Locating A Place In The Census

There are a number of ways to find the census records for a geographic area:

It should be noted that there are some differences between the 1901 census districts and current geographic boundaries, e.g. census districts do not always correspond to current county boundaries.

The Alphabetic Listing Of All Subdistricts

If the area you are interested in constitutes a census subdistrict, but you aren't sure what district it falls under the quickest way to find it is the alphabetic listing of all subdistricts, which is linked to under documentation on the national summary page. Simply select the first letter of the place you are looking for and then see if it appears in the list of subdistricts.


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Search By Geographic Name At The National Archives

The 1901 Census part of the National Archives site allows you to search for place names in the census. The search will find subdistrict names as well as place names listed in notes.


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Using The Census District Maps At The National Archives

The National Archives site includes maps of the provinces and census districts that can be useful in determining in which subdistrict a place is located. These maps are most useful if you already know the approximate location of the place.


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The Canadian Geographic Place Names Database

If you have a place name but are not sure where it is on a map, the easiest way to find it is using the Canadian Geographic Names Database, a database of all official geographic names, past and present, maintained by Natural Resources Canada. Just type in a name and you get a list of all place names containing that name. Each listed place has a link to a map showing where it is located.


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The original CGNDB web service has been "temporarily" offline for some time, you can try to access it here:
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