Indigenous Peoples Reference Guide, Census of Population, 2021

This reference guide provides information to help users effectively use and interpret Indigenous peoples data from the 2021 Census. This guide contains definitions and explanations of concepts, questions, classifications, data quality and comparability with other sources for this topic.

The title of this product for the 2021 Census was renamed from ‘Aboriginal Peoples Reference Guide’ to ‘Indigenous Peoples Reference Guide’ to reflect a change in terminology in the Census of Population. The term “Indigenous” replaced “Aboriginal” when referring to the collective term for people who identify as First Nations, Métis or Inuit. Its usage aligns with the Government of Canada and is coherent with standard terminology used in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.