While waiting for next month’s launch of the free searchable 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces, genealogists can browse on FamilySearch what could possibly be all of the more than 45,000 pages that make up the census. This is the census of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Russian family, north of Coolidge, Alberta, circa 1920s. Source: Library and Archives Canada, 3367986.
The census images on FamilySearch are scans of the microfilms, so it is like looking at a microfilm, a bit time-consuming, but without the bother of travelling to a library or archival centre to look at them.
Sometime in March, Library and Archives Canada and FamilySearch expect to make the census searchable online by name and other keywords.
To browse the microfilmed images now, you must set up a free FamilySearch account, which takes a matter of seconds, and credit card information is not requested.
The 1926 census can be found in the FamilySearch Catalog. The opening page for the census appears to be a work in progress, with a couple of spelling errors.
To view one of the 45 microfilms that are listed by province, click on the camera icon next to it. Each microfilm has about 1,000 pages, but there are header pages throughout the film that identify the town or region.
FamilySearch has created a Wiki page about the 1926 census that lists the type of information that is available, such as place of birth of person, father and mother, ethnicity, immigration year, and naturalization year, in addition to the name, gender, marital status, and age. There are also tips on how to search the online collection when it becomes searchable.
On its website, Library and Archives Canada explains why the 1926 census was conducted. “Since 1871, a Canada-wide census has been held every 10 years. However, the population of the Prairie provinces was rapidly expanding, so there was a need for more frequent population counts in those provinces. It was decided to conduct a census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in June 1906 (in between the Canada-wide censuses), and every 10 years thereafter.”
This is fabulous news. It would be easier to browse if there was a list somewhere of the towns/cities associated with the district numbers. They may not be the same as they were in the 1921 census.
Its soo exciting to know its coming soon!!
Thanks for the update, Gail. Shared on our Society’s Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/eegsociety
I had a brief look and yeah, waiting for the searchable index. My great-great-uncle was in Calgary, so that would mean day and night browsing to find him!
I wonder why the index isn’t up yet? I indexed part of that project, it was done very quickly.
I assume they need time to build the database.
Woo hoo! I found my grandparents! I knew they were still living in La Salle, Manitoba, so this is what I did. I checked the 1921 census to make note that they were enumerated in Manitoba, Provencher, district 34, sub-district 26, municipality of Macdonald, La Salle Village. Then I checked the 1916 census which told me they were living in Township 8, Range 2, East of the meridian. I did some browsing for Provencher but couldn’t find anything.
Then I found a link http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.830420/publication.html to a pdf of The Census of Prairie Provinces, 1926 : population and agriculture, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta published by what we now call Stats Canada. I noticed on page 9 that the Manitoba Electoral Districts were listed in a particular order, and had both a Provencher District and a Macdonald District.
Back to the FamilySearch digitized microfilm, I chose the 4th film from the top (assuming the census may have been filmed in the same order as the statistics tables), and discovered you could toggle between a specific page and the whole film. I was looking for Macdonald this time. It was easy to tell which images were the beautifully written index cards telling you which townships were being enumerated on the next pages. Still nothing, and everything was West of the meridian. Moved up to the 3rd film and continued the process.
Voila! There they are, still township 8, Range 2 E in the Village of La Salle, only now it’s called Macdonald District 4, sub-district 1. It was almost a whole day of work, but such fun!
Great advice! Congratulations!
Thanks Gail! I posted my method on my blog today. https://hoguegirardin.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/navigating-the-1926-census-of-the-prairie-provinces/