Pre-Confederation, 1825 to 1867
Early census-taking (enumeration) took place in different areas in various years. Many of those early returns have not survived, so the records are incomplete. These censuses (except for 1851 and 1861) only counted heads of households. This meant usually the senior male inhabitant, and not all people living in the house.
The specific questions asked on the census varied from year to year. The completeness of the records varies, so some information might be missing.
Search the census returns database
On this page
Before you start
Gather information such as:
- name(s)
- approximate year of birth
- country of birth
- approximate year of arrival
- place of residence in Canada
Places to look
LAC holds the records from the six main pre-Confederation censuses, specifically:
| Census | Provinces and territories included |
|---|---|
| Census of 1825, Lower Canada | Quebec (Lower Canada) |
| Census of 1831, Lower Canada | Quebec (Lower Canada) |
| Census of 1842, Canada East | Quebec (Canada East) |
| Census of 1842, Canada West | Ontario (Canada West) |
| Census of 1851 | Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec |
| Census of 1861 | Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec |
Schedules
Pre-Confederation censuses generally follow the same pattern. They include similar types of questionnaires known as schedules from year-to-year, such as:
- population (names)
- agriculture
In most cases, only the original records for Population (Schedule 1) were preserved.
What people were asked about
For most of the Pre-Confederation censuses only the names of heads of households were recorded. Other family and household members were counted by category, but not named. Men and women were enumerated separately, and classified by age and marital status. Other questions recorded the number of:
- individuals by religion denominations
- individuals doing agricultural work
- individuals in trade
- individuals receiving financial assistance from a church (alms)
- individuals with disabilities
- servants
- cultivated lands occupied
- bushels of various crops by type (wheat, peas, oats)
- domestic products by type (wool, cloth)
- animals (sheep, cows, horses)
These Censuses also recorded information about various properties, such as the average rent, type of land holding, proportion of produce sent to the seigneur, number of various institutions (schools, taverns, mills, factories, distilleries), average price of wheat, and average wages.
Search tips
- Not all of the sub-districts for the Pre-Confederation Censuses have survived.
-
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 enumerator's instruction are often helpful for interpreting the information collected on the census returns themselves.
- For rural locations, you will often see numbers. These are sections, townships, ranges and meridians.
- 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
The original paper copies that still exist for census before 1881 are fragile and not available for consultation.
Digitized records
All of the digitized microfilms from the Pre-Confederation Censuses can be searched using Census Search.
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