A glimpse into 1920s Canada: historic census data released
Canadian genealogists finally have access to 92-year-old census data that could help them discover important information about their family histories.
The hand-written 1921 Census of Canada was made available on Ancestry. ca last week and includes survey data alongside the full names, addresses and places of birth of the people who provided the information. Library and Archives Canada allowed Ancestry. ca to publish the census online last week, said Lesley Anderson, who works in content acquisition with the genealogy website.
The release comes just before Statistics Canada will make public Wednesday a final set of data from the 2011 National Household Survey.
Statistical information about Canadians’ income and housing will be released, including details such as the top-paying jobs in the country, how many people own their homes and of those, how many have a mortgage.
But researchers won’t get their hands on an individual’s information from the 2011 National Household Survey until 2103, provided that survey participants agreed to release their names and other identifiable information to future generations.
According to the Statistics Act, participants’ information can only be made public after a 92-year holding period if they give their consent to make it public.
For now, genealogists have enough on their hands sifting through the 1921 census. Anderson said the census has not been indexed, meaning that people who are searching for ancestors cannot search by name yet. If they know where they lived at the time, they can search through the documents page by page.
“We’ve taken the digital copies, put them up online, organized them by place,” she said.
“You pretty much have to know where your ancestor lived at the time of 1921 in relation to their electoral districts or what township they were in.”
The documents have been posted online in their original, handwritten format. Anderson said Ancestry.ca is in the process of transcribing and indexing the data for easier use.
Amy Brewitt, a professional genealogist based in Toronto, said the 1921 census is a valuable resource for people searching for their family history because it could include the names of known relatives, such as a grandparent born between 1911 and 1921, and help researchers discover the names of their great-grandparents on older censuses that are already public.
Brewitt said she has already been able to find her great-grandmother in the 1921 census.
“Luckily I knew a lot of where my family was living, so it was easier for me to track them down,” she said. “I was able to find some of my family members including my greatgrandparents who were living in Quebec at the time.”
Anderson said this data will help genealogists paint a fuller picture of their family history because the census lists information such as a person’s occupation, religion and place of birth.