Usual place of residence

Part A - Plain language definition:

'Usual place of residence' refers to dwelling in which a person lives most of the time.

Part B - Detailed definition:

In most cases, people have only one residence and enumerating them at their usual place of residence is straightforward and simply involves listing all usual residents of the dwelling on Census Day by following the step-by-step instructions at the beginning of the census questionnaire.

However, there are a number of situations where the process is not elementary and special rules have been created in order to define an individual's usual place of residence.

1. Persons with more than one residence

   This category includes all persons who have more than one dwelling in Canada that could be considered by them as their usual place of residence. In this situation, the usual place of residence is the place where a person spends the major part of the year. If the time spent at each residence is equal or the person is not sure which one to choose, the residence where he or she stayed overnight on Census Day (between May 15 and 16, 2006) should be considered as his or her usual place of residence.

   However, there are two exceptions to this general rule:

   1. Sons or daughters who live somewhere else while attending school, but return to live with their parents part of the year, should consider the residence they share with their parents as their usual place of residence, even if they spend most of the year elsewhere.
   2. Husbands, wives or common-law partners who live away from their families while working, but return to their families regularly (for example, on weekends), should consider the residence they share with their spouse or partner as their usual place of residence, even if they spend most of the year elsewhere.

2. Persons in institutions (such as a hospital, a home for the aged, a prison or a correctional centre)

   Persons with no other usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada, or persons who have been in one or more institutions for a continuous period of six months or longer, are to be considered to be usual residents of the institution.

3. Residents with no usual place of residence

   Residents who do not have a usual place of residence should be enumerated in the dwelling where they stayed overnight between May 15 and May 16, 2006.

4. Persons residing outside Canada

   Canadian citizens and landed immigrants residing outside Canada on Census Day (including persons aboard Canadian government or merchant vessels, Canadian government employees (federal and provincial) and their families, and members of the Canadian Armed Forces and their families) who do not have a permanent place of residence within Canada occupied by one or more members of their family, were asked to provide on the Census questionnaire the address they use for election purposes or their last permanent address within Canada. This information is then used to determine a geographic location for defining usual place of residence.

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