Saanich, British Columbia (1911 census)
Saanich was a census subdivision in British Columbia, recorded in the 1911 Census of Canada with a population of 6,026. The community is grounded to Wikidata Q179553. The administrative centroid was at approximately 48.536°N, 123.414°W.
Population
In 1911, Saanich had a population of 6,026: 3,662 male and 2,364 female residents. Population density was 97.2 people per square mile.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1911 | 6,026 |
| 1921 | 14,693 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Boundary continuity (non-identical overlaps)
Spatial polygon overlaps with adjacent census years where the boundary shifted enough that the SAME_AS chain didn't merge them. These show where the territory came from and went to even when it isn't tracked as the same persistent place.
Earlier boundary forms
- In an earlier year, this CSD contained Victoria, 1901 (20.0% share).
Later boundary forms
- In a later year, this CSD contained Saanich, 1921 (79.8% of this CSD's polygon).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1911
In the 1911 census, Saanich shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1911
The 1911 census recorded 57 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 4 categories.
Population & families (1911). This community's record includes 39,680 area in acres, 6,026 total population, 3,662 males in the population, 2,364 females in the population, 1,993 single (never-married) males, 1,313 families, 1,286 married males, 1,240 single (never-married) females, 1,009 married females, 329 males with marital status not given, 112 widowed females, 97.19 population per square mile, 62 area in square miles, 51 widowed males, 2 divorced males, 1 divorced females, 1 females with marital status not given, 1 legally separated females, 1 legally separated males. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T1; V1T2.)
Ethnic origin (1911). This community's record includes 3,073 persons of British origin (English), 956 persons of British origin (Scotch / Scottish), 716 persons of Chinese origin, 456 persons of British origin (Irish), 98 persons of German origin, 93 persons of British origin (other), 78 persons of French origin, 63 persons of Scandinavian origin, 44 persons of Italian origin, 25 persons of Russian origin, 23 persons of Austro-Hungarian origin, 20 persons of Dutch origin, 7 persons of Swiss origin, 5 persons of Polish origin, 2 persons of Belgian origin, 1 persons of Bulgarian or Romanian origin, 1 persons of Greek origin. 10 persons recorded under the 1911/1921 official census category "Negro"; refers to people of African descent. Term is now considered offensive and is preserved here only as the historical source label. 3 persons recorded under the official census category "Indian"; corresponds to what is now described as Indigenous (First Nations; in northern enumerations also Inuit) origin. "Indian" was simultaneously a census category and the legal/administrative term under the Indian Act (1876). (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T7.) The 1911 enumerator also recorded 89 persons recorded under the 1911 official census category "Hindu"; in 1911 this label denoted South Asian origin (not religious identification). Reflects period British-colonial conflation of religion and ethnicity; modern usage of "Hindu" is religious., 19 persons of Japanese origin — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
Religion (1911). This community's record includes 2,487 Anglicans (Church of England), 1,017 adherents of various sects (residual category in 1911), 794 Presbyterians, 586 Methodists, 391 Roman Catholics, 249 Baptists, 244 persons whose religion or origin is unspecified, 231 Protestants (general / no denomination specified), 94 Lutherans, 68 Congregationalists, 38 Salvation Army adherents, 21 Greek (Orthodox) Church adherents, 10 Adventists, 4 Brethren, 2 Christians (general / no denomination specified), 2 Friends (Quakers). (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V2T2; V2T7.)
Buildings & housing (1911). This community's record includes 1,303 dwellings. (Source: 1911 Census of Canada, V1T2.)
People with Dictionary of Canadian Biography entries
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography includes biographies of 2 people connected to this place who were alive in 1911, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| John Bryden | 1833–1915 | died here |
| Helen Letitia Mooney | 1873–1951 | died here |
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
BC010004— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_BC212004— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: Q179553
- Wikipedia (EN): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saanich,_British_Columbia
- Wikipédia (FR): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saanich
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1911 Census of Canada, transcribed and georeferenced by the Canadian Peoples / TCP project, hosted at the HGIS Lab, University of Saskatchewan. Persistent place identity computed from spatial-overlap chains across all available census years (1851–1921). Identity grounding to Wikidata performed via the HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph project's MCP-assisted disambiguation pipeline. See the About / Methodology page for the full data pipeline.
Cite this page
Clifford, J. (2026). "Saanich, British Columbia (1911 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/bc/saanich-bc010004-1911/.