Canada is unique among Western nations in possessing populationinformation dating back almost 400 years. Drawing on this richbackground, the book offers a social and institutional account of theevolution of demography in Canada focusing on the period from 1913 to1995, as the discipline unfolded against the changing cultural, social,and political scene.
Augmenting published and unpublished sources with information culledfrom personalized questionnaires sent to key scholars andpractitioners, Sylvia Wargon describes and interprets the developmentof the field. She provides important background information about theorigins and history of demography in Europe and Canada from theseventeenth to the nineteenth century, and explains the gradualdevelopment and institutionalization of demography in the French- andEnglish-speaking regions of Canada. Important milestones are discussedin the context of their social environment. Based on French- andEnglish-language sources, Demography in Canada in the TwentiethCentury is the first and only comprehensive treatment of thesubject to date.
This book may well contribute to a renewed appreciation of the role of social statistics in understanding society, and thus in providing a useful and legitimate undertaking for its best young talent.
Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Acronyms
Introduction
1. Summary of Demography in Europe and Canada, 1600-2000
2. Population Statistics and Demographic Research in Canada,1900-50
3. Outside the Universities in French- and English-Speaking Canada,1950-70
4. Universities in French- and English-Speaking Canada, 1950-70
5. The Bureau from 1970: Data, Research, and Related Activities
6. Universities in French- and English-Speaking Canada from 1970
7. Outside the Bureau and the Universities from 1970
8. Demography in Canada in the Twentieth Century
Appendices
A. Respondents
B. Notes on "Race" in Canadian Census Statistics:Historical, Conceptual, and Political Dimensions
C. Census and Other Monographs
D. Demolinguistics: Origin, Use, and Definition in Canada
Notes
References
Index