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:

General information Provinces and territories included Type of census Districts and sub-districts Instructions to enumerators
Census of 1825, Lower Canada Quebec (Lower Canada) Heads of households 1825 Lower Canada districts and sub-districts Act to authorize an Enumeration and Return of the Population of the Province of Lower-Canada, 1825
Census of 1831, Lower Canada Quebec (Lower Canada) Heads of households 1831 Lower Canada districts and sub-districts The provincial statutes of Lower-Canada : The Provincial statutes of Lower-Canada being the first session of the fourteenth provincial Parliament of Lower-Canada : 1831
Census of 1842, Canada West Ontario (Canada West) Heads of households 1842 Canada West Districts and sub-districts Act that authorized the taking of a census of the inhabitants of the Province
Census of 1842, Canada East Quebec (Canada East) Heads of households 1842 Canada East Districts and sub-districts Act that authorized the taking of a census of the inhabitants of the Province
Census of 1851 Nova Scotia Heads of Households Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1851 An Act for Taking the Census of the Province and Obtaining Statistical information (Chapter VIII), 1850. (Nova Scotia)
New Brunswick Nominal Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1851

not available
Ontario Nominal Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1851 Gagan, David P. "Enumerators' Instruction for the Census of Canada 1852 and 1862." Histoire sociale/Social History. Vol. VII, no. 14 (Novembre-November 1974)
Quebec Nominal Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1851

Gagan, David P. "Enumerators' Instruction for the Census of Canada 1852 and 1862." Histoire sociale/Social History. Vol. VII, no. 14 (Novembre-November 1974)
Census of 1861 Nova Scotia Heads of Households Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1861

not available
Prince Edward Island Heads of Households Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1861

not available
New Brunswick Nominal Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1861

not available
Ontario Nominal Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1861 Instructions to Enumerators
Quebec Nominal Districts and sub-districts: Census of 1861 Instructions to Enumerators

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.

Questions

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.

Census years

Find out more about specific censuses below.

Census of 1825, Lower Canada (Quebec)

In the first half of the 19th century, censuses were taken to determine parliamentary representation. The first of these took place between June 20 and September 20, 1825. There was only one schedule and it had 10 questions. Men and women were enumerated separately, and classified by age and marital status. No other information was collected for this Census.

Statistical summary

Census of 1831, Lower Canada (Quebec)

This census took place between June 1 and October 1, 1831. It had 61 questions. It was the first to include more detailed questions about categories of individuals and the characteristics of properties.

Montreal is not included in this collection of records, but a census was taken in that year. You can find it in the records of the Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice, Montréal (MG17-A7-2). A transcript is available on microfilm C-5941.

Statistical summary

Census of 1842, Canada East (Quebec)

This census was taken after combining the two colonies of Lower and Upper Canada to form the Province of Canada. It was done to determine parliamentary representation. They agreed in September 1841 that it should be completed by February 1, 1842. It had 89 questions.

Unlike previous Pre-Confederation censuses, the 1842 Census also collected information about:

  • individuals who came from different countries (England, Ireland, the United States)
  • how long they had been in the province
  • the number of bee hives
  • types of factories and their power sources

The Canada East census was not a success and it was retaken in May, June and July 1844. The 1844 returns no longer exist.

Statistical summary

Census of 1842, Canada West (Ontario)

This Census was the Ontario counterpart of the Quebec Census in the same year. It was taken on the same date (February 1, 1842) and had questions about:

  • individuals who came from different countries (England, Ireland, the United States)
  • how long they had been in the province
  • the number of bee hives
  • types of factories and their power sources

Incorrectly labeled microfilms

On microfilm C-1344, pages for North Dumfries and Galt, Gore District, were incorrectly labelled as St. David’s, Toronto. They are also indexed that way in this database.

On microfilm C-1345, the names of the sub-district and district were not written on some pages. They are labelled on the microfilm as “Census Returns, 1842, Canada West, Unidentified Sheets”. If you can't find a person’s name in the database, try searching without a place.

Statistical summary

Census of 1851

This census was the second official Census of the new Province of Canada. It collected information about Quebec and Ontario starting on January 12, 1852. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were counted in 1851. Quebec and Ontario had three Schedules each: urban population, rural population, and agriculture. New Brunswick had two schedules: a personal census and a parish census. Nova Scotia only counted the heads of families. With the exception of Nova Scotia, these were the first nominal censuses in the place we know today as Canada.

Quebec and Ontario

The population censuses for these two provinces collected information about:

  • names
  • occupations
  • place of birth
  • religion
  • age
  • sex
  • marital status
  • ethnic origin
  • relationship to head of household
  • disabilities
  • births and deaths
  • housing conditions
  • livestock
  • public and private establishments (schools, inns)

The urban population censuses had additional questions about carriages, the number of manufacturers, and the number of employees. The rural population censuses collected more information about places of worship and mills.

The agricultural censuses asked questions about:

  • acres of land under cultivation per type (crops, pasture, orchard, wild)
  • acres/bushels by product (carrots, mangle wurtzels, wool, cider, cheese)
  • number of livestock
New Brunswick

For the personal census, the following information was collected:

  • residence or location
  • name
  • sex
  • relationship to head of household
  • race
  • occupation
  • date of entry into the colony
  • state of health

While the parish census did not contain any names, it did collect the same information as earlier Censuses of Lower Canada, counting by category.

An error was made when microfilm C-996 was filmed. On part of the microfilm, it was labelled 1861 instead of 1851.

In the column heading, the word “Native” meant born in the province, not Indigenous.

Nova Scotia

The single schedule for Nova Scotia was like those from Lower Canada. Only the heads of household are named, and other information is counted by category. This Census also counted information about the number of students, individuals by occupation, fish by type, and manufactured items by type.

The column called “Names of Inmates” meant the names of every person living in the household, not inmates in an institution.

An “F” in the Place of birth column meant that the person was born of Canadian parents.

Statistical summaries

Census of 1861

The last Census taken before Confederation included Prince Edward Island for the first time. Information was collected on different dates for different provinces:

  • January 14, 1861 for Canada East (Quebec) and for Canada West (Ontario)
  • March 30, 1861 for Nova Scotia
  • August 15, 1861 for New Brunswick

The precise date of collection of data is unknown for Prince Edward Island.

Once again, the exact questionnaires used varied by province. Those for Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick are largely unchanged from 1851. Ontario and Quebec asked additional questions about raw materials used and livestock owned by non-farmers. In Canada East and West, a different form was sometimes used in cities. Instead of many households listed on one page, each household was recorded on a single form.

New Brunswick added additional questions about education as well as birth, marriages, and death in the preceding year.

For Nova Scotia, all individuals (not just heads of households) were counted in this Census. They were categorized by age, marital status, disability, and reading or writing ability.

The questionnaire for Prince Edward Island is very similar to the one used in Nova Scotia in 1852, where only the heads of households are named. Additional questions appear regarding the amount of rent.

More information
  • Not all of the agricultural returns have survived.
  • Some pages were microfilmed out of order and the page numbering is often inconsistent or non-existent. Page numbers sometimes alternate between stamped and handwritten numbers.
  • There were multiple columns of information spread over several pages. The database links to the image of the first page with the names, not the following pages with the additional columns. The exception is New Brunswick, which only had 16 columns, so they are all on one page.
  • For Leeds County, Canada West, the sub-district name was not indexed in database entries for Kitley, Lansdowne, Leeds and Yonge, so you can search only by a person’s name and the county (district), not by sub-district.
  • For Alma Parish, Albert County, the originals were too faded and fragile to be microfilmed. Some of the names were legible, but none of the other details.
Statistical summaries

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.