Census

The Census Records

Census records are the bedrock of research for those historians and genealogists who use population data at the National Archives of Canada. The National Archives keeps paper and microfilm returns from the 1825 to 1871 censuses, and microfilm records only from the 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses. Returns from all of the censuses up to and including 1901 are freely available, and are among the most frequently consulted records in the National Archives. The paper returns for censuses after 1901 (up to 1991) were destroyed after the records were put onto microfilm. These microfilms, under the control of Statistics Canada, are stored at the National Capital Region Federal Records Centre of the National Archives. The paper records of the most recent of these ten-year benchmarks, the 1991 census, have not been microfilmed and are stored at the National Archives.

Users have been denied access to some important census records from the twentieth century because of the persistent application of antiquated legislation. The National Archives recognizes that the Statistics Act of 1918 changed the legal framework for census records, but it nevertheless argues that the secrecy provisions introduced in 1918, during wartime, were not intended to close the census records forever. Certainly there should be no legal impediment to the transfer of control of census returns from the 1911 national census and the 1906 western census, since both were conducted prior to the passage of the Statistics Act of 1918 and could be released under the terms of the Privacy Act. The "antiquated" laws governing the release of census records from 1906 to 1961 are applied to census information that is essentially unchanged in nature from records prior to 1918. The format of these census records is also consistent with that used in earlier censuses.

The National Archives concedes that the gathering of census materials has changed considerably since the early seventies. The introduction of the long form between 1971 to 2001, however, is one reason why the National Archives believes that national censuses for the period from 1971 to 2001 should be treated as a separate issue. As for future censuses, beginning with the one to take place in 2001, Canadians should be notified that information from these surveys may be released under the terms of the Privacy Act.

A void has been created in census information as a result of a kind of grandfather clause that has slipped into dotage. The National Archives recommends that the microfilmed census records from 1921 to 1986 be transferred to its care, custody and control. The National Archives will apply the provisions of the information and privacy legislation to the release of these records in accordance with the law, including section 17 of the Statistics Act.

International practices governing the release of census information vary. In the United States, the National Archives and Records Administration recently requested funds to prepare the release of the 1930 census in 2002, in keeping with its 72-year schedule. In the United Kingdom, they keep to a 100-year pattern.

Just like their counterparts in Canada, officials in these countries are seeking a balance between competing interests in census records, that is to say a balance between the citizen’s right to privacy and the researcher’s access to that valuable information. This balance changes with time.

Census information is sensitive, especially when it relates to persons still living. During that period of time, it is kept secret. But personal information does not remain sensitive in perpetuity. The Privacy Act itself recognizes that time erodes privacy concerns; section 3 of the Act, for example, annuls an individual’s right to privacy 20 years after his or her death. The sensitivity of information fades with time and the information itself drifts into the domain of "common" knowledge, whereupon the census records are released for legitimate secondary research purposes. There have been no complaints over privacy issues since the first release of individual census returns 50 years ago.

Census records underlie our country’s notion of democracy and portray a vision of Canadians to Canadians. They have long been used as a tool to establish entitlement to a range of government programs and to promote the benefits of our citizenship. The information contained in census records will continue to be used to establish rights and entitlements and to protect the health and safety of all Canadians. Census records do not only account for the lives of rich and powerful or socially prominent citizens. On the contrary, they are uniquely democratic among Canadian historical records insofar as they document the lives of people from all social and economic backgrounds. The comprehensive nature of the information is precisely what confers to it its historical value; it also explains why census records already under the control and custody of the National Archives are the documents most often used by academic researchers.

For genealogists, census records are an essential tool for creating not only a sense of personal identity but also for forming connections with their country as the stories of their ancestors move across the expanse of time.

The censuses of 1906 and 1911 are national treasures. The 1906 census draws a picture of Western Canada at a critical period in its development, marked by the arrival of many new immigrants and a quickly-developing economy. In the 1911 census, the Laurier era was ending on the promise that the new century belonged to Canada. Access to these historical riches is still being denied to Canadians three generations later.

Ian E. Wilson
National Archivist