- 1605
- Priests enumerate 44 settlers in the colony of New France.
- 1608
- Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain.
- 1617
- Louis Hébert and his family, the first colonists, settle in Québec.
- 1665-66
- Jean Talon enumerates 3,215 inhabitants in the first census of the colony of New France.
- 1847
- The Census and Statistics Act of 1847 is passed, providing for a decennial census and the registration of births and deaths in the United Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.
- 1851
- The first decennial census is taken.
- 1864-1905
- Legislation enforcing the registration of births, marriages and deaths with the civil authorities is passed by various provinces.
- 1867
- The British North America Act creates the Dominion of Canada through the union of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
- 1871
- The first census of the Dominion of Canada is conducted. Published results include the compilation of vital statistics on the French Roman Catholic population of Quebec from 1608 to 1871.
- 1879
- The Dominion of Canada's first Census and Statistics Act provides for the decennial Census of 1881, and for the collection, abstraction and tabulation of vital, agricultural, commercial and other statistics.
- 1881
- Census takers are required to take an oath of secrecy.
- 1898
- An American Public Health Association meeting in Ottawa recommends the adoption of the International Classification of Causes of Death by registrars of Canada, the United States and Mexico.
- 1905
- Canada's first permanent Census and Statistics office is established.
- 1915
- The Office of the Dominion Statistician is created.
- 1918
- The Statistics Act of 1918 is passed, creating the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
- 1919
- An Order-in-Council detailing the establishment of a national system of vital statistics is approved by the dominion government.
- 1921
- The first detailed report on vital statistics is published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, covering eight provinces.
- 1926
- A national vital statistics report covering all of Canada (i.e., nine provinces plus the Yukon and Northwest Territories) is published.
- 1935
- Improvements are made to registration techniques and procedures (e.g., revision of the medical certificate of death).
- 1941
- The fifth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-5) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
- 1944
- National tabulations on births and deaths begin to be reported by place of residence, in addition to place of event. The impact of the proposed social legislation for family allowance is discussed at a special vital statistics meeting.
- 1945
- The national scheme of Family Allowances is implemented on July 1.
- 1945
- The original Dominion Provincial Agreement of 1918 is revised.
- 1945
- The Vital Statistics Council of Canada is created.
- 1946
- Record linkage is discussed at the Vital Statistics Council.
- 1946-47
- Development of the National Index is discussed at the Vital Statistics Council's meetings.
- 1949
- Uniform Vital Statistics (Model) Act is adopted. The principles found within this new Model Act then become the basis for provincial vital statistics legislation.
- 1949
- Newfoundland enters Confederation, and statistics for that province are assumed by the national system of vital statistics.
- 1950
- The sixth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death (ICD-6) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
- 1956
- First quinquennial census. Previously, censuses had been conducted every ten years since 1871.
- 1958
- The seventh revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-7) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
- 1960
- The Dominion Bureau of Statistics receives its first in house computer.
- 1965
- The Standard Geographic Code (SGC) becomes the Bureau's standard geographical classification system.
- 1966
- Canadian life tables are produced by computer for the first time.
- 1969
- The eighth revision of the International Classification of Diseases-Adapted (ICDA-8) is adopted as the national mortality classification standard in Canada.
- 1969
- The Divorce database is created at the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.
- 1971
- The Statistics Act is revised.
- 1971
- The Dominion Bureau of Statistics is renamed Statistics Canada.
- 1973
- The United Nations publication, Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System, makes reference to Canada's national vital statistics.
- 1973
- Vital Statistics Council meeting is held in Quebec City, starting the routine of holding every second annual meeting outside of Ottawa.
- 1973
- Statement of Policy Governing Access to and Release of information from vital statistics records for research and statistical purposes was adopted by the Vital Statistics Council.
- 1974
- Computerization leads to a major redesign of the vital statistics processing system at Statistics Canada.
- 1979
- The ninth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) is implemented in Canada.
- 1980
- Principles of vital statistics registration were discussed by the Vital Statistics Council.
- 1988
- Creation of the National Health Information Council (NHIC).
- 1989
- Health Division becomes the Canadian Centre for Health Information (CCHI) at Statistics Canada.
- 1989
- Health Reports, a Statistics Canada Quarterly, is launched.
- 1990
- National Health Information Council (NHIC) commissions a National Task Force on Health Information.
- 1993
- Incorporation of the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
- 1994
- Canadian Centre for Health Information (CCHI) becomes the Health Statistics Division at Statistics Canada.
- 2003
- Following provincial court rulings in 2003, vital statistics registries in Ontario and British Columbia started registering marriages of same-sex couples.
- 2004
- Subsequent rulings by courts in Quebec, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Yukon expanded the number of jurisdictions registering same-sex marriages.
- 2005
- A court ruling in New Brunswick allowed same-sex marriages, a month before federal legislation legalized same-sex marriages across Canada, on July 20th, 2005.
- 2010
- Marriages and divorces programs cancelled by Statistics Canada.
History of Vital Statistics
- Date modified: