Focus on Geography Series, 2021 Census
About this product

Product description

Catalogue number and how to cite

Catalogue number: 98-404-X2021001

How to cite: Statistics Canada. 2022. Focus on Geography Series. 2021 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 98-404-X2021001. Ottawa. Released February 9, 2022.
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/index.cfm?lang=e (accessed March 28, 2023).

Topics

Data are from the 2021 Census of Population and include characteristics for:

• Population and dwellings counts
• Age, sex at birth and gender
• Type of dwelling
• Families, households and marital status
• Language, Language of work
• Income
• Immigration, place of birth, and citizenship
• Ethnocultural and religious diversity
• Housing
• Indigenous peoples
• Education
• Labour
• Commuting

Geographic levels

The Focus on Geography Series provides 2021 Census data for various levels of geography. These geographic levels include:

• Canada
• Province or territory
• Census division (CD)
• Census subdivision (CSD)
• Census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA)

Release schedule

Data are available according to the 2021 Census of Population release schedule. For more information, refer to 2021 Census dissemination planning: Release plans.

About the data

Incompletely enumerated reserves or settlements

In 2021, a total of 63 census subdivisions defined as reserves and settlements were incompletely enumerated. For these reserves and settlements, dwelling enumeration was either not permitted or could not be completed because of the various reasons below.

This represents an increase compared with the 14 census subdivisions defined as reserves and settlements that were incompletely enumerated in the 2016 Census. Health and safety restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 and natural events (including evacuations because of forest fires) contributed to the incomplete enumeration of many reserves and settlements.

The 2021 Census population and dwelling counts are not available for the 63 incompletely enumerated reserves and settlements, and are not included in 2021 Census tabulations. Data for geographic areas containing one or more of these reserves and settlements are noted accordingly. Because of the missing data, users are cautioned that—for the affected geographic areas—comparisons (e.g., percentage change) between 2016 and 2021 may not be precise. The impact of the missing data for higher-level geographic areas (Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations) is usually very small. However, the impact can be significant for lower-level geographic areas (e.g., census divisions), where incompletely enumerated reserves and settlements account for a higher proportion of the population. This is especially true for lower-level geographic areas where a particular reserve or settlement was incompletely enumerated for the 2021 Census but enumerated for the 2016 Census and, vice versa.

Table 1 provides the list of incompletely enumerated reserves and settlements for the 2021 Census, along with population counts from the last two censuses (where available).

Table 2 shows, in alphabetical order, the list of incompletely enumerated reserves and settlements for the 2021 Census by province, census division and, where applicable, census metropolitan area or census agglomeration.

Difference between census counts and population estimates

The Census of Population is designed to conduct a complete count of the population. Inevitably, however, some individuals will not be enumerated (undercoverage), while others, usually less numerous, will be enumerated more than once (overcoverage).

To determine the number of people who were missed or counted more than once, Statistics Canada conducts postcensal studies of the coverage of the census population, using representative samples of the population. Results of these studies are usually available two years after Census Day. They are used, in combination with census figures and other sources, to develop the population estimates produced by Statistics Canada on a regular basis. Population estimates are used for equalization payments, to follow trends in the Canadian population on a quarterly basis and to understand the underlying components of population change (for example, births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants and non-permanent residents). Population estimates differ from census counts and are usually higher, because census counts are not adjusted for undercoverage or overcoverage.

Historical comparison of geographic areas

The boundaries and names of census geographies can change from one census to the next. In order to facilitate data comparisons between censuses, previous census data have been adjusted to reflect as closely as possible the 2021 boundaries of these areas. The methodology used for this adjustment involved spatially linking blocks of previous censuses (concordance to the 1996 Census used the 1996 enumeration areas to the 2021 boundaries). A previous census block was linked to the 2021 area within which its representative point fell. A limited number of interactive linkages were completed to further enhance the adjustment in certain areas. For some census geographies, it was not possible to reflect the 2021 boundaries.

2021 Census gender note

Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman).

Gender includes the following concepts:

• gender identity, which refers to the gender that a person feels internally and individually;
• gender expression, which refers to the way a person presents their gender, regardless of their gender identity, through body language, aesthetic choices or accessories (e.g., clothes, hairstyle and makeup), which may have traditionally been associated with a specific gender.

A person's gender may differ from their sex at birth, and from what is indicated on their current identification or legal documents such as their birth certificate, passport or driver's licence. A person's gender may change over time.

Some people may not identify with a specific gender.

Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided. In these cases, individuals in the category "non-binary persons" are distributed into the other two gender categories and are denoted by the "＋" symbol.

"Men＋" includes men (and/or boys), as well as some non-binary persons.

"Women＋" includes women (and/or girls), as well as some non-binary persons.

For additional information, see Filling the gaps: Information on gender in the 2021 Census.