Census of Canada, 1931
1931 sub-districts are not available
The districts and sub-districts closely match the 1924 electoral map. There are some variations, but it can help with your search. No map was specifically created for the 1931 census. You can also search by place using the tips on our general census record guide.
The seventh national census was taken on June 1, 1931. Information was further condensed into four schedules:
- Schedule 1: Population
- Schedule 2: Agriculture
- Schedule 3: Institutions
- Schedule 4: Merchandising and service establishments
Only Schedule 1 was preserved and it had 40 questions. In the 1931 Census three different forms of the population scheduled were used:
- Form 1A for the Maritimes and Québec and Ontario
- Form 1B for the Western provinces
- Form 1 - N.W.T. for the Northwest Territories
In one instance a rather resourceful enumerator, used an accountant’s ledger book to record information.
The 1931 Census was the first to ask if the family owned a radio. Since this Census was taken during the Depression, there are also several questions related to unemployment, including periods of unemployment and causes.
The sub-district names or boundaries in 1931 are not the same as those for 1921, particularly for large cities.
Instructions to enumerators
Statistical summary
Search tips
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On some pages, part or all of the name column is missing because the left-hand margin of the page had been cut off. Since that information was missing from the microfilm, it is also missing in the digitized images. The originals no longer exist.
- Those pages are indexed in the database, but the information is incomplete. For example, the database entry might give age, place of birth, etc., but no name or only a partial name.
- The enumerators instructions are often helpful for interpreting the information collected on the census returns themselves.
- Some smaller sub-districts were combined by the enumerators. If you are doing a search by sub-district number, use only the first number for combined sub-districts. For example, in District 114, sub-districts 43 and 44 were combined. Enter only 43 when searching for that sub-district
- For help with definitions, see the list of terminology and abbreviations.
- For advanced search tips and techniques, such as how to search by place, see our General census guide.
Access the records
Non-digitized records
In 1955, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics was authorized by the Public Records Committee to microfilm and destroy the original records from 1881 onwards. As a result, only microfilm copies of the Dominion of Canada census records exist.
The original paper copies that still exist for censuses before 1881 are fragile and not available for consultation.
Digitized records
All of the Canadian census records from 1871 onwards are available on digitized microfilm and can be searched using the Census Search.