Census geographic units of Canada

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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.

1 Census divisions
2 Census subdivisions
3 Dissemination areas
4 See also
5 Footnotes
6 External links

[edit] Census divisions

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 Quebec	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).
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 census division structure, which were dissolved in 2001.
In Quebec, the Jamésie and Nunavik regions are grouped as the single census division of Nord-du-Québec, the regional county municipalities of Sept-Rivières and Caniapiscau into the single census division of Sept Rivières—Caniapiscau, the city of Saguenay and the regional county municipality of Le Fjord-du-Saguenay into the single census division of Saguenay-et-Le-Fjord, and the Minganie regional county municipality and Basse-Côte-Nord territory into the single census division of Minganie-Basse-Côte-Nord.

[edit] Census subdivisions

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.

[edit] Census metropolitan areas

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.

[edit] Consolidation

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]}

[edit] Census agglomerations

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.

[edit] Census tracts

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.

[edit] Dissemination areas

[edit] See also

Census divisions by province

Census division statistics of Canada
Census divisions of Alberta · Newfoundland and Labrador · Ontario · Saskatchewan
Counties of New Brunswick · Nova Scotia · Prince Edward Island
Regions of Manitoba · Northwest Territories · Nunavut
Regional county municipalities of Quebec
Regional districts of British Columbia

[edit] Footnotes

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

[edit] External links

Reference maps for census divisions at Statistics Canada.

v • d • e

Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) by size

Toronto, ON · Montréal, QC · Vancouver, BC · Ottawa–Gatineau, ON/QC · Calgary, AB · Edmonton, AB · Quebec City, QC · Winnipeg, MB · Hamilton, ON · London, ON · Kitchener, ON · St. Catharines-Niagara, ON · Halifax, NS · Oshawa, ON · Victoria, BC · Windsor, ON · Saskatoon, SK · Regina, SK · Sherbrooke, QC · St. John's, NL · Barrie, ON · Kelowna, BC · Abbotsford, BC · Greater Sudbury, ON · Kingston, ON · Saguenay, QC · Trois-Rivières, QC · Guelph, ON · Moncton, NB · Brantford, ON · Thunder Bay, ON · Saint John, NB · Peterborough, ON ·

v • d • e Largest and smallest census divisions of Canada
Province / Territory	Area (km²)				Population (2001)
Province / Territory	Largest		Smallest		Largest		Smallest
Alberta	Division No. 17	192,055.15	Division No. 8	9,908.36	Div. No. 6 (Calgary)	1,021,060	Division No. 4	11,300
British Columbia	Stikine Region	132,496.21	Nanaimo	2,034.94	Gtr. Vancouver	1,986,965	Stikine Region	1,316
Manitoba	Division No. 23	242,016.21	Division No. 11	572.12	Division No. 11	621,451	Division No. 23	8,989
New Brunswick	North'land Cnty.	12,112.44	St. John Cnty.	1,462.43	Westmorland Cnty.	124,688	Queens County	11,862
Newf'land & Labrador	Division No. 10	269,073.30	Division No. 2	6,099.04	Division No. 1	242,875	Division No. 3	19,370
Northwest Territories	Fort Smith Rgn.	618,360.38	Inuvik Region	522,747.99	Fort Smith Rgn.	28,824	Inuvik Region	8,536
Nova Scotia	Halifax Reg. Mun.	5,495.54	Richmond Cnty.	1,244.28	Halifax Reg. Mun.	359,183	Victoria County	7,962
Nunavut	Baffin Region	1,023,570.49	Keewatin Rgn.	444,680.40	Baffin Region	14,372	Kitikmeot Rgn.	4,816
Ontario	Kenora District	407,167.33	Toronto Div.	629.91	Toronto Div.	2,481,494	Manitoulin Dist.	12,679
Prince Edward Island	Queens County	2,020.17	Kings County	1,684.35	Queens County	71,619	Kings County	19,180
Quebec	Nord-du-Québec	747,719.86	Laval	247.07	Montreal	1,812,723	L'Île-d'Orléans	6,779
Saskatchewan	Division No. 18	268,498.80	Division No. 10	12,223.73	Division No. 11	237,629	Division No. 4	11,714
Largest and smallest areas and populations in italics. Yukon (area 474,706.97 km²; 2001 population 28,674) is treated as a single census division.