Ottawa Housing Statistics, 1961

One of the more important sources I have relied on to gain some type of impression of the state of housing in the Ottawa area is, unsurprisingly, the Census. Although not immune to critique, Census data, even at the worst of times, has been a useful source to raise further questions, develop leads, and find new and interesting ways to reframe our understanding of just what it meant at various times to take, produce, regulate, manage, maintain, improve, demolish, and – darn it – actually enjoy shelter.

To that end, I’ve transcribed information related to housing characteristics in Carleton County, the Town of Eastview (Vanier), and the City of Ottawa, as published in the Dominion Bureau of Statistics’ advance report from the 1961 Census dated September 11, 1962.¹Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Advance Report No. AH-1: Summary Housing Characteristics. Ottawa: Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Sept. 11, 1962. The data has been reformatted to fit better into the design of this website and I took the liberty of adding percentages of the total for select measures to the table (identified in italics).

Specified Housing Characteristics for Counties and Urban Centres of 10,000 Population and Over, 1961
Locality		Total	Physical Characteristics
			Type of Dwelling		In Need of Major Repair
			Single Detached	Apartments, Flats
Carleton County		90,883	46,014 (50.6%)	31,688 (34.9%)	2,861
Eastview (t)		6,555	1,386 (21.1%)	4,609 (70.3%)	140
Ottawa (c)		70,112	31,800 (45.3%)	26,478 (37.8%)	2,136
Note: Totals under “Type of Dwelling” do not match the total. For the purposes of the study, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (DBS) excluded “single attached and mobile” homes. Therefore, in Carleton County, 13,181 dwellings are excluded, in Eastview, 560, and in the City of Ottawa, 11,834. Although I do not currently have access to the numbers of these two types, the number of mobile homes in Carleton County would be comparatively negligible. Most of these excluded would likely be the duplexes, townhouses, and row-housing so common in the older City of Ottawa. As Ottawa and Eastview are subsets of Carleton County, there should be 787 such dwellings in the remainder of the County (Gloucester and Nepean Townships, most notably) not counted in this study.
		Physical Characteristics
		Period of Construction		Average Number of Rooms	Crowded Dwellings
		Before 1920	Since 1945
Carleton County		29,876 (32.9%)	44,880 (49.4%)	5.4	10,488 (11.5%)
Eastview (t)		1,013 (15.4%)	4,409 (67.2%)	4.3	1,302 (19.8%)
Ottawa (c)		25,093 (35.8%)	31,387 (44.8%)	5.4	7,377 (10.5%)
Another thing not captured in these statistics are single detached homes and apartments constructed between 1921 and 1944. Although these numbers are fascinating on their own (especially the explosive growth in Eastview after the War), I’ve always been interested in what was actually constructed during the 1920s, the Depression, and the Second World War. While I’m sure that there are some important technicalities to consider that would change the numbers, I’ll just suggest that for now that between 1921 and 1944, there were 16,126 single homes and apartment constructed across Carleton County, 1,133 in Eastview, and 13,632 in the City of Ottawa. As Ottawa and Eastview are a subset of Carleton County, there should have been 1,361 such dwellings constructed in the remainder of the County (Gloucester and Nepean Townships most notably) during the period.
			Sanitation Facilities
			Hot and Cold Running Water	Bath or Shower	Flush Toilet
Carleton County			86,670	87,116	88,489
Eastview (t)			6,340	6,311	6,550
Ottawa (c)			68,373	68,858	69,795
			Principal Heating Equipment and Fuel
				Furnace Heating
				Steam or Hot Water	Hot Air
Carleton County				24,383	57,627
Eastview (t)				2,786	3,127
Ottawa (c)				20,863	43,949
			Principal Heating Equipment and Fuel
			Fuel
			Coal or Wood	Oil	Gas
Carleton County			8,627	78,069	3,751
Eastview (t)			202	6,249	—
Ottawa (c)			6,261	59,919	3,604
		Living Conveniences
		Mechanical Refrigerator	Home Freezer	Television Set	Passenger Automobile
Carleton County		89,636 (98.6%)	11,904 (13.1%)	84,189 (92.6%)	68,222 (75.1%)
Eastview (t)		6,487 (99%)	376 (5.7%)	6,188 (94.4%)	4,639 (70.8%)
Ottawa (c)		69,360 (99%)	7,801 (11.1%)	64,991 (92.7%)	50,524 (72.1%)
			Tenure, Value, Rent
			Owned
			Total	Median Value	Dwellings With Mortgages
Carleton County			47,959	$17,047	25,815
Eastview (t)			1,905	$14,962	709
Ottawa (c)			34,289	$17,655	18,961
			Tenure, Value, Rent
				Rented
				Total	Average Cash Rent
Carleton County				42,924	$90
Eastview (t)				4,650	$87
Ottawa (c)				35,823	$91

Introduction and Definitions

Advance Report No. AH-1                        9-11-62
Catalogue No. 93-509

SUMMARY HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS

  This report presents a summary of housing characteristics from the 1961 Census for counties and census divisions, as well as for incorporated cities, towns and villages of 10,000 population and over. Data constituting the tables of this report were derived from a 20 p.c. sample of occupied dwellings across Canada.

  More detailed information on dwellings and households will be issued at a later date as part of the regular volume series of final reports of the 1961 Census. The purpose of this advance report is to make available summary totals for the counties, census divisions, and larger urban centres at the earliest possible date. Because of sampling variation, figures under 100 are not shown.

The Dominion Bureau of Statistics offers the following operating definitions.

Dwelling. - A dwelling is defined as a structurally separate set of living quarters, with a private entrance either from the outside of the building, or from a common hall, lobby or stairway inside. The entrance must not be through anyone else's living quarters.

Types of dwellings. - The two main types shown in this report are as follows:

(a) Single detached. - Dwellings in this category are commonly called "single houses". They contain only one dwelling unit and are completely separated on all sides from any other dwelling or structure.

(b) Apartments and flats. - These include:

  (i) dwelling units in apartment blocks or apartment hotels;

 (ii) suites in duplexes or triplexes, i.e., where the division
      between dwelling units is horizontal;

(iii) suites in structurally converted houses;

 (iv) living quarters located above, on in the rear of stores,
      restaurants, garages, or other business premises;

  (v) janitors' quarters in schools, churches, warehouses, etc.;
      and

 (vi) private quarters for families of staff members in hospitals or
      other types of institutions.

  Other types not shown separately in this report are single attached and mobile.

  In need of major repair. - Includes any dwelling in a seriously run-down or neglected condition with at least one of the following major structural deficiencies:

 (a) sagging or crumbling foundation;

 (b) faulty roof or chimney;

 (c) rotting doorsills or window frames;

 (d) interior badly in need of repair.

  Rooms. - In determining the number of rooms in a dwelling, only those rooms used or suitable for living purposes, including rooms occupied by servants, lodgers, or members of lodging families, are counted. Summer kitchens, sun-rooms, recreation rooms, attic rooms, etc., are counted as rooms only if they are finished off and suitable for year-round living quarters. Not counted as rooms are: bathrooms, clothes closets, pantries, halls, or rooms used solely for business purposes.

  "Crowded" dwelling. - For census purposes, any dwelling in which the number of persons exceeds the number of rooms occupied is classified as crowded.

  Bath and toilet facilities. - Includes "exclusive" and "shared" use.

  Mechanical refrigerator. - Includes electric and gas refrigerators.

  Value. - Based on amount expected if the dwelling were sold to a willing buyer. Figures for values and mortgages relate to owner-occupied, non-farm, single detached dwellings only. 

Rent. - Based on cash (or contract) rent paid or payable for the month of May 1961. Figures related to non-farm dwellings only regardless of type.