Quebec Census

Provincial Censuses
There are many early census records for the province of Québec. Most censuses from 1792 to 1842 list only the head of the household. Those censuses can help you find where families with a particular surname were living.

Lower Canada, Canada East (southern Québec)
Early provincial censuses are available in the following sources:

'Nouvelle-France. Recensements, 1666–1681' (Censuses 1666–1681). Archives Publiques du Canada série G1, C-2474. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.: Service Central du Microfilm, Archives Publiques du Canada, 1966. (Family History Library .) Text in French. Contains census records for 1666, 1667, and 1681.

Recensements du Québec (Census of Québec). Seven Volumes. [n.p., 198-?] (Family History Library ; on 19 Family History Library .) Text in French. Contains selected census records from 1666 to 1805.

Charbonneau, Hubert, and Jacques Légaré, eds. Répertoire des actes de baptême, mariage, sépulture et des recensements du Québec ancien (Transcriptions of Church Records of Christening, Marriage and Burial and of Censuses of Old Québec). 47 Volumes. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1980–1990. (Family History Library .) Text in French. Contains indexed transcriptions from original records. Volume 6 includes the 1666, 1667, and 1681 censuses; volume 8 includes the 1716 census; and volume 16 includes the 1744 census.

The following is an explanation in English to the Répertoire:

Key to the Repertory. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1980?. (Family History Library supp..)

'''Québec (Province). Census of Lower Canada [now Québec], 1825'''. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Public Archives of Canada, 1954. (Family History Library .) Contains the 1825 census for southern Québec.

'Lower Canada. Census Returns, 1831'. Public Archives of Canada no. C-719 - C-724. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Public Archives of Canada, 1954. Contains the 1831 census for southern Québec. Online digitial images – free. This collection is not indexed and must be searched by County or District, and then by sub-district. Heads of household are listed with marks for the number of family members in various age categories. The listing also includes occupation, religion, land usage, and agricultural production. Learn more about this census record.

'Lower Canada. Census Returns, 1842'. Public Archives of Canada number C-725 - C-733. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Public Archives of Canada, 1954. (Family History Library .) Contains the 1842 census for southern Québec.

Private researchers have indexed early censuses and other sources for the Eastern Townships region. For information, contact the Librarian of the Québec Family History Society (see Quebec Societies).

Provincial censuses were taken for Canada East (southern Québec) in 1851 and 1861. (The 1851 census was actually taken in 1852.) The censuses list all the members of the household. Some sections were lost, and there is no index for the entire province. National Archives of Canada microfilm numbers for these censuses are also available in Thomas A. Hillman, Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm = Catalogue de Recensements sur microfilm, 1666–1891 (see "National Censuses" on the previous page).

Other Sources
Another useful source for finding census records for Québec is:

Reisinger, Joy. "''Published Census Returns of Québec." Lost in Canada?: Canadian-American Query Exchange 17, number 3''(summer 1994): 134–36. (Family History Library .) Extensive bibliography of printed censuses and lists of settlers, 1608–1825.

Voters Lists
The Archives holds the records of the Chief Electoral Officer for Canada (RG 113) which include lists of voters prepared during Federal election years since 1935. Available on microfilm, they are arranged by electoral district. See Tracing Your Ancestors in Canada, page 17. The ANQ holds some Poll Books, most would be at regional branches.

National Registration
Also by electoral district and polling division are the 1940 National Registration Records are held by Statistics Canada. Having been compiled under the War Measures Act, once a person has been dead for twenty years, or was born over 110 years ago, these can be released - for a fairly hefty fee. There are a number of caveats, but for anyone over 16 in 1940, or who turned 16 in the next few years, it is a fairly recently available source with a great deal of information.