Canada, Northwest Provinces Census, 1906 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Record Description
The census day for Canada was June 24th, 1906. This collection contains indexes of the Northwest Provinces of Canada.

A number was assigned to a district, a letter to a sub-district and a number to a subdivision of a sub-district. Some sub-districts also have a number, i.e. "a(1)" means sub-district "a1" and "a1" means sub-district "a", subdivision "1".

National census records are arranged by province and within provinces by census districts and subdistricts. Census districts are voting districts, not counties. Although a voting district may have the same name as a county, it may not include the same townships. In some provinces, townships are equivalent to census subdistricts.

Since the boundaries varied from census to census, it is not easy to tell which census district an eastern Canadian township or western Canadian village was in. Contemporary maps of the census districts have been lost or destroyed.

The national government of Canada has taken censuses every ten years since 1871 and every five years since 1971. The 1871 census covers the four original provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario. The first coast-to-coast census was taken in 1881. Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949. For Newfoundland, there are few, found 19th-century censuses that list names. They mostly contain statistical summaries.

There are some printed forms that were written in English and French. The responses that the people gave to the enumerator, were either in English or French.

The Canada Census article has more details.

Record Content
Census records may contain the following information:


 * Full name
 * Gender
 * Age
 * Marital status
 * Relationship to head of household
 * Place of birth
 * Approximate year of birth

How to Use the Record
To use this collection, it would be helpful to know the following information:


 * Name of ancestor
 * Approximate year and place of residence

Search the Collection
Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination.

Using the Information
This collection can help you further your research in the following tactics:

Use the locality and dates found in your census search to search other records, like civil registration or church records.

Tips to Keep in Mind

 * When looking for a person who had a common name, look at all the entries for the name before deciding which is correct.
 * Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name as your ancestor and that your ancestor may have used nicknames or different names at different times.
 * Continue to search the index and records to identify children, siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have served in the same unit or a nearby unit.
 * Be aware that, as with any index, transcription errors may occur.

Unable to Find Your Ancestor
If you can’t find your ancestor's location, you can try:

Look through the civil registration first to get the information that you need. When you have found that information, you can guess where your ancestor might be living at the time of the census.

General Information About These Records
These censuses list a large proportion of the population. Unfortunately, portions of some have been lost, and some geographical areas within the provinces were missed by the census takers.

Related Websites

 * Index to the 1906 Census of the Northwest Provinces
 * Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906
 * 1906 Census on Rootsweb
 * Canada Census Records Online from CensusFinder.com
 * Census Records in Canada from AllCensusRecords.com

Related Wiki Articles

 * Canada History Links
 * Canada Historic Maps
 * Canadian Censuses Online
 * Canada Census
 * How Canadian National Censuses Are Organized

Citations for this Collection
When you copy information from a record, you should list where you found the information; that is, cite your sources. This will help people find the record again and evaluate the reliability of the source. It is also good to keep track of records where you did not find information, including the names of the people you looked for in the records. Citations are available for the collection as a whole and each record or image individually.

Collection citation:

Record citation (or citation for the index entry):