Canada, Northwest Provinces Census, 1906 - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada

What is in this Collection?
This collection contains indexes of the Northwest Provinces of Canada. 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 census day for Canada was June 24th, 1906.

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. 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.

National census records are arranged by province and within provinces by census districts and sub-districts. 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 sub-districts. 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".

The national government of Canada has taken censuses every ten years since 1871 and every five years since 1971. Newfoundland was not part of Canada until 1949 and most 19th-century censuses for this area contain statistical summaries and very few names.

The Canada Census article has more details.

What Can these Records Tell Me?
Census records usually include:


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

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

Search the Index
Search by name by visiting the Collection Page.
 * 1) Fill in the search boxes on the Collection Page with the information you have
 * 2) Click Search to show possible matches

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Use the information to search for your ancestor in additional censuses.
 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, marriage, land and death records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name, especially French versions.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Canada Genealogy.
 * Search in the Canada Archives and Libraries.
 * Search in the FamilySearch Library Catalog

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection citation:

Record citation (or citation for the index entry):

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