The data collected in the 1901 Census included:
Column 1 – dwelling house
Column 2 – family or household
Column 3 – names of individuals in family or household on 31 March 1901
Column 4 – sex (m for male, f for female)
Column 5 – colour (the following designations were used in the 1901 census - they do not reflect current terms used for the Canadian census)
W for white – those of European descent
R for red – Native Canadians
B for black – those of African descent
Y for yellow – those of Chinese or Japanese descent
Children of mixed race (Caucasian and other heritage) were recorded as members of the non-white race.
Column 6 – relationship to head of house
Column 7 – marital status—single (s), married (m), widowed (w), or divorced (d)
Column 8 – month and date of birth
Column 9 – birth year
Column 10 – age at last birthday (as of 31 March 1901; fractions were used for those under the age of one, such as 4/12 for 4 months old)
Column 11 – place / country of birth
For those born in Canada, the province or territory was recorded
For those born outside of Canada, the birth country was listed
Additionally, r was noted to indicate rural and u was used to indicate urban
Column 12 – year of immigration to Canada (if applicable)
Column 13 – year of naturalization (if applicable)
Column 14 – racial or tribal origin usually traced through paternal line except for Aboriginals who were traced through the maternal line, with the name of the First Nation indicated. Breed / half-breed indicated a mixed Native and other background. Some common abbreviations are as follows:
Fb (French breed)
Eb (English breed)
Sb (Scottish breed)
Ib (Irish breed)
Ob (other breed)
Cree fb (Cree and French breed)
Column 15 – nationality (for non-Canadians, birth country or country of professed allegiance is listed)
Column 16 – religion (listed in full except where the name was too long)
B.C. (Bible Christian)
C. (of) E. (Church of England)
C. (of) S. (Church of Scotland)
E.M.C. (Episcopal Methodist Church)
F.C. (Free Church – Presbyterian)
M.E.C. (Methodist Episcopal Church)
P.C.L.P. (Presbyterian – Canada and Lower Provinces)
P.F.C. (Presbyterian Free Church)
R.P. (Reformed Presbyterian)
U.P. (United Presbyterian)
W.M. (Wesleyan Methodist)
Column 17 – profession, occupation, trade, or means of living of each person (for retired individuals, r is recorded)
Column 18 – living on own means (those who live off income other than salary)
Column 19 – employer
Column 20 – employee
Column 21 – working on own account
Column 22 – Working at trade in factory or in home (specified by f for factory and h for home, or both, as the case may be)
Column 23 – Months employed at trade in factory
Column 24 – Months employed at trade in home
Column 25 – Months employed in other occupation than trade in factory or home
Column 26 – Earnings from occupation or trade
Column 27 – Extra earnings (from other than chief occupation or trade)
Column 28 – Months at school in year (for individuals over the age of five and under the age of 21)
Column 29 – whether individual can read
Column 30 – whether individual can write
Column 31 – whether individual can speak English
Column 32 – whether individual can speak French
Column 33 – mother tongue (if spoken, whether or not fluent)
Column 34 – infirmities—the infirmity needed to be incapacitating for it to be noted