Geographic Structures As Census Variables: Using Geography to Analyse Social and Economic Processes - ARCHIVED

Traditionally, Statistics Canada uses standard geographic areas as "containers" for the dissemination of statistical data. However, geographic structures are often used as variables in general applications, for example, to document the rural and urban population in a specific area such as an incorporated municipality (census subdivision). They are not often cross-tabulated with each other to illustrate and analyse specific social and economic processes, for example, the settlement patterns of the population inside and outside of larger urban centres broken down by urban and rural areas.The introduction of the census metropolitan area and census agglomeration influenced zone (MIZ) concept presents additional opportunities to use geographic structures as variables to analyse census data.
The objectives of this working paper are to illustrate the advantages of using geographic structures as variables to better analyse social and economic processes and to initiate a discussion in the user community about using these variables and the potential of this largely untapped capability of the Census databases. In order to achieve these objectives, four examples of geography as a variable are presented. The examples include Aboriginal persons living on-reserve and off-reserve in urban and rural areas in Canada, the unemployment rate of persons living in urban and rural areas in Canada, the gross rent of renter households in urban and rural areas in Canada, and the migration flows of persons 15 to 24 years of age between major urban centres and rural and small town areas (MIZ).
Our intent is to encourage the use of geographic structures as census variables in order to provide users with the tools that will enable them to more accurately analyse the social and economic processes that take place in the geographic areas of Canada.