Outline map of Canada's census divisions in 2001.
The
census geographic units of Canada are the
country subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau
Statistics Canada 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.
In some provinces, a census division also corresponds to a
county or another similar unit of political organization, while in other provinces the boundaries are chosen arbitrarily as no such level of government exists. Two of Canada's three territories are also divided into census divisions.
Census divisions
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).
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 or more units into a single statistical division:
In almost all such cases, the division in question was formerly a single unit of the standard type, which was divided into multiple units by its province after the
Canada 2001 Census.
Census subdivisions
Census subdivisions generally correspond to the municipalities of Canada. They include
unorganized areas and the
Indian reserves
and settlements determined by
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
Dissemination areas
Specially-defined geographic units
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, 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.
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.
Census agglomerations
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.
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.
See also
Census divisions by province Footnotes
