Wednesday, June 10, 2009

1851 - 1916 Canadian Census Just Launched

Ancestry.ca, in partnership with Library and Archives Canada (LAC), today completed the world-first online launch of the Historical Canadian Censuses, 1851-1916. Never before have all of the nine available national censuses been published online, fully indexed and including original document images.

Together, these censuses contain more than 32 million names - all searchable for the first time - of those living in Canada from the mid 19th century through to the early 20th century – a period of nationhood, new arrivals, great change and significant growth.

With a one in two chance of Canadians finding ancestors in the Historical Canadian Censuses, 1851-1916, the originals of which are held by LAC, Ancestry.ca expects the collection to explode interest for family history in Canada.

Ancestry says that they hope by making this collection available online, many Canadians who are interested in knowing more about their family history but who haven't known where or how to get started may now be inspired to do so.

Josh Hanna, Senior VP, Ancestry.ca says that “Ancestry.ca’s partnership with LAC has ensured the digitization of these vital records and will enable millions of Canadians, not to mention countless others around the world in countries such as the UK, France and the US, to access the records online for the first time and search for their family.”

Familysearch International also worked on this ambitious project to deliver the images and indexes for the 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1916 Censuses.The Historical Canadian Censuses, 1851-1916 are now available to Canada and World Deluxe members and through a 14-day free trial and can be viewed at www.ancestry.ca/census.

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