Censuses, or population counts, have been conducted in the territory now known as Canada since 1665-66 in New France. Canada’s census is our most valuable primary economic, social, and cultural data set, and is an essential research tool for the formation of new knowledge about the populations that lived here in the past and present.
The Canadian Census Discovery Partnership is working to inventory all census data (printed and digital statistical tables, microdata files, geospatial data, maps, and more) going back to the earliest censuses. The goal is to build an online portal that will facilitate discovery and access to all of these materials. In the longer term, we also plan to engage in digitization projects for born-print data tables and maps.
Inventory work is ongoing, with the involvement of librarians, staff and student employees at MDL and at other institutions across Canada. Visit our project website to learn more. We'll post updates here when the inventory is available to search!