Preface to second edition

The purpose of the present volume is to bring up-to-date the material from the first edition of Historical Statistics of Canada, which was published by the Macmillan Company of Canada, Toronto, in 1965. In the course of preparing the present edition, it became apparent that a substantial number of new series and important revisions of older series had become available since 1960, the last date of most of the series in the original volume. Thus the present edition is both an updating and a revision of the first edition.

The first and second editions are similar with respect to the self-contained nature of the text and tables. In most cases there is a sufficient description of the content of the individual series to enable the reader to use them without reference to the numerous basic sources. The contents of the editions are also alike, the only exceptions being now more distinctly identified sections on Vital Statistics and Health; Social Security; Minerals; and Energy.

A few series which terminated prior to 1960 have not been reproduced in the present volume and lengthy lists of earlier source material have also been dropped. In such cases, the necessary references have been provided to locate the source material in the first edition.

The organization of textual material in the new edition follows closely that of the first, providing information on each section's contents, the principal sources of material, and general explanatory notes regarding the statistics. The majority of the series in the present volume end in 1975, although a few series have been updated to 1976 or 1977.

Brief history of the second edition

The project to revise the first edition was initiated in 1974, under the joint sponsorship of the Social Science Federation of Canada (formerly the Social Science Research Council of Canada) and Statistics Canada. A Policy Steering Committee was formed, consisting of the following members:

M.C. Urquhart, Queen's University, (Chairman);

Yves Dub‚, Laval University;

D.G.G. Kerr, University of Western Ontario;

Gilles Paquet, Carleton University;

A.M. Sinclair, Dalhousie University;

D.A. Worton, Statistics Canada;

John Banks, Social Science Research Council of Canada (Secretary).

Subsequently, Mr. Jan Loubser of the Social Science Federation replaced Mr. John Banks on the Steering Committee and Mr. Frank H. Leacy was appointed editor and co-ordinator of the project. Office space, facilities and staff were provided by Statistics Canada which also took responsibility for proofreading, typesetting and preparation of the final copy.

The section chiefs were appointed by the Steering Committee and they in turn chose panel members to assist in the determination of content specifications. The work on actually obtaining and compiling the statistics was overseen by the co-ordinator through the various subject-matter divisions of Statistics Canada, other government departments and agencies, or various outside sources.

Sincere thanks for hard work, patience and persistence to all those who participated in the production of this volume.