1931 Canada Census Questions

The official enumeration date was June 1, 1931, and the enumerators were instructed to record the information as it existed on that date although the actual enumeration of the population took longer than a single day. It employed the de jure system that enumerates people in their home or usual place of abode as of June 1 (rather than where they were at the time the enumerator arrived). The de jure system had been used for all Canadian census enumerations from 1871 forward.

Focusing on the population, Form 1 requested information about every person living in the household on census day for a total of 40 questions. The head of each family or household, usually the husband or father, provided the necessary information to the enumerator, who recorded the answers in each column on the bilingual form.

Enumerators recorded information for 8,788,483 individuals as follows: British Columbia (524,582), Alberta (588,454), Saskatchewan (757,510), Manitoba (610,118), Ontario (2,933,662), Quebec (2,361,199), New Brunswick (387,876), Nova Scotia (523,837), Prince Edward Island (88,615), Northwest Territories (8,473), Yukon (4,157). Newfoundland was a British colony which did not become a province of Canada until 1949, and is, therefore, not included in this census.

Tthere were five Schedules but only Form 1, dealing with the population, was kept and microfilmed.

Column	Question
	Dwelling number and number of family assigned by the enumerator, in order of visitation (1-2)
1	Dwelling number
2	Family, household, or institution number
	Name and Residence
3	The name of each person in the household, starting with the surname followed by the first name in full. The order of recording individuals was as follows: head of the household (usually a man), his wife, his sons and daughters in age order, and his other relatives, then servants, boarders, lodgers or other persons residing in the family or household.
4	Place of Abode The address of each dwelling was to include the house number, apartment number (if applicable), and street name. For rural regions, this column listed the name of the township, lot, parish or cadastral number. In Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, additional details such as the section, township, range, meridian, and (in some cases) parish were recorded.
	Description of House (5-10)
5	Home owned or rented "O" if the home is owned; "R" if home is rented
6	Value (if owned) or Rental Per Month
7	Class of House "A" for Apartment House; "T" for Row or Terrace; "S" for single house; "D" for semi-detached house
8	Construction Materials "S" for stone; "B" for brick; "W" for wood; "B.V." for brick veneered; "P.L." for plastered with lime mortar; "P.C." plastered with cement mortar; "Con." For houses constructed of cement blocks or of concrete.
9	How many rooms occupied by the family
10	Has this family a radio?
	Personal Description (11-14)
11	Relationship to head of family or household The head of the family (or household or institution) was entered as such (that is, head), with the remaining members and their relation to the head (for example, wife, son, daughter, servant, boarder, lodger, partner). People in an institution were described as officer, inmate, patient, prisoner, pupil, and so on. The chief officer of the institution was designated through his/her proper title (for example, warden, superintendent or principal).
12	Sex Denoted by "m" for male and "f" for female
13	Single, married, widowed, divorced Denoted by the letter "s" for single, "m" for married, "w" for widowed (man or woman), "d" for divorced
14	Age at last birthday For people one year of age and over, the number of years completed by June 1, 1931. For children under one year of age, fractions were used (for example, for 2 months, "2/12" was indicated).
	Place of birth (15-17) Place of birth for each individual as well as their father and mother, reported as a country (for foreign-born) or province/territory (if Canadian-born). Entries for foreign-born individuals were supposed to reflect where those locations were as of 1931, important for understanding birthplaces in countries whose borders changed as a result of World War I. Individuals born in the British Isles were to provide the specific country (England, Wales, etc.) rather than Great Britain or British Isles.
15	Person
16	Father
17	Mother
	Immigration (18-19)
18	Year of moving to Canada The year in which the individual moved to Canada from another country. It should be the year of the first entry into Canada. Also applies to Canadian-born persons who had lived in another country and have returned to Canada.
19	Year of naturalization For persons who were born in a country outside the United Kingdom or any of its dependencies and who had become naturalized
20	Nationality Canadian for those who lived in Canada and who had acquired rights of citizenship. For Non-Canadians, the country of their birth, or the country to which they professed allegiance. A married woman is to be reported as of the same nationality as her husband. A foreign-born child under 21 years of age is to be reported as of the same nationality as his parents.
21	Racial origin (ethnicity), which was traced through the father (except for Indigenous peoples, whose origin was traced through the mother)
	Language (22-24) Ability of each person to speak English and French. Languages other than English or French that were spoken as the mother tongue were also noted
22	Can speak English
23	Can speak French
24	Languages other than English or French spoken as Mother tongue, written in full
25	Religious body, denomination or Community to which each person adhered or belonged. The most-common religious denominations in 1931 Canada included Roman Catholicism, the United Church, Anglicanism, Lutheranism and Baptist congregations.
	Education (26-27)
26	Can read and write Yes or no
27	The months at school since 1 September 1930 for individuals between the ages of 5 and 20, inclusive.
	Occupation and Industry (28-31)
28	Chief occupation Occupation for individuals 10 years of age and older, described in words which most accurately indicate the particular kind of work. Income here indicates someone who was independently wealthy, and None was used for someone who had no gainful occupation. A woman who was primarily engaged in homemaking was recorded as Homemaker
29	Industry The industry or business in which a person was engaged or employed, with some level of specificity (e.g., soap factory instead of just factory, or building construction instead of construction). Columns 29 and 30 were left blank for individuals not gainfully employed.
30	Class of worker Class of worker: E for employer (e.g., a shopowner), W for wage or salary worker, O for own account (self-employed), and NP for family members employed without pay but who contributed to the family income
31	Total earnings in past 12 months since June 1, 1930 for every worker who had an occupation or trade.
	Unemployment (32-40)
32	If an employee, were you at work June 1, 1931 Yes or no. If at work on 1 June 1931, asked only of respondents who had an occupation in column 28 and were listed as employees/workers in column 30.
33	If no, why not? Why not at work if respondent answered No to column 32. Possible responses include no job (nor any promise of a job nor understanding of being employed), illness, accident, holiday, strike or temporary layoff.
34	Number of weeks unemployed in the past 12 months Column 34 must be equal to the sum of columns 35 through 40, which provided additional detail:
	Of total number of weeks reported out of work in column 34, how may were due to: (35-40)
35	Number of weeks with no job, nor prospect of returning to a former job
36	Number of weeks out of work because of illness
37	Number of weeks out of work because of an accident to himself
38	Number of weeks out of work because of a strike or lockout
39	Number of weeks out of work because of temporary layoff, such as a factory being closed for repairs
40	Number of weeks out of work because of other causes

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