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THE PROJECT
 
 
 
Secondary Sources

 

The secondary data sources are intended to facilitate research on the primary sources and are equally varied in nature. They range from introductory descriptive statements about the census enumeration process to highly technical discussions of data-entry and coding issues, and bibliographies of census-research publications.

Integral to the entire project is the construction of a geographic framework for the historical census data using a Geographic Information System (GIS). GIS map layers are being created to enable geographic location, selection, aggregation and analysis of sample data, as well as some mapping of generalized census data. This will allow researchers to ask questions of the database which are much more geographically specific than in the past. Interface tools to make these geographic queries and analysis as user-friendly as possible are also being developed.

The harvest of the sea

The harvest of the sea, 1913, Prince Ruppert, B.C.
Photo Courtesy National Archives of Canada (PA-030017)

The CCRI will be structured in terms of five distinct articulations, each devoted to one of the enumeration years (1911-1951). The CCRI will include cross-census harmonization bridges (or crosswalks) that connect each of the five articulations to enable comparative analysis. A variety of user guides will be developed to aid researchers. In addition to a general introduction to each census enumeration, there will be user guides for each census variable as well as a separate guide detailing the coding scheme for that variable. As it is expected that some variables (such as occupation) may be coded according to more than one scheme, each scheme will be discussed in the guides.
 

 

 

Russian Jewish immigrants

Russian Jewish immigrants, 1911, Québec
Photo Courtesy National Archives of Canada (PA-010400)

The CCRI databases will be made available through Research Data Centres across Canada; versions will also be available through the Data Liberation Initiative at Canadian universities. Once completed, the CCRI databases will be joined to other databases that cover the periods from 1871 to 1901 and from 1961 to 2001. The result will be a new foundation for the study of social, economic, cultural and political change as the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure will include an extraordinary range of data about the twentieth century.

The census databases will offer unprecedented evidence about Canada's changing society by bringing individuals, families and households to the forefront of historical investigation and opening up a myriad of groundbreaking research opportunities. In so doing, the Canadian Century Research Infrastructure contributes to a better-informed discussion of such key issues as the changing definitions of:

  • family;
  • literacy;
  • education;
  • immigration;
  • unemployment; and
  • ethnicity.

The evidence derived from the CCRI will facilitate more extensive studies of the changing characteristics of Canada's immigrant population, the country's economic evolution, and such issues as labour, housing and religion, among many others.