Columns 1 to 35
Numbered in the Order of Visitation
Column 1. Dwelling house
A count of the houses, numbered in the order visited by the enumerator.
Column 2. Family, household or institution
A count of the family or household. Two or more families that occupied the same house were to be numbered separately.
Name and Residence
Column 3. Name of each person in family, household or institution.
Surname (last name) first.
Column 4. Place of Abode (Section or Township)
In rural localities, give parish, section, township, range and Meridian.
Column 5. Place of Abode (Municipality)
In cities, towns and villages, give street and number of dwelling.
Tenure and Class of Home
Column 6. Home owned or rented
“O” if the home is owned; “R” if home is rented.
Column 7. If rented, give rent paid per month
Column 8. Class of Houses
“A” for Apartment House; “T” for Row or Terrace; “S” for single house; “D” for semi-detached house.
Column 9. Materials of Construction
“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.
Column 10. Rooms occupied by this family
The number of rooms occupied by this family for living purposes.
Personal Description
Column 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).
Column 12. Sex
Denoted by “m” for male and “f” for female.
Column 13. Single, Married, Widowed, Divorced or Legally Separated
Denoted by the letter "s" for single, "m" for married, "w" for widowed (man or woman), "d" for divorced or "l.s." for legally separated.
Column 14. Age at last Birthday
- For people one year of age and over, the number of years completed before June 1, 1921.
- For children under one year of age, fractions were used (for example, for 2 months, "2/12" was indicated).
Nativity
- For people born outside of Canada, the name of the country of origin (for example, England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, France, etc.).
- For people born in Canada, the name of the province or territory.
- These instructions are valid for columns 15, 16 and 17.
Column 15. Person
Column 16. Father
Column 17. Mother
Citizenship
Column 18. Year of immigration 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.
Column 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.
Column 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.
Race, language and religion
Column 21. Racial or tribal origin
Column 22. Can speak English
Yes or no.
Column 23. Can speak French
Yes or no.
Column 24. Language other than English or French spoken as Mother tongue
The language spoken by every person other than English or French written in full.
Column 25. Religious body, Denomination or Community to which this person adheres or belongs
The religion to which an individual claimed to belong written in full.
Education
Column 26. Can read
Yes or no.
Column 27. Can write
Yes or no.
Column 28. Months at school since Sept. 1, 1920
The number of months the child attended school between September 1st, 1920 and June 1st, 1921.
Profession, Occupation and Employment
Important notice
For statistical analysis, a numerical code (for example 00-00, 05-57 or 09-80) was used for occupations and added in column 28 after the census was taken. It consists of two parts:
- the first part from 00 to 99 indicates the industry
- the second part from 00 to 119, represents the occupation
Consult the 1921 Census Occupational Codes chart [PDF 1.8 MB] to obtain the meaning of the code. The information was taken from the publications Alphabetical Index to Occupations, Sixth Census, 1921, Ottawa, Census and Statistics Office, 1921.
Column 29. Chief occupation or trade
The more accurate description of the trade for every person of 10 years and over.
Column 30. Employer “E”, Employee or Worker “W”, Working on own account “OA”
Column 31. “a” if “Employer” state principal product, “b” if “Employee” state where employed as “Farm”, “Cotton Mill”, “Foundry”, “Grocery”, etc. “c” if on “Own account” state nature of work
Column 32. Total earnings past 12 months since June 1st, 1920
Total amount earned between June 1st, 1920 and May 31st, 1921.
Column 33. If an employee, where you out of work June 1st, 1921
Yes or no.
Column 34. Number of weeks unemployed in the past 12 months since June 1st, 1920
Column 35. Number of weeks unemployed since June 1st, 1920 due to sickness
