Like many other genealogists, I have been waiting and waiting for the 1931 Census of Canada to be released to the public (a census is released 92 years after being taken) by Library and Archives Canada. The digitized images have yet to be indexed for searching, but I am impatient and thought I would peruse. You can read “Preparing the 1931 Census” to learn more about the process of digitizing and making the census public. Click the screenshot below to browse the 1931 census:

I know from the 1921 Census of Canada and 1926 Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta that my great-grandparents, Julius and Martha (Kirsch) Kelm, moved from their homestead in Camper to Winnipeg between 1921 and 1925. Forgetting that, in 1926, they technically lived in West Kildonan (according to the Winnipeg Tribune (17 Dec 1929), their part of Matheson Avenue joined Winnipeg after 1929 in order to obtain better sewer service), I browsed enumerated families in Winnipeg North. After revisiting the 1926 census, I realized my mistake and browsed Selkirk (district) > West Kildonan. I used Google Maps to look up random streets on various pages to pinpoint if I was close to where I knew the family was living at 557 Matheson Avenue (557 Armetta Avenue in 1926). I finally found them.

According to the census, Julius (who goes by John) and Martha, and their children, Edward, Robert, Hilda (Hulda), and Daniel are living at 557 Matheson Avenue. Two children are missing from the household: William, who immigrated to the United States in 1925, and Hannah, who is newly married to Paul Lucyk in 1931. As occupation was missing from the 1926 census, it is interesting to see it here. According to the 1931 census, Julius has resumed his work before moving to his homestead in 1911–”sewers”–and his son, Edward (age 20), works alongside him.