Description: Province and territory 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
'Province' and 'territory' refer to the major political units of Canada. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories. From a statistical point of view, province and territory are basic areas for which data are tabulated.
Description: Census agricultural regions 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
Census agricultural regions are composed of groups of adjacent census divisions.
Description: Economic regions 2021 Cartographic Boundary Files (CBF) An economic region (ER) is a grouping of complete census divisions (CDs), with one exception in Ontario, created as a standard geographic unit for analysis of regional economic activity.
Description: Federal electoral district 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
A federal electoral district (FED) is an area represented by a member of the House of Commons. The federal electoral district boundaries used for the 2021 Census are based on the 2013 Representation Order.
Description: Census division 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
Group of neighbouring municipalities joined together for the purposes of regional planning and managing common services (such as police or ambulance services). These groupings are established under laws in effect in certain provinces of Canada. Census division (CD) is the general term for provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) and regional district) or their equivalents. In other provinces and the territories where laws do not provide for such areas, Statistics Canada defines equivalent areas for statistical reporting purposes in cooperation with these provinces and territories. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province/territory level and the municipality (census subdivision).
Description: Census consolidated subdivisions 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
A census consolidated subdivision (CCS) is a group of adjacent census subdivisions within the same census division. Generally, the smaller, more densely-populated census subdivisions (towns, villages, etc.) are combined with the surrounding, larger, more rural census subdivision, in order to create a geographic level between the census subdivision and the census division.
Description: Census Metropolitan Area 2021, Cartographic Boundary Files (CBF)
A census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000, based on data from the current Census of Population Program, of which 50,000 or more must live in the core based on adjusted data from the previous Census of Population Program. A CA must have a core population of at least 10,000 also based on data from the previous Census of Population Program. To be included in the CMA or CA, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core, as measured by commuting flows derived from data on place of work from the previous Census Program. If the population of the core of a CA falls below 10,000, the CA is retired from the next census. However, once an area becomes a CMA, it is retained as a CMA even if its total population declines below 100,000 or the population of its core falls below 50,000. All areas inside the CMA or CA that are not population centres are rural areas. When a CA has a core of at least 50,000, based on data from the previous Census of Population, it is subdivided into census tracts. Census tracts are maintained for the CA even if the population of the core subsequently falls below 50,000. All CMAs are subdivided into census tracts.
Description: Population Centre 2021, Cartographic Boundary Files (CBF)
A population centre (POPCTR) has a population of at least 1,000 and a population density of 400 persons or more per square kilometre, based on population counts from the current Census of Population. All areas outside population centres are classified as rural areas. Taken together, population centres and rural areas cover all of Canada. Population centres are classified into three groups, depending on the size of their population: small population centres, with a population between 1,000 and 29,999 medium population centres, with a population between 30,000 and 99,999 large urban population centres, with a population of 100,000 or more. Population centre population includes all population living in the cores, secondary cores and fringes of census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs), as well as the population living in population centres outside CMAs and CAs.
Description: Designated Place 2021, Cartographic Boundary Files (CBF)
Usually a small community that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres (areas with a population of at least 1,000 and a density of 400 persons per square kilometre). Designated places are created by provinces and territories, in cooperation with Statistics Canada, to provide data for submunicipal areas.
Description: Census subdivision 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
Census subdivision (CSD) is the general term for municipalities (as determined by provincial/territorial legislation) or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes (e.g., Indian reserves, Indian settlements and unorganized territories). Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada.
Description: Aggregate dissemination areas 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
Aggregate dissemination areas (ADAs) are created by grouping existing dissemination geographic areas, including census tracts (CTs), census subdivisions (CSDs) or dissemination areas (DAs). ADAs cover the entire country and, where possible, have a population between 5,000 and 15,000 based on the previous census population counts. ADA boundaries respect provincial, territorial, census division (CD), census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA) boundaries. The intent of the ADA geography is to ensure the availability of census data, where possible, across all regions of Canada.
Description: Census Tracts 2021, Cartographic Boundary Files (CBF)
Census tracts (CTs) are small, relatively stable geographic areas that usually have a population of fewer than 7,500 persons, based on data from the previous Census of Population Program. They are located in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and in census agglomerations (CAs) that had a core population of 50,000 or more in the previous census. A committee of local specialists (for example, municipal planners and others) initially delineates CTs in conjunction with Statistics Canada. Once a CMA or CA has been subdivided into CTs, the CTs are maintained even if the core population subsequently declines below 50,000.
Description: Dissemination area 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
A dissemination area (DA) is a small, relatively stable geographic unit composed of one or more adjacent dissemination blocks with an average population of 400 to 700 persons based on data from the previous Census of Population Program. It is the smallest standard geographic area for which all census data are disseminated. DAs cover all the territory of Canada.
Description: Dissemination Block 2021 Cartographic boundary files (CBF)
A dissemination block (DB) is an area bounded on all sides by roads and/or boundaries of Statistics Canada's standard geographic areas for dissemination. The dissemination block is the smallest geographic area for which population and dwelling counts are disseminated. Dissemination blocks cover all the territory of Canada.
Description: The 2021 Census Forward Sortation Area Boundary File depicts the boundaries of 1,643 census forward sortation areas (CFSAs) (identified by the first three characters of the postal codeOM) derived from postal codesOM captured from the 2021 Census of Population questionnaires. It contains information such as unique identifier (UID), as well as land area and province or territory unique identifier (PRUID).