Quebec Census

Canada   Quebec    Census

National Censuses
Many Canadian national census records are at the Family History Library, LIbrary and Archives Canada, and other archives and libraries. See Canada Census for more information about Canadian national census records.

Most available national censuses have been indexed. Indexes and links to them are listed at the Library and Archives Canada web site.

To find out if a specific subdistrict (township or equivalent) or district (county or equivalent) is available on a census see:

Hillman, Thomas A. ,Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm = Catalogue de Recensements sur microfilm 1666–1891. [Ottawa, Ontario, Canada]: Public Archives of Canada, 1987. (Family History Library ). A list of the censuses that are available for parishes, townships, and counties (look in the Québec section of the book). The catalog includes microfilm numbers for the National Archives of Canada. (They are not Family History Library film numbers.)

Census images for the 1851, 1881, 1901 and 1911 census are available at Library and Archives Canada, You may search these images by location, but not by name. The 1901 and 1911 census have indexes or partial indexes available at Automatedgenealogy.com. Indexes and images for 1851, 1891, 1901 and 1911 are available on www.ancestry.ca. FamilySearch and Ancestry have announced a partnership to digitize and index the 1861 and 1871 census images. Presently there are no province-wide indexes for these records.

The Library of Canada probably has most of the assorted indexes to censuses that have been compiled and published. Québec is not as well served as either New Brunswick or Ontario, but there are some. Ralph Neil Broadhurst, of Calgary (Kintracers) has published:


 * Index to the 1871 census of Québec: Brome County (1992)


 * Index to the 1871 census of Québec: Missisquoi County (1992)


 * Index to the 1871 census of Québec: Shefford County (1992)


 * Index to the 1881 census of Québec: Shefford County (1992)

The 1871 Census of Stanstead Co., has been indexed, and the Québec Family History Society will sell you these as well as:


 * 1851 Census Index Hemmingford Twp., Hemmingford County


 * 1851 Census Index, Parish of Sherrington, Napierville County


 * 1851 Census Index Huntingdon Village, Huntingdon County


 * 1851 Census Index Shipton and Windsor, Richmond County

Glenn Eker has published a series of detailed indexes and databases of individuals of Jewish origins drawn from the census returns:


 * Jewish residents of Montréal and Québec City in the 1871-1901 censuses of Canada (Avotaynu, Inc., c. 1993), 2 microfiche


 * Jewish residents of Greater Québec province, excluding Greater Montréal and Québec City, in the 1871-1901 censuses of Canada (Teaneck, New Jersey: Avotaynu, Inc., c. 1994), 1 microfiche.

He has also indexed the Maritimes (1871-1901) and Toronto (1861-1901).

Census for the Township of Hull, L.C. has been “arranged in alphabetical order by Bruce S. Elliott” (1973), and the Ottawa Branch of the OGS has published a series of census indexes for townships across the river in Ontario. More are being completed so do check catalogues and bibliographies for new additions.

Note: The [http://www.familysearch.org. Canadian Census] for 1881 (4 April 1881) has been indexed and is searchable on the Internet. This Index includes all individuals, giving name, age, gender, location at the time of the census, birthplace, ethnic origin, occupation, religion, marital status and notations.

Warning: Since there are pages missing from some returns, because some ink had faded to illegibility, and the microfilming was not always of the best, names are inevitably missing. The U.S. census for 1880 is also available, and should make it far easier to trace the many Canadians who moved to “the States”.

The Archives Division has digitized the entire 1901 census and posted it on the Internet, however it is not indexed and can be searched only by place.

Indexes for a few localities within the province are listed in the Locality Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under QUEBEC, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CENSUS.

The national censuses from 1921 to the present are not available to the public.

Provincial Censuses
There are many early census records for the province of Québec. Most censuses from 1792 to 1842 list only the head of the household. Those censuses can help you find where families with a particular surname were living.

Lower Canada, Canada East (southern Québec)
Early provincial censuses are available in the following sources:

'Nouvelle-France. Recensements, 1666–1681' (Censuses 1666–1681). Archives Publiques du Canada série G1, C-2474. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.: Service Central du Microfilm, Archives Publiques du Canada, 1966. (Family History Library .) Text in French. Contains census records for 1666, 1667, and 1681.

Recensements du Québec (Census of Québec). Seven Volumes. [n.p., 198-?] (Family History Library ; on 19 Family History Library .) Text in French. Contains selected census records from 1666 to 1805.

Charbonneau, Hubert, and Jacques Légaré, eds. Répertoire des actes de baptême, mariage, sépulture et des recensements du Québec ancien (Transcriptions of Church Records of Christening, Marriage and Burial and of Censuses of Old Québec). 47 Volumes. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1980–1990. (Family History Library .) Text in French. Contains indexed transcriptions from original records. Volume 6 includes the 1666, 1667, and 1681 censuses; volume 8 includes the 1716 census; and volume 16 includes the 1744 census.

The following is an explanation in English to the Répertoire:

Key to the Repertory. Montréal, Québec, Canada: Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 1980?. (Family History Library supp..)

'''Québec (Province). Census of Lower Canada [now Québec], 1825'''. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Public Archives of Canada, 1954. (Family History Library .) Contains the 1825 census for southern Québec.

'Lower Canada. Census Returns, 1831'. Public Archives of Canada no. C-719 - C-724. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Public Archives of Canada, 1954. Contains the 1831 census for southern Québec. Online digitial images – free. This collection is not indexed and must be searched by County or District, and then by sub-district. Heads of household are listed with marks for the number of family members in various age categories. The listing also includes occupation, religion, land usage, and agricultural production. Learn more about this census record.

'Lower Canada. Census Returns, 1842'. Public Archives of Canada number C-725 - C-733. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Public Archives of Canada, 1954. (Family History Library .) Contains the 1842 census for southern Québec.

Private researchers have indexed early censuses and other sources for the Eastern Townships region. For information, contact the Librarian of the Québec Family History Society (see Quebec Societies).

Provincial censuses were taken for Canada East (southern Québec) in 1851 and 1861. (The 1851 census was actually taken in 1852.) The censuses list all the members of the household. Some sections were lost, and there is no index for the entire province. National Archives of Canada microfilm numbers for these censuses are also available in Thomas A. Hillman, Catalogue of Census Returns on Microfilm = Catalogue de Recensements sur microfilm, 1666–1891 (see "National Censuses" on the previous page).

Other Sources
Another useful source for finding census records for Québec is:

Reisinger, Joy. "''Published Census Returns of Québec." Lost in Canada?: Canadian-American Query Exchange 17, number 3''(summer 1994): 134–36. (Family History Library .) Extensive bibliography of printed censuses and lists of settlers, 1608–1825.

All census records for Québec are listed in the Locality Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under:

QUEBEC - CENSUS - [YEAR]

QUEBEC, [COUNTY] - CENSUS - [YEAR]

QUEBEC, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - CENSUS - [YEAR]

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Quebec Census, 1861 (FamilySearch Historical Records)