Census of Population

Description: Data from the Census of Population are important for all communities and are vital to plan services that support education, employment, transportation, health care and housing. To maintain the relevance of the census, Statistics Canada evaluates and reviews the census questionnaire content for each census cycle. In preparation for the 2026 Census, Statistics Canada consulted Canadians from fall 2022 to spring 2023. Detailed responses were received from organizations and individuals representing federal, provincial, territorial and local government departments; First Nations people, Métis and Inuit; the general public; academia; special interest groups; and the private sector.

This report focuses on the findings of the 2026 Census data needs consultation and stakeholder discussions. Chapter 1 explains whom we consulted. Chapter 2 describes the strength of census data users’ needs such as the size of the population of interest. Chapter 3 provides an assessment of the perceived data gaps in census content and the availability and suitability of alternative data sources. Chapter 4 focuses on information needs by census topic and how preparations for the 2024 Census Test will help meet these needs.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: This product offers a visual overview of historical data by language indicators in Canada from 1951 to 2021. The language indicators showcased in this product are the first official language spoken, mother tongue, knowledge of official languages and language spoken most often at home. It provides information on the number and proportion of language groups in each province and territory from 1951 to 2021. Data can be filtered by province or territory, language, multiple responses distribution and reference period.

Description: The Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) draws from a wide variety of data sources to provide information on the school-age population, elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, transitions, and labour market outcomes.

PCEIP products include tables, fact sheets, reports and a methodological handbook. They present indicators for all of Canada, the provinces, the territories, as well as selected international comparisons and comparisons over time.

The Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) is an ongoing initiative of the Canadian Education Statistics Council, a partnership between Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada that provides a set of statistical measures on education systems in Canada.

Description: This dashboard allows users to examine the latest data for several diversity indicators. Data are visualized at the census subdivision level.

Description: This report presents the results of a study on the estimated number of children eligible for instruction in the minority official language, pursuant to section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, who were classified as ineligible in the 2021 Census because relationships between family members living at different addresses could not be established within this data source. Using other data sources, including previous censuses and administrative data (such as vital statistics and tax data), we were able to establish these family relationships within the 2021 Census. This report presents the methods and data sources used first, then the results by selected regions and age groups.

Description: This document presents a complete list of the social inclusion indicators for ethnocultural groups in Canada that are available on the homepage of our Gender, Diversity and Inclusion Statistics Hub. The information provided for each indicator includes a short description of the corresponding derivation, available data sources, reference years and accessible levels of geographical and disaggregation. Each indicator has a corresponding products number (data tables, visualization tools and analytical documents). This document has been updated to reflect the social inclusion indicators and associated products that are available in 2024.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Highest certificate, diploma or degree by visible minority and selected characteristics (age group, gender, first official language spoken, immigrant status, period of immigration, generation status), for the population aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, geographical regions of Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas with parts.

Description: Average and median employment income by visible minority and selected characteristics (age group, gender, first official language spoken, immigrant status, period of immigration, generation status, highest certificate, diploma or degree), for the population aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, geographical regions of Canada, provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with parts.

Description: This dashboard features tables and a map designed for users to explore the number and the size of communities by different definitions of rural, including that of rural and small town (census subdivisions outside census metropolitan areas or census agglomerations) and that of rural areas (non-population centres) according to the Census of Population Program. This web-based application undergoes updates every five years with the census.

Description: This interactive tool details the characteristics of Indigenous postsecondary students in Canada entering selected programs leading to a postsecondary credential. This tool includes information on the number of new students by Indigenous identity, educational qualification, field of study, age group, and gender.

Description: Number of new entrants to postsecondary education by Indigenous identity, select educational qualifications (Classification of programs and credentials - professional degree variant), field of study (Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Canada 2016 - STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics and computer sciences) and BHASE (business, humanities, health, arts, social science and education) groupings), gender and age group.

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This interactive chart is comprised of two visualizations to show statistics of selected income sources by various characteristics and geographies.

Description: These interactive charts display various census data or indicators for selected geographies. Clicking a particular area of a chart allows users to customize their view and display different data or indicators.

Description: This product offers a visual overview of historical data by language indicators in Canada from 1951 to 2021. The language indicators showcased in this product are the first official language spoken, mother tongue, knowledge of official languages and language spoken most often at home. It provides information on the number and proportion of language groups in each province and territory from 1951 to 2021. Data can be filtered by province or territory, language, multiple responses distribution and reference period.

Description: The Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) draws from a wide variety of data sources to provide information on the school-age population, elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, transitions, and labour market outcomes.

PCEIP products include tables, fact sheets, reports and a methodological handbook. They present indicators for all of Canada, the provinces, the territories, as well as selected international comparisons and comparisons over time.

The Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program (PCEIP) is an ongoing initiative of the Canadian Education Statistics Council, a partnership between Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada that provides a set of statistical measures on education systems in Canada.

Description: This dashboard allows users to examine the latest data for several diversity indicators. Data are visualized at the census subdivision level.

Description: Highest certificate, diploma or degree by visible minority and selected characteristics (age group, gender, first official language spoken, immigrant status, period of immigration, generation status), for the population aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, geographical regions of Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas with parts.

Description: Average and median employment income by visible minority and selected characteristics (age group, gender, first official language spoken, immigrant status, period of immigration, generation status, highest certificate, diploma or degree), for the population aged 15 years and over in private households in Canada, geographical regions of Canada, provinces and territories and census metropolitan areas with parts.

Description: This study provides experimental estimates of the number and percentage of workers in Canada potentially susceptible to AI-related job transformation based on the complementarity-adjusted AI occupational exposure index.

Description: Investing in a postsecondary education is an important decision in the lives of young people, because it may lead to significantly higher lifetime earnings, which may vary substantially across different disciplines. The purpose of this short article is to present results for master’s degree graduates aged 25 to 34 collected on the 2021 Census of Population. Only individuals who worked during the census reference week (May 2 to 8, 2021) and who completed a Canadian master’s degree program are included.

Description: This analytical report presents selected findings from the 2022 Indigenous Peoples Survey (formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples Survey). The 2022 IPS represents the sixth cycle of the survey and focuses on Indigenous children and their families. This report covers First Nations children living off reserve, Métis children and Inuit children aged 1 to 14, and includes topics such as sociodemographic characteristics, food security and basic needs, Indigenous languages and culture, child care and a number of health indicators. Disaggregated data by gender, age groups, and geography (provinces and territories, inside and ouside Inuit Nunangat, urban and rural) are presented when possible. The report also includes comparisons to the 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey, the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, and the 2019 Canadian Health Survey of Children and Youth.

Description: This report explores the statistical and analytical potential of information on the language-related characteristics of occupations provided by the Occupational and Skills Information System (OaSIS). OaSIS is an information system developed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) which provides detailed information on occupations. The report identifies and explores a series of descriptors of occupations related to skills, work activities and work contexts that have a language- or communication-related aspect. These descriptors of occupations are used to enrich data from the 2021 Census.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: One of the main investments individuals can make throughout their lives is the decision to pursue a postsecondary education. The purpose of this article is to present results from the 2021 Census of Population on the most prevalent occupations held by graduates of various college and CEGEP certificate and diploma programs who were aged 25 to 34.

Description: This article provides insights into the rates of COVID-19 mortality among First Nations peoples and Métis living in private dwellings and the social determinants of COVID-19 mortality among these populations using data from the 2016 Canadian Census Health and Environment Cohorts linked to the Canadian Vital Statistics – Death Database from 2016 to 2021.

Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletin

Description: Using data from the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) and the Census of Population, 2021, this infographic provides information on enrolment in Canadian public postsecondary institutions for transgender and non-binary people.

Description: The infographic uses data from the integrated file of the Postsecondary Student Information System, the 2016 Census, the 2021 Census and the T1 Family File to compare the job quality of Indigenous graduates with a bachelor's degree with that of non-racialized and non-Indigenous graduates two years after graduation. Job quality indicators include employment income, unionization rate, and employer pension plan coverage rate.

Description: This video is the first one of a series of videos related to census geography, concepts and products in the context of the activities of the 2021 Census and previous censuses. The objective of this first video is to describe the role of geography. The remaining videos from this series, that will be released at later dates, will aim to provide an overview on the geographic regions of Canada, some of the products offered by Statistics Canada, and the census data visualization tools.

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This guide describes the content and applications of the product, as well as providing information on data quality, record layouts, and methodology.

Description:

Three correspondence files are available:

The Dissemination Area correspondence file is a tabular product that describes the relationship between the current census Dissemination Area and the previous census Dissemination Area;

The Dissemination Area and Land Area correspondence file describes the percentage of the current census Dissemination Area's land area within the boundaries extent of the previous census Dissemination Area;

The Dissemination Block correspondence file describes the relationship between the current census Dissemination Block and the previous census Dissemination Block.

Each file contains a unique identifier for the current census geographic area and the corresponding unique identifier for the previous census geographic area. In addition, a relationship flag is included which indicates the degree of correspondence between the geographic areas, facilitating the comparison between census years.

Description:

The Boundary files portray the geographic limits used for census dissemination and are available for Provinces and Territories, Census Divisions, Economic Regions, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, Census Consolidated Subdivisions, Census Subdivisions and Aggregate Dissemination Area.

There are two types of boundary files: digital and cartographic. Digital files depict the full extent of the geographical areas, including the coastal water area. Cartographic files depict the geographical areas using only the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. The files provide a framework for mapping and spatial analysis using commercially available geographic information systems (GIS) or other mapping software.

The Boundary Files are portrayed in Lambert conformal conic projection and are based on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). A reference guide is available (92-160-G).

Description:

The Dissemination Block Boundary Files portray the dissemination block boundaries for which Census data are disseminated. A dissemination block is an area bounded on all sides by roads and/or boundaries of standard geographic areas and is the smallest geographic area for which population and dwelling count data are disseminated. The files contain the boundaries of all dissemination blocks which combine to cover all of Canada.

There are two types of boundary files: digital and cartographic. Digital files depict the full extent of the geographical areas, including the coastal water area. Cartographic files depict the geographical areas using only the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. The files provide a framework for mapping and spatial analysis using commercially available geographic information systems or other mapping software.

The Dissemination Block Boundary Files are portrayed in Lambert conformal conic projection and are based on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). A reference guide is available (92-160-GWE).

Description:

The Dissemination Area Boundary Files portray the dissemination area boundaries for which Census data are disseminated. A dissemination area is a small area composed of one or more neighbouring dissemination blocks and is the smallest standard geographic area for which all census data are disseminated. The files contain the boundaries of all dissemination areas which combine to cover all of Canada.

There are two types of boundary files: digital and cartographic. Digital files depict the full extent of the geographical areas, including the coastal water area. Cartographic files depict the geographical areas using only the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. The files provide a framework for mapping and spatial analysis using commercially available geographic information systems or other mapping software.

The Dissemination Area Boundary Files are portrayed in Lambert conformal conic projection and are based on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). A reference guide is available (92-160-GWE).

Description:

The Federal Electoral District Boundary Files portray the federal electoral district boundaries for which census data are disseminated. A federal electoral district is an area represented by a member of the House of Commons. The federal electoral district boundaries used for the census are based on the Representation Order in effect on January 1 of census year. The files contain the boundaries of all federal electoral districts which combine to cover all of Canada.

There are two types of boundary files: digital and cartographic. Digital files depict the full extent of the geographical areas, including the coastal water area. Cartographic files depict the geographical areas using only the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. The files provide a framework for mapping and spatial analysis using commercially available geographic information systems (GIS) or other mapping software.

The Federal Electoral District Boundary Files are portrayed in Lambert conformal conic projection and are based on the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). A reference guide is available (92-160-GWE).

Description: The 2021 Census Teacher's Kit has been developed for use in elementary, intermediate and secondary classes across the country. It includes five fun, classroom-ready activities that will help students gain an understanding of what the census is used for, how it is conducted, and the role it has played in shaping present-day Canada.

Description: The 2021 Census Adult Education Kit has been developed for use in adult literacy and English- or French-as-a-second-language (ESL or FSL) classes across the country. It contains four dynamic activities designed to help students understand and complete the 2021 Census while giving them an opportunity to practise official language skills.

Description: The Community Snapshot Toolkit provides all the information you need to get the most out of census data and create individualized infographics for your community.