Census of Population, 1891

The 1891 Census of Canada was enumerated by the Department of Agriculture in April of 1891. It aimed to collect information for every permanent resident and household in the country. Enumerators recorded information for each individual at their permanent residence, in the de jure style. <br> <p> The enumeration began in April 1891, and while in most areas of the country it was completed within a couple of days, it continued for weeks and even months in parts of the country that were difficult to access. The enumerator entered information about people and dwellings which were checked and, if necessary, corrected by a district commissioner. The commissioner then forwarded the sheets Ottawa for tabulation and, in some cases, further modification. The sheets were microfilmed from 1938-1940, and then destroyed. The microfilm reels survive as part of the collection of the National Archives of Canada (NAC reference number to catalogued collection: HA742 P8323 1987). Between 2003 and 2010 staff and students at the University of Guelph digitized a random 5% sample (10% in cities and in the West) of the 1891 population records. This database represents an individual-level sample of the 1891 Census of Canada, produced by researchers at the University of Guelph.</p>