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Census Profile - Help with searching

There are four options available when searching the Census Profile. Users can search the Census Profile by 'Place name,' 'Postal code' and by 'Geographic code' or simply by using the drop-down menu.

The first option, using the 'Place name' search, allows users to type in the name of a location in Canada and obtain information on the municipality, county or metropolitan area, as examples, in which it is located.

Users can also search for profile information by using the 'Postal code' option. Entering a postal code will return information on all geographic levels that contain a reference to it.

If users know the geographic code of a specific area, they can use the 'Geographic code' search option.

Lastly, users can select a location by using a drop down menu list called 'Select from a list' found under the 'Search' box.

Place name

'Place name begins with'

Depending on the selection ('begins with' or 'contains') the search will find all locations either beginning or containing the characters entered. For example, if 'pele' is entered using the 'begins with' option, all place names whose name begins with 'pele' will be listed. An example of this is:

Image showing which place names begin with Pele

'Place name contains'

If users search once again 'Pele' using the 'contains' option, all place names containing the letters 'Pele' will be listed regardless of where the string of letters is located in the place name. An example of this is:

Image showing which place names contain pele

Province or territory selection

It is possible, through the drop-down menu, to select a specific province or territory for the place name entered. If no selection is made, a search on all provinces and territories will be performed.

Image showing the Province or Territory pulldown menu

Postal code

Entering a valid Canadian postal code using the following configuration 'A1A 1A1' will result in all geographies containing this postal code to be displayed. As shown below, if users input 'A1A 1A1', they will be able to pick their desired level of geography from the search results.

Image showing the postal code results screen

Geographic code

If users know the exact geographic code they are looking for, they can use the 'Geographic code' search option. Examples of how the geographic code should be entered for the various levels of geography are provided below the search box.

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