Census geographic units of Canada

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

The census geographic units of Canada are the country subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada[1] to conduct the country's five-yearly census. They exist on four levels: the top-level (first-level) divisions are Canada's provinces and territories; these are divided into second-level census divisions, which in turn are divided into third-level census subdivisions (roughly corresponding to municipalities) and fourth-level dissemination areas.

Outline map of Canada's census divisions in 2001.
Outline map of Canada's census divisions in 2001.

Contents

See also: List of census divisions of Canada by population

Canada's second-level geographic units are called "census divisions". In terms of size, they generally lie between the top-level administrative divisions of the province and territory and third-level administrative divisions such as sections, townships and ranges. Census divisions are divided into census subdivisions (see section below).


Nature of Canada's census divisions by province or territory
Province/Territory Nature of census divisions
Alberta
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Census divisions consist of groups of municipalities such cities, counties, municipal districts and rural municipalities. Each census division is numbered.
British Columbia Census divisions correspond with regional districts or municipalities.
New Brunswick
Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island
Census divisions correspond with counties.
Newfoundland and Labrador Census divisions are delineated without reference to administrative or other forms of division and are numbered.[2]
Northwest Territories
Nunavut
Territories that are divided into regions.
Ontario Census divisions consist of "upper-tier" municipalities (counties, districts, regional municipalities, cities).
Quebec Census divisions correspond with regional county municipalities.
Yukon A territory treated as a single census division.

In most cases, a census division corresponds to a single unit of the appropriate type listed above. However, in a few cases, Statistics Canada groups two units into a single statistical division:

  • In Ontario, Haldimand County and Norfolk County are grouped as a single census division, as are Brant and Brantford. Both groups were formerly single units under Ontario's regional government structure, but were dissolved in 2001.
  • In Quebec, 93 of 98 census divisions correspond precisely to the territory of one regional county municipality (possibly with the addition of Indian reserves, which do not legally belong to RCMs) or a "territory equivalent to an RCM" (TÉ). However, there are five census divisions consisting of two RCMs or equivalent territories each. See Regional county municipality for further information.

Census subdivisions generally correspond to the municipalities of Canada. They include unorganized territories and the Indian reserves and settlements determined by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

See template below for links to census metropolitan areas by size.

A "census metropolitan area" (CMA) is a grouping of census subdivisions comprising a large urban area (the "urban core") and those surrounding "urban fringes" and "rural fringes" with which it is closely integrated. To become a CMA, an area must register an urban core population of at least 100,000 at the previous census. CMA status is retained even if this core population later drops below 100,000.

CMAs may cross census division and provincial boundaries, although the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area in Ontario and Quebec is the only one that currently crosses a provincial border. They do not, however, cross the Canada-United States border.

A CMA may be consolidated with adjacent census agglomerations (CAs; see below) if they are closely integrated, to produce a grouping known as a "consolidated census metropolitan area" (CCMA). The component CMA and CAs are then described as the "primary census metropolitan area" (PCMA) and "primary census agglomeration (or agglomerations)" (PCA or PCAs).

CMAs may not be consolidated with each other.[verification needed]

See also: List of census agglomerations by province or territory and List of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in Canada

A "census agglomeration" (CA) is a smaller version of a CMA in which the urban core population at the previous census was greater than 10,000 but less than 100,000.

CMAs and CAs with a population greater than 50,000 are subdivided into census tracts which have populations ranging from 2,000 to 8,000.

Census divisions by province

  1. ^ Statistics Canada. Illustrated Glossary: Census Geography. Retrieved on 2006-10-11.
  2. ^ Sometimes used for municipal organization or as health regions.


Advanced Search
Included Web Search Engines


Safe Search

close

Top Matching Results

Occasionally Search.com will highlight specialized results that are based on the context of your query. Examples of specialized results include specific links to news, images, or video.

Top Matching Results may highlight information from other Search.com pages, content from the CNET Network of sites, or third party content. The listings are based purely on relevance. Search.com does not receive payment for listings in this section but our partners that provide this data may get paid for listing these products.

Sponsored Links

This section contains paid listings which have been purchased by companies that want to have their sites appear for specific search terms and related content. These listings are administered, sorted and maintained by a third party and are not endorsed by Search.com.

Search Results

Search.com sends your search query to several search engines at one time and integrates the results into one list which has been sorted by relevance using Search.com's proprietary algorithm. You can customize the list of search engines included in your metasearch from the preferences.

The search engines that are used in your metasearch may allow companies to pay to have their Web sites included within the results. To view the Paid Inclusion policy for a specific search engine, please visit their Web site. Search.com does not accept payment or share revenue with any search engine partner for listings in this section.