Canning, Nova Scotia (1881 census)
Canning was a census subdivision in Nova Scotia, recorded in the 1881 Census of Canada with a population of 3,260. The administrative centroid was at approximately 45.227°N, 64.418°W.
Population
In 1881, Canning had a population of 3,260: 1,669 male and 1,591 female residents.
Population trajectory across census years
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 2,898 |
| 1881 | 3,260 |
| 1891 | 2,989 |
| 1901 | 639 |
| 1911 | 1,413 |
| 1921 | 1,245 |
Cross-year identity established by spatial polygon overlap (SAME_AS chains across the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary files).
Neighbouring Census Subdivisions in 1881
In the 1881 census, Canning shared boundaries with:
Full census record, 1881
The 1881 census recorded 45 measurements for this Census Subdivision across 5 categories.
Population & families (1881). This community's record includes 3,260 total population, 1,669 males, 1,591 females, 1,059 married persons, 583 families, 533 married females, 526 married males, 108 widowed persons, 74 widowed females, 34 widowed males. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Age structure (1881). This community's record includes 2,093 single persons under 18, 1,109 single males under 18, 984 single females under 18. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Buildings & housing (1881). This community's record includes 556 inhabited houses, 556 occupied houses, 13 uninhabited houses, 4 houses under construction. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V1T1.)
Agriculture (1881). This community's record includes 207,522 bushels of potatoes, 13,032 bushels of oats, 8,172 bushels of turnips, 5,291 bushels of spring wheat, 4,838 tons of hay, 4,179 acres of hay crops, 2,609 bushels of other root crops, 2,271 bushels of buckwheat, 1,361 acres of potatoes, 910 bushels of barley, 429 bushels of peas and beans, 392 bushels of rye, 381 acres of wheat, 242 bushels of corn, 104 bushels of winter wheat, 27 bushels of clover, timothy, or other grass seed. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T24.)
Fisheries (1881). This community's record includes 3,005 fathoms of fishing nets, 566 barrels of herring or alewives, 91 quintals of haddock, hake, or pollock, 37 barrels of mackerel, 31 quintals of cod, 25 quintals of fascines fish, 23 gallons of fish oil, 8 men on fishing boats, 7 fishing boats, 6 men on fishing vessels, 2 fishing vessels. (Source: 1881 Census of Canada, V3T27.) The 1881 enumerator also recorded 459 barrels of shad — single-county tallies of limited cross-year comparability.
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 1881, listed below by birth year. Each name links to that person's DCB entry.
| Name | Lifespan | Connection |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Frederick William Borden | 1847–1917 | died here |
| Harold Lothrop Borden | 1876–1900 | born here |
Residents in 1881
The 1881 census residents page for this Census Subdivision lists 3,260 individuals enumerated here, with name, age, sex, religion, ethnic origin, birthplace, and occupation. Source: TCP/Dillon 1881 Canadian Census deposit at Borealis.
Identifiers
- TCP UID:
NS017001— year-scoped identifier from the Canadian Census Subdivision boundary file - Persistent place ID:
PLACE_NS014004_1911— computed from spatial-overlap chains across census years - Wikidata: not yet grounded. This page covers a place whose persistent identity has not yet been linked to a Wikidata entity. Identification is via TCP UID and spatial polygon only.
Sources
Census tabulations from the 1881 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). "Canning, Nova Scotia (1881 census)" in HGIS Canada Knowledge Graph. Retrieved from https://jimclifford.ca/hgiscanada/places/ns/canning-ns017001-1881/.