Digitized Published Tables
CCRI Selected Published Tables Data Files
For each census from 1911-1951, a series of published volumes and tables were produced by the Dominion of Canada’s statistical agency. From those published books, the CCRI made a selection of 23 tables (i.e. See the complete reference to the source of each table in this file) which contain information regarding particular topics such as: population (male and female counts), number of dwellings, households and families, as well as religion and origin of the people. This section outlines those tables that were created by CCRI and how they are delivered to the user.
1) Creating, Validating and Editing the Tables Data Files
These 23 published tables were scanned and then converted to raw data files using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software (Abbyy FineReader). After a systematic visual verification of each value of the captured data, validation tests were run within each file and, in some cases, between files.
About 60 different validation tests were conducted. The great majority of those consisted of subtracting the values of all the published categories (or columns) from the total count, expecting a zero value as the result of the test. Some tests pertain to variables like percentage or area measurement which involve different kinds of validation formulas.
In addition to those tests, the CCRI also checked the data comparing the basic geographic unit available in a table to the next higher unit in the geographic hierarchy. In other words, if the basic geographic unit available in a table is the Census Subdivision (CSD), then the sum of the CSD figures were compared to the Census Division (CD) returns; for tables for which the basic unit is the CD, the comparison was made between the sum of the CD figures versus the province returns. No validation attempt of this kind was made for Canada's row nor involving sums of CDs versus Provinces when the basic unit of the table is the CSD.
There was also some validation made between files, for example, to confirm that the sums of populations by origin or religion equal the sums of population by sex. This type of verification was not systematically performed in each census year for each province. Mostly, this type of comparison was conducted when a validation test showed a potential problem with a data value which did not appear to be a typographical error.
The majority of the discovered problems were typographic ones, however there are some other issues of which the user should be aware. For example, in the 1911 published tables for the province of Quebec, we found 11 CSDs where the total population differs from one table to another (table 1 presents three such cases). Most cases are mistakes introduced at the compilation stage by Ottawa officers in 1911, where an enumerator’s district (Enumeration Area) was counted with a specific CSD for the table giving total population and with a neighbouring one for the table giving other characteristics. This is what happened in Saint-Maurice and Saint-Narcisse, 654 persons having been counted in the former for the total population, and in the latter in the tables for religion and origin. Another kind of error (unique in 1911 Quebec, as far as we know) is that an EA may have been purely and simply forgotten for one compilation, as for the Notre-Dame-de-Québec CSD.
Table 1: Some Validation Test Results for Transcribed Published Tables, Province of Quebec, 1911
CD name CSD name Population Total Religion/Origin ?
Champlain Saint-Maurice 2482 1828 654
Champlain Saint-Narcisse 1579 2233
Québec centre Notre-Dame de Québec 2204 2724 520
Source: 1911 Census of Canada, volume 1 table 1 and volume 2, tables 2 and 7
For tables 1 and 2, Volume 1, 1911, the CCRI were given access to manuscript correction notes of an employee of the Census Bureau (A.J. Pelletier.) These were of great help to solve some issues with the data. In the spirit of providing the best data possible to the end user, the CCRI made some changes to the published values, using Pelletier's corrections, in addition to validation tests. Each time a published value was changed by CCRI, the reason is given in the NOTES field, along with the original published value. This way, if a user wants to know the original published value, he does not need to go back to the book itself.
It should be made clear that the NOTES field is used for two distinct purposes. The first is for notes that are the exact transcription of what appears in the published books themselves, as table notes. The second is for what CCRI has to say about a particular row or cell value. It's easy to know what is coming from the verbatim transcription and what was added by CCRI: the latter is always presented in italic font type and starts with "CCRI:". Sometimes, there are notes storing both types of information, coming from Census Bureau and CCRI. The user should also notice that all notes contain English and French versions.
For other years (1921 to 1951), manuscript correction books were not available. So, changes to values were indicated by validation tests. When possible, the CCRI gives reference to other published books or tables that support the changes. Users should notice that the CCRI made changes only when strong evidence that the value was incorrect was found, and when it was possible to change it. If it was impossible to provide CCRI improved values, there may be a note warning the user that the published value seems to be wrong.
Finally, the user should note that sometimes there could be differences between the published values and the expected counts of certain variables we can estimate from the CCRI sample. For example, there could be some differences in the way dwellings were compiled by the Census Bureau and in the way dwellings were identified by CCRI. The transcribed published tables made available by CCRI should be used in the context of those general guidelines and warnings.
2) The Structure of the Delivered Tables Data Files
The transcribed published tables data files contain a variety of data variables aggregated at different geographic levels, from census subdivision (CSD) and census division (CD) to province and country. The first row of each file lists short variable names and the second one is a summary for Canada. Then after, comes all relevant information for each province, its CDs, and CSDs. The provinces are ordered as they were published in the tables in the books: sometimes from east to west, sometimes in alphabetic order.
Interestingly, despite the fact that some of those tables were published for the same census year and for the same level of geography, the list of entities can be different from table to table. For example, in the same volume, two tables by CSD may not share the exact same list of CSDs, because some particular aggregation of data was done at the compilation stage by the statistical agency. This is why each of the CCRI transcribed tables has its own coding scheme, which can be linked to CCRI polygons files as well as matched with the CCRI sample dataset.
The fields in each file are organised in this order:
a) Identification fields
b) Data values
c) Notes
The contents of the notes field were presented in the previous section and the data values fields are self-explanatory, however the identification fields require some explanation. The first is the ROW_ID field, which is a unique row identifier, sequentially numbered. Each CCRI transcribed published table data file also contains, in the second column, a Table Identification field (eg. V1T1_1911), which is the key for geographically matching the data values to other CCRI components, the sample data file and the polygon files. Other fields may also be used in this regard depending at which level the user wants to merge the data. A complete listing of variables and their own original labels is provided in this appendix file.
The labels are original since CCRI is providing those as they were in the published books (with no attempt to use more contemporary wording to identify groups of people). Not all original column headings were in English and French; the CCRI provides a label for each variable in both languages.
The user should notice that CCRI tried to use the same names for Census divisions and subdivisions from one published table data file to another. There were a few changes of this kind made by CCRI. With the exception of these few entries, the entity names are exactly as they are in the published books. The user is invited to consider the names provided in transcribed tables as the names in use for those entities at the time of the census. These names can differ from the way the polygons are identified in the GIS files where more standardisation has occurred (for more details please see the documentation about creation of the GIS files).
The CSD_TYPE field identifies the type of CSD, but is only filled when type was indicated in the published table. Most CSDs were not explicitly identified by type.
The meaning of CSD_TYPE codes are:
CSD_TYPE* Description
C City
P or PAR Parish
R Indian reserves
T or V Town
VL Village
W Ward
* The CSD_TYPE code can be followed by the string "_PT" meaning that the CSD is split into more than one part.
Finally, the user should be aware of the fact that the 1911 Volume 1 Table 1 (Area and Population in 1911 and in 1901) is somewhat different from other tables. In the original book, there are some values pertaining to more than one row and there are some rows containing almost no data. The CCRI general guideline was to create a row for each listed census subdivision, despite the fact that some of those contain no population in 1911. Focusing on 1911 male and female published data as the main fields to deliver, some original values about 1911 area and 1901 population were moved to the NOTES field. When possible, some of those values have been added up to make the creation of the table easier. A good way to identify cases like this is to search for a curly bracket in the name fields or doing a search on AREAS/POP_1901 fields in the notes. Since the delivered product is a flat file, it would have been difficult to do this any other way. The user is cautioned to use the 1911 Volume 1 Table 1 area fields and 1901 population count with care. This especially applies if these are directly linked to polygons files for constructing thematic rendering or used for doing direct statistical analysis on 1911 census subdivisions. To get a better idea on what can be achieved using the transcribed published tables, see the section “Using the Geographic component of the CCRI” in the chapter “CCRI Geography” of the second part of the User’s Guide.
3) Digitized Public Tables
For each census from 1911-1951, a series of published volumes and tables were produced by the Dominion of Canada’s statistical agency. From those published books, the CCRI made a selection of 23 tables which contain information regarding particular topics such as: population (male and female counts), number of dwellings, households and families, as well as religion and origin of the people. This section outlines those tables that were created by CCRI and how they are delivered to the user.
The tables are in MS Excel format and Portable Document Format.
To open the file left click-on the link.
To save the file right click-on the link, select "save as."
Year: 1911
Volume: 1
Tab: 1
Pages: 2-172
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Area and Population of Canada by Provinces, Districts and Subdistricts in 1911 and Population in 1901
File: CCRI_PUB_1911_V1T1
File: 1911_V1T1_variables
Year: 1911
Volume:1
Tab:2
Pages: 174-511
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Conjugal Condition of the People, classified as single, married, widowed, divorced, legally separated and not given, by districts and sub-districts
File: CCRI_PUB_1911_V1T2
File: 1911_V1T2_variables
Year: 1911
Volume:2
Tab:2
Pages: 5-147
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Religions of the People
File: CCRI_PUB_1911_V2T2
File: 1911_V2T2_variables
Year: 1911
Volume:2
Tab:7
Pages: 162-331
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Origins of the People by sub-districts
File: CCRI_PUB_1911_V2T7
File: 1911_V2T7_variables
Year: 1911
Volume:2
Tab:28
Pages: 462-466
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Literacy of total population 5 years of age and over
File: CCRI_PUB_1911_V2T28
File: 1911_V2T28_variables
Year: 1921
Volume:1
Tab:16
Pages: 249-339
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population, Canadian, British and Foreign born, classified by sex for counties or census divisions, 1921
File: CCRI_PUB_1921_V1T16
File: 1921_V1T16_variables
Year: 1921
Volume:1
Tab:27
Pages: 382-541
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population classified according to principal origins of the people by counties or census divisions, 1921
File: CCRI_PUB_1921_V1T27
File: 1921_V1T27_variables
Year: 1921
Volume:1
Tab:38
Pages: 604-755
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population classified according to principal religions of the people by counties or census divisions, 1921
File: CCRI_PUB_1921_V1T38
File: 1921_V1T38_variables
Year: 1921
Volume:3
Tab:3
Pages: 6-7
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Dwellings and households, classified as rural and urban, for counties or census divisions, 1921
File: CCRI_PUB_1921_V3T3
File: 1921_V3T3_variables
Year: 1931
Volume:2
Tab:21
Pages: 164-249
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population, Canadian, British and Foreign born, classified by sex, for municipalities, townships or other subdivisions, 1931
File: CCRI_PUB_1931_V2T21
File: 1931_V2T21_variables
Year: 1931
Volume:2
Tab:33
Pages: 320-493
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population classified according to principal origins for municipalities, etc., 1931
File: CCRI_PUB_1931_V2T33
File: 1931_V2T33_variables
Year: 1931
Volume:2
Tab:42
Pages: 534-696
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population classified according to principal religions for municipalities, etc., 1931
File: CCRI_PUB_1931_V2T42
File: 1931_V2T42_variables
Year: 1931
Volume:5
Tab:49
Pages: 944-949
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Buildings (containing dwellings), dwellings and households, classified as rural and urban, for counties and census divisions, 1931
File: CCRI_PUB_1931_V5T49
File: 1931_V5T49_variables
Year: 1941
Volume:2
Tab:32
Pages: 320-507
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population by principal origins, for census subdivisions, 1941
File: CCRI_PUB_1941_V2T32
File: 1941_V2T32_variables
Year: 1941
Volume:2
Tab:38
Pages: 550-641
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population by selected religious denominations, for census subdivisions, 1941
File: CCRI_PUB_1941_V2T38
File: 1941_V2T38_variables
Year: 1941
Volume:5
Tab:4
Pages: 6-55
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Buildings, dwellings, households and families, showing tenure and type of dwelling, and composition of households and families, for counties, rural and urban, 1941
File: CCRI_PUB_1941_V5T4
File: 1941_V5T4_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:1
Tab:6
Pages: 6-1 to 6-37
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population by census subdivisions, 1871-1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V1T6
File: 1951_V1T6_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:1
Tab:7
Pages: 7-1 to 7-45
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population by sex for census subdivisions, 1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V1T7
File: 1951_V1T7_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:1
Tab:34
Pages: 34-1 to 34-22
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Population by origin and sex, for counties and census divisions, 1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V1T34
File: 1951_V1T34_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:1
Tab:41
Pages: 41-1 to 41-93
Basic Geography Unit: CSD
Title: Population by specified religious denominations, for census subdivisions, 1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V1T41
File: 1951_V1T41_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:3
Tab:4
Pages: 4-1 to 4-20
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Households by number of persons and average number of persons per household, for counties and census divisions, rural farm, rural non-farm, and urban, 1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V3T4
File: 1951_V3T4_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:3
Tab:6
Pages: 6-1 to 6-10
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Occupied dwellings by tenure, for counties and census divisions, rural farm, rural non-farm, and urban, 1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V3T6
File: 1951_V3T6_variables
Year: 1951
Volume:3
Tab:9
Pages: 9-1 to 9-8
Basic Geography Unit: CD
Title: Occupied dwellings by tenure showing type of dwelling, for counties and census divisions, 1951
File: CCRI_PUB_1951_V3T9
File: 1951_V3T9_variables
