Mapping the Socio-economic Diversity of Rural Canada

This bulletin assesses the degree of spatial diversity across rural and urban Canada in terms of a number of demographic, social and economic indicators. A multivariate statistical method is used to reduce 27 commonly used and understood indicators to 6 dimensions. These dimensions are used to profile and to map the 288 census divisions (CDs) of Canada. This analysis investigates the nature of these dimensions, their spatial distribution and their relationship with the prevailing regional classifications. These results can help a variety of stakeholders and decision-makers to more fully understand the regional context in which they operate, in comparison with the rest of the country.