Column 23. Weeks employed in 1910 at chief occupation or trade
Number of weeks the individual worked in their chief occupation.

Column 24. Weeks employed in 1910 at other than chief occupation or trade, if any
To be used if an entry had been made under “Living on own means.”

Column 25. Hours of working time per week at chief occupation
Number of hours worked by the person, during an average workweek at any (or all) occupations.

Column 26. Hours of working time per week at other occupation, if any
Number of hours worked by the person, during an average workweek at any (or all) occupations.

Column 27. Total earnings in 1910 from chief occupation or trade
Total wage earned from the "Chief Occupation or Trade."

Column 28. Total earnings in 1910 from other than chief occupation or trade, if any

Column 29. Rate of earnings per hour when employed by the hour-cents

Persons employed in the construction and mechanical trades were believed to be paid according to a fixed schedule of rates per hour. Individuals paid in such a manner were to have an entry in this column.

Insurance Held at Date

Column 30. Upon life $
The value of the policy which was in force as of June 1, 1911, for any person who carried life insurance.

Column 31. Against accident or sickness $
The value of the policy which was in force as of June 1, 1911, for any person who carried accident or sickness insurance.

Column 32. Cost of insurance in census year $
The total cost of the insurance from June 1, 1910 to June 1, 1911.

Education and Language of Each Person Five Years of Age and Over

Column 33. Months at school in 1910
For individuals of school age—aged between 5 and 21 years.

Column 34. Can read
Yes or no.

Column 35. Can write
Yes or no.

Column 36. Language commonly spoken

• "E" for only English and "F" for only French.
• For individuals who spoke both languages, the entry was to be "E" and "F."
• If neither English nor French had been learned, then only the full name of the spoken language was to be entered.

Column 37. Cost of education in 1910 for persons over 16 Years of age at college, convent or university. $
For the 1910 calendar year for every individual over 16 years of age, whether at high school, collegiate institute, college, seminary, university, or any other place.

Infirmities (Specify Age When Infirmity Appeared)

The degree of the infirmity needed to have reached the stage of incapacity to be noted. If the infirmity developed in childhood, "child" was entered followed by the age at which the infirmity appeared.

Columns 38 to 41 were lost on approximately 75 percent of the microfilm reels, so they are also missing on the digitized images.

Column 38. Blind

Column 39. Deaf and Dumb

Column 40. Crazy or Lunatic

Column 41. Idiotic or Silly