Urban Perspectives and Measurement

This working paper reviews some of the different approaches that Statistics Canada supports to help users segment and measure the urban-rural continuum

The term urban refers to a concentration of population at a high density. But beyond this basic understanding there is no single universally-accepted view of what constitutes urban.

Statistics Canada has sought to ensure that users have at their disposal various options to define the urban-rural continuum. This approach allows users to define their own construct of urban in order to meet their specific analytical and policy related needs.