Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2011

Introduction to the classification

Status

The Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2011 is the current departmental standard and was approved on May 16, 2011.

Preface

The Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) is Statistics Canada's official classification for geographic areas in Canada. The SGC covers all of the provinces and territories of Canada. This classification provides names and codes for the geographical regions of Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions (counties, regional municipalities), census subdivisions (municipalities), census metropolitan categories (census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations, outside census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations) and economic regions. The SGC was developed to enable the production of integrated statistics by geographic area. It provides a range of geographic units that are convenient for data collection and compilation, and useful for spatial analysis of economic and social statistics. It is intended primarily for the classification of statistical units, such as establishments or households, whose activities are normally associated with a specific location.

The classification consists of two parts, volume I and volume II. Volume I describes the classification and related standard areas and place names. It also explains the changes between the 2011 edition of the SGC and the 2006 edition that impact directly upon the SGC, such as changes in name, type, or code, and indicates how the new and old codes relate to one another. Volume II contains reference maps showing the locations and boundaries of the standard geographic areas in the classification.

Concordances between the 2011 classification and the 2006 classification as well as annual changes in the census subdivision names, types and codes are also available.

The 2011 Standard Geographical Classification is published by Standards Division, under the guidance of Alice Born, Director. The primary authors of this publication are Kaveri Mechanda and Richard Fortin. The Internet version of this publication was created jointly with Sylvain Boucher and Niloufar Zanganeh. Major contributors included:

  • Geography Division, which was responsible for the source data for the tables, defining the geographic areas and for the preparation of the maps;
  • System Engineering Division, which was responsible for a database containing this classification and its dynamic publication on the Internet; and
  • Dissemination Division, which was responsible for setting PDF tables and text formats.

What's new?

The 2011 version of the SGC includes significant structural changes to the classification. This structural revision was undertaken to formally recognize and standardize geographic areas commonly used in the publication of Statistics Canada data as well as to ensure that the classification variants concerning census metropolitan areas meet the classification principle of exhaustiveness by covering all of Canada.

The geographical regions of Canada are now included as a level in the SGC 2011. The geographical regions of Canada are:

  • Atlantic
  • Quebec
  • Ontario
  • Prairies
  • British Columbia
  • Territories

These regions are formed by the aggregation of provinces and territories.

Two classification variants describing the metropolitan geography of Canada are recognized:

1) Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011

This classification variant covers all of Canada outside census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs) with the inclusion of census metropolitan influenced zones (MIZs). The classification variant meets the classification principle of exhaustiveness by ensuring that all of the census subdivisions (CSDs) in Canada are included in the classification. The CSDs that are outside of CMAs or CAs are categorized according to MIZs.

2) Statistical Area Classification by Province and Territory - Variant of SGC 2011

This classification variant includes the levels of the Statistical Area Classification variant for CMAs, CAs and MIZs and an additional level for the provinces and territories. CMAs, CAs and MIZs that are located in two different provinces are categorized as provincial parts, for example, "Hawkesbury (Ontario part)" and "Hawkesbury (Quebec part)". This ensures that the geographic areas are mutually exclusive.

The classification of economic regions is formally recognized as the "Economic Regions - Variant of SGC 2011".

The Standard Geographical Classification 2011

The SGC enables the production of integrated statistics by geographic area. Established in the early 1960s, the Standard Geographical Classification was released as a working manual for 1964, 1966 and 1972. In 1974, the manual became an official publication of Statistics Canada and it was subsequently issued for 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2006. This 2011 version is the ninth edition.

Conceptual framework and definitions

The SGC conforms to the basic principles of classification. It consists of a set of discrete units that are mutually exclusive and, in total, cover the entire universe. Usually, a classification appears as a hierarchy, each level of which satisfies the above-mentioned principles and is defined by the uniform application of a single criterion. Applied to geography, these principles result in a classification consisting of geographic areas whose boundaries are specifically delimited in accordance with well-defined concepts and which, in total, cover the entire landmass of Canada. The classification appears as a four-level hierarchy of geographic units identified by a seven-digit numerical coding system.

The SGC is one of a family of geographical classifications, approved and promulgated by Statistics Canada. These geographical classifications provide the basic definitions of geographic areas which, when adopted for data collection and dissemination, result in statistics that are comparable among series and over time.

Two criteria were used in the selection of geographic units for the SGC. The first was that they be easily recognized by the respondents who are asked to report geographical detail. Administrative units were chosen because respondents routinely conduct business with administrative units such as a municipality, county or province.

The second criterion was the usefulness of the geographic units for general statistical purposes. Once again, administrative units are suitable because they are significant users of statistics in establishing and implementing programs involving the expenditure of public funds and also because the general public can readily associate statistics on this basis with the names and boundaries of administrative units.

Geographic units range from the more detailed census subdivisions to the geographical regions of Canada. Census subdivision is the general term for municipalities as determined by provincial/territorial legislation, or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes. Municipalities are units of local government. The geographical regions of Canada are groupings of provinces and territories. The range of geographic units in this hierarchical classification allows for the publication of data at different levels of aggregation.

The SGC identifies the following four types of geographic units:

  1. geographical region of Canada
  2. province or territory
  3. census division
  4. census subdivision

In SGC 2011, there are 6 geographical regions of Canada, 10 provinces and 3 territories, 293 census divisions and 5,253 census subdivisions.

(1) Geographical region of Canada

The geographical regions of Canada are groupings of provinces and territories established for the purpose of statistical reporting. The six geographical regions of Canada are:

  • Atlantic
  • Quebec
  • Ontario
  • Prairies
  • British Columbia
  • Territories

(2) Province or territory (PR)

'Province' and 'territory' refer to the major political units of Canada. From a statistical point of view, province and territory are basic areas for which data are tabulated. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Reflecting the primary political subdivision of Canada, provinces and territories are the most permanent level of the SGC. The provinces and territories are:

  • Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Prince Edward Island
  • Nova Scotia
  • New Brunswick
  • Quebec
  • Ontario
  • Manitoba
  • Saskatchewan
  • Alberta
  • British Columbia
  • Yukon
  • Northwest Territories
  • Nunavut

(3) Census division (CD)

Census division (CD) is the general term for provincially legislated areas (such as county, "municipalité régionale de comté" and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province/territory level and the municipality (census subdivision).

Usually they are groups of neighbouring municipalities joined together for the purposes of regional planning and managing common services (such as police or ambulance services). These groupings are established under laws in effect in certain provinces of Canada. For example, a census division might correspond to a county, "une municipalité régionale de comté" or a regional district. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, provincial/territorial law does not provide for these administrative geographic areas. Therefore, Statistics Canada, in cooperation with these provinces and territories, has created equivalent areas called census divisions for the purpose of collecting and disseminating statistical data. In Yukon, the census division is equivalent to the entire territory.

In New Brunswick, six municipalities (census subdivisions) straddle the legal county boundaries. In order to maintain the integrity of component municipalities, Statistics Canada modified the CD boundaries. Specifically, the following six municipalities straddle county boundaries and the first county in brackets indicates the CD in which these municipalities are completely located:

  • Belledune (Restigouche/Gloucester)
  • Fredericton (York/Sunbury)
  • Grand Falls (Victoria/Madawaska)
  • Meductic (York/Carleton)
  • Minto (Queens/Sunbury)
  • Rogersville (Northumberland/Kent)

Census division boundaries tend to be relatively stable over many years. For this reason the census division has been found useful for analysing historical data on small areas.

Census divisions (CDs) are classified into 12 types. Ten of these types were created according to official designations adopted by provincial or territorial authorities. The other two types - the "census division" (CDR) and the "territory" (TER) - were created as equivalents by Statistics Canada, in cooperation with the affected provinces and the territory, for the purpose of collecting and disseminating statistical data.

For 2011, the CD type "management board" (MB) in Ontario becomes "county" (CTY) and the number of CDs has changed from the previous census in British Columbia and Northwest Territories. In British Columbia, the CD Comox-Strathcona (5925) was dissolved and two CDs were created: Strathcona (5924) and Comox Valley (5926). These changes have resulted in an increase of one in the number of CDs for that province. In the Northwest Territories, the CDs have been restructured, increasing the number from two to six. As a result, there are 293 CDs in 2011.

Table A shows CD types, their abbreviated forms, and their distribution by province and territory.

(4) Census subdivision (CSD)

Census subdivision (CSD) is the general term for municipalities (as determined by provincial/territorial legislation) or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes (e.g., Indian reserves, Indian settlements and unorganized territories).

Municipalities are units of local government. There are two municipalities in Canada that straddle provincial boundaries, Flin Flon (Manitoba and Saskatchewan) and Lloydminster (Saskatchewan and Alberta). Each of their provincial parts is treated as a separate CSD. Three Indian reserves also straddle provincial limits, Shoal Lake (Part) 39A and Shoal Lake (Part) 40 (Ontario and Manitoba); and Makaoo (Part) 120 (Saskatchewan and Alberta); and are treated as separate CSDs.

Beginning with the 1981 Census, each Indian reserve and Indian settlement recognized by the Census is treated as a separate CSD and reported separately. Prior to the 1981 Census, all Indian reserves in a census division were grouped together and reported as one census subdivision.

For 2011, there is a total of 961 Indian reserves and 28 Indian settlements classified as CSDs. These are populated (or potentially populated) Indian reserves, which represent a subset of the approximately 3,100 Indian reserves across Canada. Statistics Canada works closely with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (formally known as Indian and Northern Affairs Canada) to identify the reserves and the settlements to be included as CSDs. Furthermore, the inclusion of an Indian settlement is dependent upon the agreement of the provincial or territorial authorities.

Census subdivisions are classified into 54 types. Fifty-two of these were created according to official designations adopted by provincial, territorial or federal authorities. The other two types - "Subdivision of unorganized" in Newfoundland and Labrador, and "Subdivision of county municipality" in Nova Scotia - were created as equivalents to municipalities by Statistics Canada, in cooperation with the two affected provinces, for the purpose of collecting and disseminating statistical data.

It should be noted that some CSDs have the same geographical name but different CSD types. In these cases, the census subdivision type accompanying the census subdivision name is used to distinguish CSDs from each other (i.e., Moncton, C [for the city of Moncton] and Moncton, P [for the parish of Moncton]).

Changes to CSD types for 2011 include:

1) CSD types added

  • City / Ville (CV) in Ontario;
  • Self-government / Autonomie gouvernementale (SG) in Yukon.

2) CSD types deleted

  • Cité (CÉ) in Quebec was replaced by Ville (V);
  • County (municipality) (CM) in Alberta was corrected to Municipal district (MD);
  • Nisga'a village (NVL) in British Columbia has been included in Nisga'a land (NL).

Table B shows CSD types, their abbreviated forms, and their distribution by province and territory.

Classification structure and codes

Each of the four levels of the classification covers all of Canada. They are hierarchically related: census subdivisions aggregate to census divisions, census divisions aggregate to a province or a territory which in turn aggregate to a geographical region of Canada. The relationship is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1. The SGC hierarchy

Figure 1 shows the hierarchical relationship between the four levels of the SGC 2011.

This structure is implicit in the seven-digit SGC code as shown in the following illustration for the city of Oshawa.

Code for the city of Oshawa
Region PR CD CSD
3       Ontario
  35     Ontario
  35 18   Durham (Regional municipality)
  35 18 013 Oshawa (City)

The region code is the first digit of the province code. The code for the city of Oshawa is 3518013.

The SGC coding system

At the outset, numerical codes were adopted for ease of use and clarity. The numbers were universally applicable to all of the data processing machines in use at that time.

The use of numerical codes continues but the number of digits in the code changed from six to seven in 1976, when a three-digit code was adopted for census subdivisions because the number of census subdivisions in one census division exceeded 99.

Provinces are numbered from east to west. Because the number of provinces and territories exceeded nine, a two-digit code was adopted. The first digit represents the geographical region of Canada in which the province/territory is located and the second digit denotes one of the 10 provinces and 3 territories. The first digit codes are:

  1. Atlantic
  2. Quebec
  3. Ontario
  4. Prairies
  5. British Columbia
  6. Territories

The provincial and territorial codes are shown in Table C.

Table C
List of provinces and territories with codes and abbreviations, 2011
Code Provinces and territories Abbreviation Alpha code Map
10 Newfoundland and Labrador N.L. NL HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
11 Prince Edward Island P.E.I. PE HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
12 Nova Scotia N.S. NS HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
13 New Brunswick N.B. NB HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
24 Quebec Que. QC HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
35 Ontario Ont. ON HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
46 Manitoba Man. MB HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
47 Saskatchewan Sask. SK HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
48 Alberta Alta. AB HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
59 British Columbia B.C. BC HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
60 Yukon Y.T. YT HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
61 Northwest Territories N.W.T. NT HTML | PDF, 2442 kb
62 Nunavut Nvt. NU HTML | PDF, 2442 kb

The following conventions are used in the coding system:

  1. The codes usually follow a serpentine pattern beginning in the southeast corner of each province, territory or CD. In this way, adjacent code numbers usually represent geographic units that share a common boundary. Exceptions are found in Saskatchewan and Alberta, where census divisions are numbered in a straight line from east to west, returning to the eastern border when the western border is reached. Also, in Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, Indian reserve codes are included in the 800 series of numbers, whereas in the other provinces they are accommodated within the serpentine numbering pattern for census subdivisions.
  2. In order to provide the flexibility required to maintain the coding system over the years, the numbering is not sequential (except for CDs, which are more stable). Gaps in the numbering sequence leave opportunities to incorporate new geographic units within the numbering sequence.
  3. Codes are not generally used more than once. However, a code may be reused if at least two editions of the classification have appeared. For example, a code deleted in 1996 may be reused in 2011.
  4. Component parts of codes are preserved as much as possible. For example, when a new CD is created, the original CSD codes are retained where possible.

Naming geographic units

The following procedure is applied in selecting names for geographic units:

  1. Official names are used where they are available. The names of incorporated local and regional municipalities are taken from provincial and territorial gazettes, where official notifications of acts of incorporation for new municipalities and changes to existing municipalities are published
  2. Most official names are accepted as published, but many are edited by Statistics Canada for the sake of consistency and clarity. For example, Statistics Canada drops the CSD type and uses the geographical name only (i.e., the official name City of Ottawa appears in the SGC as Ottawa).
  3. Six municipalities (i.e., census subdivisions) in Canada have different official names in English and French: Beaubassin East / Beaubassin-est, and Grand Falls / Grand-Sault in New Brunswick; and Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury, French River / Rivière des Français, The Nation / La Nation, and West Nipissing / Nipissing Ouest in Ontario. For English products, the official name in English is used (i.e., Greater Sudbury), for French products, the official name in French is used (i.e., Grand Sudbury), and for bilingual products, the bilingual name is used with English followed by French (i.e., Greater Sudbury / Grand Sudbury).
  4. Prior to May 25, 2009, the convention for the naming of a CMA or CA was based on the name of the principal population centre or largest city at the time the CMA or CA was first formed. This standard had been used since the 1971 Census. Through the years, the CMA/CA names have remained stable. The most important changes resulted from name changes to the census subdivisions (resulting from municipal dissolutions, incorporations and name changes). The key revision to the convention is the establishment of guidelines for CMA name change requests as described here:
    • CMA names can consist of up to three legislated municipal names of eligible census subdivisions (CSDs) that are components of the CMA. However, the number of name elements in any new CMA name request is limited to five. If any of the eligible CSD names are already hyphenated or compound, the number of CSD names will be limited to two or one if the number of name elements exceeds five.
    • The eligible municipal names include the historic central municipality name and the two component CSDs with the largest population, and having a population of at least 10,000, according to the last census.
    • The ordering of the municipal names within the CMA name is determined by the historic (central) municipality and the population size of the eligible CSDs. The first component of the CMA name is always the historic (central) CSD even if its census population count is less than the other eligible component CSDs. This ensures that CMA names retain a measure of stability for better longitudinal recognition. The second and third place name order is determined by population size. The component CSD with the higher census population count at the time of the name change assumes the second position and the next largest component CSD the third position.
    • In order for a requested CMA name change to be implemented, there must be explicit consensus among all eligible component municipalities on a proposed new name and a formal request, in accordance with these guidelines, must be sent to the Director of the Geography Division at Statistics Canada by June 1 of the year prior to the census. The CMA name change will be implemented in the revision of the Standard Geographical Classification related to the census under consideration.
    • Statistics Canada will continue to change CMA names whenever the legislated name of a municipality changes. Any other request for a name change will only be considered within the context of these guidelines.
  5. The remaining sub-provincial geographical names are created by Statistics Canada in cooperation with provincial, territorial and federal officials (e.g., when creating names for most economic regions).
  6. Some statistical areas (e.g., census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations) straddle provincial boundaries (e.g., the census metropolitan area [CMA] of Ottawa–Gatineau). In such a case, when data are presented for the provincial parts, the name of the province must follow the name of the statistical area. For the CMA of Ottawa–Gatineau, each part of the CMA will be identified as Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part) and Ottawa–Gatineau (Quebec part).
  7. Where the CD or CSD type (e.g., county, town, city) is part of the legal name of the CD or CSD as legislated by provincial or territorial governments, Statistics Canada uses the language form of the legal name. In all other cases, where the CD or CSD type is not embedded in the legal name, Statistics Canada uses the language of the publication. As a consequence, this means that in an English language publication there may be some French language type names, and that in French language publications there may be some English language type names. For example, in the case of Bathurst, New Brunswick, the legislation specifies that the legal name is "City of Bathurst". Accordingly, the type is presented as City (CY) in English publications; City (CY) in French publications; and as City (CY) in bilingual publications.

Table D and Table E provide the standard abbreviations and titles for all CD and CSD types for English, French and bilingual publications respectively.

Updates and concordances

The SGC 2011 presents standard geographic areas as of January 1, 2011. It includes any changes to municipalities, effective on that date or earlier, received by Statistics Canada before March 1, 2011.

Information received after March 1, 2011, has not been included, therefore provincial or territorial authorities may notice some small discrepancies compared to their official records.

Several hundred changes are made to census subdivisions every year. These changes may affect boundaries, codes, names, or types. Changes to the census division level also occur periodically. Most changes originate from provincial legislation (revised statutes and special acts), changes to Indian reserves originate with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (formally known as Indian and Northern Affairs Canada), and other changes come from Statistics Canada.

Legislated changes are effective as of the date proclaimed in the legislation. Other changes are effective January 1, usually of the reference year for the SGC.

The Standard Geographical Classification is published every five years, coincident with the Census of Population. For most statistical applications, holding the geography in a statistical series constant for this length of time is an acceptable compromise between stability and existing reality. Observations at five-year intervals are suitable for historical trend analysis, yet for current series, a tolerable degree of distortion occurs.

The SGC 2011 presents a complete summary of the changes affecting the SGC between January 2, 2006 and January 1, 2011. Volume I of the SGC 2011 contains three concordance tables for that period on the changes that impact directly upon the SGC, such as changes in code, name, or type and indicates how the new and old codes relate to one another. In addition, a fourth table provides 2006 Census population counts based on the census subdivision boundaries of each January and July 1st for census subdivisions affected by a boundary change during the period 2006 to 2011.

The other changes such as partial annexations, and boundary and population revisions, which do not affect the SGC codes and usually involve very small areas and populations, are not shown in the concordance tables. They are available, however, in the "Interim List of Changes to Municipal Boundaries, Status, and Names" published by Geography Division, Statistics Canada.

Census division changes

In New Brunswick, part of Stanley, P (CSD 13 10 036) was taken from York (CD 13 10) and annexed to Upper Miramichi, RCR (CSD 13 09 027) in Northumberland (CD 1309).

In Quebec, Bromont, V (CSD 24 47 005) was taken from La Haute-Yamaska (CD 24 47) and annexed to Brome-Missisquoi (CD 24 46); and the following CDs have had name changes:

  • (CD 24 31) L'Amiante, MRC becomes Les Appalaches, MRC
  • (CD 24 40) Asbestos, MRC becomes Les Sources, MRC
  • (CD 24 53) Le Bas-Richelieu, MRC becomes Pierre-De Saurel, MRC
  • (CD 24 98) Minganie–Basse-Côte-Nord, CDR becomes Minganie–Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent, CDR

In Ontario, Manitoulin, Unorganized, Mainland, NO (CSD 35 51 091) was annexed to Killarney, MU (CSD 35 51 036). Then Killarney, MU (CSD 35 51 036) was taken from Manitoulin (CD 35 51) and annexed to Sudbury (CD 35 52). Also in Ontario, part of Perth East, TP (CSD 35 31 030) was taken from Perth (CD 35 31) and annexed to East Zorra-Tavistock, TP (CSD 35 32 038) in Oxford (CD 35 32). There was a CD type change in Ontario: (CD 35 10) Frontenac, MB became Frontenac, (CTY).

In Alberta, part of Yellowhead County, MD (CSD 48 14 003) was taken from Division No. 14 (CD 48 14) and annexed to Brazeau County, MD (CSD 48 11 032) in Division No. 11 (CD 48 11).

In British Columbia, Comox-Strathcona (CD 59 25) was dissolved and two CDs were created: Strathcona (CD 59 24) and Comox Valley (CD 59 26). In addition, Kitimat-Stikine F, RDA (CSD 59 49 038), Dease Lake 9, IRI (CSD 59 49 845) and Tahltan 1, IRI (CSD 59 49 846) were annexed from Stikine, REG (CD 59 57) to Kitimat-Stikine, RD (CD 59 49).

In Northwest Territories, the CDs have been restructured, increasing in number from two to six; the naming convention of CDs in the Northwest Territories is now:

  • (CD 61 01) Region 1, REG
  • (CD 61 02) Region 2, REG
  • (CD 61 03) Region 3, REG
  • (CD 61 04) Region 4, REG
  • (CD 61 05) Region 5, REG
  • (CD 61 06) Region 6, REG

Census subdivision changes

The changes to census subdivisions between SGC 2006 and SGC 2011 are presented in two concordance tables:

The changes affecting CSDs are grouped into eighteen types, each represented by a particular code. They are listed in Table F below with an indication of each type's impact upon the SGC code.

Table F
Change type codes for census subdivisions
Code Type of change Change in SGC code?
1 Incorporation Yes
2 Change of name No
2C Correction of name No
23 Change of name and type No
3 Change of type No
3C Correction of type No
4 Dissolution Yes
5 Annexation of part of No
5A Complete annexation and part annexed of No
6 Part annexed to No
7 Revision of SGC code Yes
7C Correction of SGC code Yes
8 Part taken from (revision from population challenge) No
8C Part taken from (cartographic correction) No
9 Part lost to (revision from population challenge) No
9C Part lost to (cartographic correction) No
10 Population taken from (revision) No
11 Population lost to (revision) No

A legend is provided to explain the appropriate codes (codes 1, 2, 2C, 23, 3, 3C, 4, 5A, 6, 7 and 7C) used in the concordance tables. A more detailed explanation follows.

New SGC codes (code 1) are assigned to newly created CSDs. Such CSDs are:

  1. created out of another census subdivision, typically a municipality created from a populated area located in a rural or unorganized census subdivision; or
  2. created when two or more census subdivisions amalgamate.

In the latter case the entries, including SGC codes, for all of the census subdivisions contributing to the newly created census subdivision are deleted (code 4).

Also affecting the SGC code are revisions arising from structural changes, such as the reorganization of CDs. This type of change (codes 7 and 7C) simply indicates a revised code number, with no other change having affected the CSD.

Changes in CSD name (codes 2 and 2C), CSD type (codes 3 and 3C), or CSD name and type (code 23) do not affect the SGC code, but the classification file is updated.

The most numerous changes are partial annexations (codes 5 and 6), boundary revisions (codes 8, 8C, 9 and 9C) and population revisions (codes 10 and 11), which do not affect the SGC codes, and usually involve very small areas and populations. These changes are not listed in the concordance tables, but they can be found in the publication entitled "Interim List of Changes to Municipal Boundaries, Status, and Names".

Since January 2, 2006, a total of 1,606 CSD changes have been recorded. These changes affected more than 1,000 of the 5,418 CSDs that existed in 2006, and resulted in a net reduction of 165 CSDs over the period. Of the total number of changes, 382 affected the CSD code (221 dissolutions, 56 incorporations and 105 revisions of code), 68 affected the name, 93 affected the status and 8 affected both the name and status. Boundary changes and revisions (982), and population revisions (73) accounted for the remaining 1,055 changes. Since 2006, CSD boundary changes and CD restructuring in British Columbia and Northwest Territories affected 31 census divisions.

Table G presents the number of census subdivision changes by type and by province and territory.

Changes to census subdivisions for 2011 resulted in the reduction of Indian reserves. For instance, the following reserve CSDs were deleted because they are not to be populated.

  • Summerside 38 (CSD 12 14 024) in Nova Scotia
  • Red Bank 7 (CSD 13 09 025) and St. Mary's 24 (CSD 13 10 035) in New Brunswick
  • Whitworth (CSD 24 12 802), Cacouna (CSD 24 12 804) and Coucoucache (CSD 24 90 801) in Quebec
  • Naiscoutaing 17A (CSD 35 49 079), Zhiibaahaasing 19 (Cockburn Island 19) (CSD 35 51 035), Whitefish River (Part) 4 (CSD 35 52 017), Mountbatten 76A (CSD 35 52 055), New Post 69 (CSD 35 56 104), Missanabie 62 (CSD 35 57 082), Lake Of The Woods 31G (CSD 35 60 062), Wunnumin 2 (CSD 35 60 072), Wapekeka 1 (CSD 35 60 074) and Sachigo Lake 2 (CSD 35 60 087) in Ontario
  • Reed River 36A (CSD 46 01 096), Long Plain (Part) 6 (CSD 46 08 039), Cross Lake 19B (CSD 46 22 053), Cross Lake 19C (CSD 46 22 054), Nelson House 170A (CSD 46 22 060), Nelson House 170B (CSD 46 22 061), Nelson House 170C (CSD 46 22 062) and Highrock 199 (CSD 46 23 063) in Manitoba
  • Makwa Lake 129A (CSD 47 17 814), Thunderchild First Nation 115D (CSD 47 17 818), Stanley 157A (CSD 47 18 804), Île-à-la-Crosse 192E (CSD 47 18 805), Dipper Rapids 192C (CSD 47 18 816), Primeau Lake 192F (CSD 47 18 830), Turnor Lake 194 (CSD 47 18 837), Clearwater River Dene Band 221 (CSD 47 18 838), Elak Dase 192A (CSD 47 18 843) and Fond du Lac 233 (CSD 47 18 848) in Saskatchewan
  • Clearwater 175 (CSD 48 16 823), Devil's Gate 220 (CSD 48 16 825), Chipewyan 201 (CSD 48 16 828), Chipewyan 201B (CSD 48 16 834), Chipewyan 201C (CSD 48 16 837), Chipewyan 201D (CSD 48 16 840), Chipewyan 201E (CSD 48 16 843), Chipewyan 201F (CSD 48 16 845), Chipewyan 201G (CSD 48 16 848), Sandy Point 221 (CSD 48 16 851), Cornwall Lake 224 (CSD 48 16 853) and Collin Lake 223 (CSD 48 16 854) in Alberta
  • Bummers Flat 6 (CSD 59 01 807), Aywawwis 15 (CSD 59 09 801), Boothroyd 5A (CSD 59 09 802), Boothroyd 8A (Part) (CSD 59 09 803), Ruby Creek 2 (CSD 59 09 811), Sho-ook 5 (CSD 59 09 813), Chaumox 11 (CSD 59 09 820), Swahliseah 14 (CSD 59 09 840), Franks 10 (CSD 59 09 846), Samahquam 1 (CSD 59 09 865), Kuthlalth 3 (CSD 59 09 870), Mayne Island 6 (CSD 59 17 806), Pacheena 1 (CSD 59 17 816), Claoose 4 (CSD 59 19 805), Lyacksun 3 (CSD 59 19 810), Wyah 3 (CSD 59 19 819), Openit 27 (CSD 59 23 812), Stuart Bay 6 (CSD 59 23 815), Keeshan 9 (CSD 59 23 821), Nuchatl 2 (CSD 59 25 808), Nuchatl 1 (CSD 59 25 809), Aupe 6 (CSD 59 25 815), Aupe 6A (CSD 59 25 816), Tatpo-oose 10 (CSD 59 25 819), Matsayno 5 (CSD 59 25 825), Saaiyouck 6 (CSD 59 25 830), Harwood Island 2 (CSD 59 27 805), Chekwelp 26A (CSD 59 29 802), Schaltuuch 27 (CSD 59 29 804), Seton Lake 5A (CSD 59 31 830), Slosh 1A (CSD 59 31 839), Hamilton Creek 7 (CSD 59 33 804), Leon Creek 2 (CSD 59 33 835), Spatsum 11 (CSD 59 33 847), Papyum 27A (CSD 59 33 856), Siska Flat 5A (CSD 59 33 862), Siska Flat 5B (CSD 59 33 863), Staiyahanny 8 (CSD 59 33 869), Cameron Bar 13 (CSD 59 33 890), Andy Cahoose Meadow 16 (CSD 59 41 824), Baezaeko River 25 (CSD 59 41 825), Cahoose 8 (CSD 59 41 826), Baezaeko River 26 (CSD 59 41 836), Tsunnia Lake 5 (CSD 59 41 853), Casimiel Meadows 15A (CSD 59 41 857), Kushya Creek 7 (CSD 59 41 867), Quattishe 1 (CSD 59 43 805), Karlukwees 1 (CSD 59 43 810), Apsagayu 1A (CSD 59 43 820), Compton Island 6 (CSD 59 43 824), Mahmalillikullah 1 (CSD 59 43 828), Glen-Gla-Ouch 5 (CSD 59 43 832), Gitzault 24 (CSD 59 49 831), Tsay Cho 4 (CSD 59 51 808), Kuz Che 5 (CSD 59 51 816), Bihl'k'a 18 (CSD 59 51 817), Isaac (Gale Lake) 8 (CSD 59 51 835), Maxan Lake 4 (CSD 59 51 837), Bihlk'a 6 (CSD 59 51 842) and Parsnip 5 (CSD 59 53 804) in British Columbia.

In addition, the following reserve and settlement CSDs in British Columbia were combined in order to provide more meaningful statistics.

  • Alert Bay 1 (CSD 59 43 801) and Alert Bay 1A (CSD 59 43 802) to Alert Bay (CSD 59 43 837)
  • Alexandria 1 (CSD 59 41 815), Alexandria 1A (CSD 59 41 870), Alexandria 3 (CSD 59 41 816) and Alexandria 3A (CSD 59 41 814) to Alexandria (CSD 59 41 882)
  • Anahim's Meadow 2 (CSD 59 41 822) and Anahim's Meadow 2A (CSD 59 41 823) to Anahim's Meadow (CSD 59 41 883)
  • Chuchhriaschin 5 (CSD 59 33 816) and Chuchhriaschin 5A (CSD 59 33 822) to Chuchhriaschin (CSD 59 33 810)
  • Cowichan 1 (CSD 59 19 807) and Cowichan 9 (CSD 59 19 806) to Cowichan (CSD 59 19 822)
  • Garden 2 (CSD 59 41 830) and Garden 2A (CSD 59 41 832) to Garden (CSD 59 41 884)
  • Halhalaeden 14 (CSD 59 33 818) and Halhalaeden 14A (CSD 59 33 815) to Halhalaeden (CSD 59 33 813)
  • Inkluckcheen 21 (CSD 59 33 820) and Inkluckcheen 21B (CSD 59 33 894) to Inkluckcheen (CSD 59 33 833)
  • Kanaka Bar 1A (CSD 59 33 826) and Kanaka Bar 2 (CSD 59 33 827) to Kanaka Bar (CSD 59 33 882)
  • Little Springs 8 (CSD 59 41 874) and Little Springs 18 (CSD 59 41 875) to Little Springs (CSD 59 41 885)
  • Mount Currie 1 (CSD 59 31 803), Mount Currie 2 (CSD 59 31 811), Mount Currie 6 (CSD 59 31 838), Mount Currie 8 (CSD 59 31 837) and Mount Currie 10 (CSD 59 31 804) to Mount Currie (CSD 59 31 843)
  • Nanaimo River 2 (CSD 59 21 802), Nanaimo River 3 (CSD 59 21 801) and Nanaimo River 4 (CSD 59 21 803) to Nanaimo River (CSD 59 21 807)
  • Nequatque 1 (CSD 59 31 805), Nequatque 2 (CSD 59 31 840) and Nequatque 3A (CSD 59 31 810) to Nequatque (CSD 59 31 844)
  • Neskonlith 1 (Neskainlith 1) (CSD 59 33 883) and Neskonlith 2 (CSD 59 33 885) to Neskonlith (CSD 59 33 838)
  • North Tacla Lake 7 (CSD 59 51 812) and North Tacla Lake 7A (CSD 59 51 841) to North Tacla Lake (CSD 59 51 848)
  • Sachteen 2 (CSD 59 09 855) and Sachteen 2A (CSD 59 09 860) to Sachteen (CSD 59 09 883)
  • Siska Flat 3 (CSD 59 33 860) and Siska Flat 8 (CSD 59 33 864) to Siska Flat (CSD 59 33 849)
  • Skowkale 10 (CSD 59 09 822) and Skowkale 11 (CSD 59 09 823) to Skowkale (CSD 59 09 884)
  • Spences Bridge 4 (CSD 59 33 867) and Spences Bridge 4C (CSD 59 33 871) to Spences Bridge (CSD 59 33 881)
  • Squiaala 7 (CSD 59 09 828) and Squiaala 8 (CSD 59 09 829) to Squiaala (CSD 59 09 885)
  • Switsemalph 6 (CSD 59 39 809) and Switsemalph 7 (CSD 59 39 810) to Switsemalph (CSD 59 39 811)
  • Telegraph Creek 6 (CSD 59 49 826) and Telegraph Creek 6A (CSD 59 49 827) to Telegraph Creek (CSD 59 49 847)
  • T'Sou-ke 1 (Sooke 1) (CSD 59 17 817) and T'Sou-ke 2 (Sooke 2) (CSD 59 17 818) to T'Sou-ke (CSD 59 17 819)
  • Aiyansh (Kitladamas) 1, NVL (CSD 59 49 836); Gingolx, NVL (CSD 59 49 842); Gitwinksihlkw, NVL (CSD 59 49 838); Laxgalts'ap, NVL (CSD 59 49 840) and New Aiyansh, NVL (CSD 59 49 834) to Nisga'a, NL (CSD 59 49 035).

In the Northwest Territories, Inuvik, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 07 063) and Fort Smith, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 06 097) were reorganized into Region 1, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 01 063); Region 2, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 02 063); Region 3, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 03 097); Region 4, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 04 097); Region 5, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 05 097) and Region 6, Unorganized, NO (CSD 61 06 097).

Classification variants

Although the SGC is the basic system of geographic units used for collecting and disseminating statistics in Statistics Canada, it cannot serve all statistical purposes for which the presentation and analysis of economic and social data are required. Other geographic units that are based on aggregations of the SGC geographic units are included as classification variants of the SGC. Three classification variants have been recognized as part of the SGC 2011:

  1. Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011

    This classification variant includes entire census metropolitan areas (CMAs), census agglomerations (CAs) and the census metropolitan influenced zones (MIZs) within Canada.

  2. Statistical Area Classification by Province and Territory - Variant of SGC 2011

    This classification variant includes provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas (CMAs), census agglomerations and the census metropolitan influenced zones. It presents the provincial/territorial parts of the CMAs, CAs and MIZs which cross provincial/territorial boundaries.

  3. Economic Regions - Variant of SGC 2011

    This classification shows the economic regions (ER) of Canada.

Each classification variant of the SGC is a set of customized groupings that use SGC's census subdivisions as building blocks. In Statistics Canada, variants are created and adopted in cases where the version of the classification does not fully meet specific user needs for disseminating data or for sampling in surveys. A classification variant is based on a classification version such as SGC 2011. In a variant, the categories of the classification version are split, aggregated or regrouped to provide additions or alternatives (e.g., context-specific additions) to the standard structure of the base version.

Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011

The Statistical Area Classification (SAC) - Variant of SGC 2011 groups census subdivisions according to whether they are a component of a census metropolitan area, a census agglomeration or a census metropolitan influenced zone (MIZ). Census subdivisions (CSDs) form the lowest level of this classification variant. The next level of this classification variant consists of individual census metropolitan areas (CMAs), census agglomerations (CAs) and census metropolitan influence zones (MIZs). The highest level of this classification variant consists of three categories that cover all of the landmass of Canada:

  • Census metropolitan areas (Canada)
  • Census agglomerations (Canada)
  • Outside census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations (Canada)

The SAC provides unique numeric identification (codes) for these hierarchically related geographic areas. It was established for the purpose of reporting statistics. The hierarchical relationship of the geographic areas is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011

Figure 2 shows the hierarchical relationship between the three levels of the Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011

Census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA)

A census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a population centre (known as the core). A CMA must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the core. A CA must have a core population of at least 10,000. To be included in the CMA or CA, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the core as measured by commuting flows derived from previous census place of work data.

If the population of the core of a CA declines below 10,000, the CA is retired. However, once an area becomes a CMA, it is retained as a CMA even if its total population declines below 100,000 or the population of its core falls below 50,000. All areas inside the CMA or CA that are not population centres are rural areas.

When a CA has a core of at least 50,000, it is subdivided into census tracts. Census tracts are maintained for the CA even if the population of the core subsequently falls below 50,000. All CMAs are subdivided into census tracts.

A CMA or CA is delineated using adjacent municipalities (census subdivisions) as building blocks. These census subdivisions (CSDs) are included in the CMA or CA if they meet at least one delineation rule. The three principal rules are:

  1. Core rule: The CSD falls completely or partly inside the core.
  2. Forward commuting flow rule: Given a minimum of 100 commuters, at least 50% of the employed labour force living in the CSD works in the delineation core as determined from commuting data based on the place of work question in the previous census.
  3. Reverse commuting flow rule: Given a minimum of 100 commuters, at least 25% of the employed labour force working in the CSD lives in the delineation core as determined from commuting data based on the place of work question in the previous census.

Another rule concerns the merging of adjacent CMAs and CAs. A CA adjacent to a CMA can be merged with the CMA if the total percentage commuting interchange between the CA and CMA is equal to at least 35% of the employed labour force living in the CA, based on place of work data from the previous census. The total percentage commuting interchange is the sum of the commuting flow in both directions between CMA and CA as a percentage of the labour force living in the CA (i.e., resident employed labour force).

A CMA or CA represents an area that is economically and socially integrated. However, there are certain limitations to the manner in which this goal can be met. Since the CSDs, which are used as building blocks in CMA and CA delineation, are administrative units, their boundaries are not always the most suitable with respect to CMA and CA delineation. There are always situations where the application of rules creates undesirable outcomes, or where the rules cannot be easily applied. In these circumstances, a manual override is sometimes applied to ensure that the integrity of the program is retained.

CMAs and CAs are statistically comparable because they are delineated in the same way across Canada. They differ from other types of areas, such as trading, marketing, or regional planning areas designated by regional authorities for planning and other purposes, and should be used with caution for non-statistical purposes.

There are 33 CMAs and 114 CAs in 2011. Two CMAs from the previous census had their names changed: Abbotsford became Abbotsford–Mission (B.C.) and Kitchener became Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo (Ont.). Five new CAs were created: Steinbach (Man.), High River (Alta.), Lacombe (Alta.), Strathmore (Alta.) and Sylvan Lake (Alta.). The CAs of La Tuque (Que.) and Kitimat (B.C.) were retired because the population of their cores dropped below 10,000 in 2006.

The naming convention for CMAs and CAs is included in the Naming geographic units section of this classification manual.

Census metropolitan influenced zone (MIZ)

The census metropolitan influenced zone (MIZ) is a concept that geographically differentiates the area of Canada outside census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs). Census subdivisions (CSDs) within provinces that are outside CMAs and CAs are assigned to one of four categories according to the degree of influence (strong, moderate, weak or no influence) that the CMAs or CAs have on them. The CSDs within the territories that are outside CAs are assigned to a separate category.

Census subdivisions within provinces are assigned to a MIZ category based on the percentage of their resident employed labour force that commutes to work in the core(s) of CMAs or CAs. CSDs with the same degree of influence tend to be clustered. They form zones around CMAs and CAs that progress through the categories from 'strong' to 'no' influence as distance from the CMAs and CAs increases. As many CSDs in the territories are very large and sparsely populated, the commuting flow of the resident employed labour force is unstable. For this reason, CSDs in the territories that are outside CAs are assigned to a separate category that is not based on their commuting flows.

CSDs outside CMAs and CAs are assigned to the following MIZ categories:

  1. Strong metropolitan influenced zone (Canada): This category includes CSDs in provinces where at least 30% of the CSD's resident employed labour force commute to work in any CMA or CA. It excludes CSDs with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force.
  2. Moderate metropolitan influenced zone (Canada): This category includes CSDs in provinces where at least 5% but less than 30% of the CSD's resident employed labour force commute to work in any CMA or CA. It excludes CSDs with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force.
  3. Weak metropolitan influenced zone (Canada): This category includes CSDs in provinces where more than 0% but less than 5% of the CSD's resident employed labour force commute to work in any CMA or CA. It excludes CSDs with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force.
  4. No metropolitan influenced zone (Canada): This category includes CSDs in provinces where none of the CSD's resident employed labour force commute to work in any CMA or CA. It also includes CSDs in provinces with fewer than 40 persons in their resident employed labour force.
  5. Territories (outside CAs, Canada): This category includes CSDs in the territories outside CAs.

All of the landmass of Canada outside CMAs and CAs are classified by the five MIZ in the classification variant. For example, all areas in Canada with no metropolitan influence are classified as "No metropolitan influenced zone (Canada)". Where "Canada" appears in brackets, it may be omitted when the context provides clarification.

The coding structure

Each of the three levels of the classification variant covers all of Canada. For the first level consisting of the census metropolitan categories, an alpha code has been introduced:

  • A: Census metropolitan areas (Canada)
  • B: Census agglomerations (Canada)
  • C: Outside census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations (Canada)

In the second level, three-digit numeric codes are used for individual CMAs, CAs and MIZs. The coding structure at this level is consistent with the coding used for CMAs and CAs in SGC 2006.

The codes for a CMA, a CA and a MIZ are shown in the following illustration:

Codes for a CMA, a CA and a MIZ
Census metropolitan category CMA/ CA/ MIZ code Name
A 001 St. John's
B 005 Bay Roberts
C 996 Strong metropolitan influenced zone (Canada)

The last level consists of the census subdivision codes as described in the classification version. Each census subdivision is part of a CMA, a CA or is categorized as part of a MIZ.

Statistical Area Classification by Province and Territory - Variant of SGC 2011

The Statistical Area Classification (SAC) by Province and Territory is a variant of the Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) and census subdivisions (CSDs) form the lowest level of this classification variant. This classification variant is based on the "Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011" with two additional levels in the hierarchy of the classification:

  • Geographical regions of Canada
  • Provinces and territories

This allows for the classification of the census metropolitan categories, the CMAs, CAs and MIZ by provincial and territorial parts. The hierarchical structure of the classification is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Statistical Area Classification by Province and Territory - Variant of SGC 2011

Figure 3 shows the hierarchical relationship between the five levels of the Statistical Area Classification by Province and Territory - Variant of SGC 2011.

A provincial or territorial part designation is included with the name of the census metropolitan category by province and territory. For example, under the province of Saskatchewan, the three categories of this level are:

  • Census metropolitan areas (Saskatchewan)
  • Census agglomerations (Saskatchewan)
  • Outside census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations (Saskatchewan)

Individual geographic units by province are presented for the census metropolitan areas by province and territory. This is useful for the separate analysis of one CMA and three CAs that have provincial parts. The codes and names of the provincial parts of the CMAs and CAs are:

  • 24 505 Ottawa–Gatineau (Quebec part)
  • 35 505 Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part)
  • 13 330 Campbellton (New Brunswick part)
  • 24 330 Campbellton (Quebec part)
  • 24 502 Hawkesbury (Quebec part)
  • 35 502 Hawkesbury (Ontario part)
  • 47 840 Lloydminster (Saskatchewan part)
  • 48 840 Lloydminster (Alberta part)

The census metropolitan influenced zones by province and territory are also presented as provincial and territorial parts. For example, under the province of Quebec, the categories are:

  • Strong metropolitan influenced zone (Quebec)
  • Moderate metropolitan influenced zone (Quebec)
  • Weak metropolitan influenced zone(Quebec)
  • No metropolitan influenced zone (Quebec)

Economic Regions - Variant of SGC 2011

An economic region (ER) is a grouping of complete census divisions (CDs) (with one exception in Ontario) created as a standard geographic unit for analysis of regional economic activity.

Such a unit is small enough to permit regional analysis, yet large enough to include enough respondents that, after data are screened for confidentiality, a broad range of statistics can still be released.

The regions are based upon work by Camu, Weeks and Sametz in the 1950s. At the outset, boundaries of regions were drawn in such a way that similarities of socio-economic features within regions were maximized while those among regions were minimized. Later, the regions were modified to consist of counties which define the zone of influence of a major urban centre or metropolitan area. Finally, the regions were adjusted to accommodate changes in CD boundaries and to satisfy provincial needs.

An ER is a geographic unit, smaller than a province, except in the case of Prince Edward Island and the Territories. The ER is made up by grouping whole census divisions, except for one case in Ontario, where the city of Burlington, a component of Halton (CD 35 24), is excluded from the ER of Toronto (ER 35 30) and is included in the Hamilton–Niagara Peninsula ER (ER 35 50), which encompasses the entire CMA of Hamilton.

ERs may be economic, administrative or development regions. Within the province of Quebec, economic regions are designated by law ("les régions administratives"). In all other provinces, economic regions are created by agreement between Statistics Canada and the provinces concerned.

There were 76 ERs in 2011. ERs are listed with their component census divisions. The following economic regions were affected by changes at the CD and CSD levels:

  • In New Brunswick, the boundary between Campbellton–Miramichi (ER 13 10) and Fredericton–Oromocto (ER 13 40) was affected because part of Stanley, P (CSD 13 10 036) was taken from York (CD 13 10) and annexed to Upper Miramichi, RCR (CSD 13 09 027) in Northumberland (CD 13 09).
  • In Ontario, the boundary between London (ER 35 60) and Stratford–Bruce Peninsula (ER 35 80) was affected because part of Perth East, TP (CSD 35 31 030) was taken from Perth (CD 35 31) and annexed to East Zorra-Tavistock, TP (CSD 35 32 038) in Oxford (CD 35 32).
  • In Alberta, the boundary between Edmonton (ER 48 60) and Banff–Jasper–Rocky Mountain House (ER 48 40) was affected because part of Yellowhead County, MD (48 14 003) was taken from Division No. 14 (CD 48 14) and annexed to Brazeau County, MD (CSD 48 11 032) in Division No. 11 (CD 48 11).
  • In British Columbia, the composition of Vancouver Island and Coast (ER 59 10) changed due to the dissolution of the census division Comox-Strathcona (CD 59 25) and the creation of two CDs: Strathcona (CD 59 24) and Comox Valley (CD 59 26). In addition, the boundaries of North Coast (ER 59 60) and Nechako (ER 59 70) were affected because part of the census subdivision Stikine Region (CSD 59 57 022) and two Indian reserves: Dease Lake 9 (CSD 59 57 801) and Tahltan 1 (CSD 59 57 805) were taken from Stikine (CD 59 57) and annexed to Kitimat-Stikine (CD 59 49).
  • In Northwest Territories, the composition of the economic region Northwest Territories (ER 61 10) changed due to the restructuring of CDs which increases from two to six.

Presentation of classification and related maps

The Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2011 is divided into two separate products:

The basic presentation of the classification with tables illustrating the classes is available in Volume I. Maps illustrate the boundaries of individual geographic areas effectively describing the class boundaries of each class in the classification. Maps are included in Volume I (HTML version) and Volume II of the classification.

Volume I, The Classification

Volume I is the basic presentation of the system of geographic units. It describes the SGC 2011 consisting of the 4 levels of geographic areas:

  1. Geographical region of Canada
  2. Province or territory
  3. Census division
  4. Census subdivision

The SGC is the centrepiece of the classification, providing a complete list of its geographic units. These units are the building blocks for all other standard geographic areas. The SGC provides a code, name and type for each census subdivision (CSD).

Volume I also describes the classification variants that present census metropolitan areas/census agglomerations (CMAs/CAs), census metropolitan influenced zones (MIZs) and economic regions (ERs), and displays them in a variety of configurations for easy access and understanding. The introductory text explains the background and context for using standard geographic units.

The metropolitan geography of Canada is recognized in two variants. The first variant, the Statistical Area Classification - Variant of SGC 2011 includes all CMAs, CAs and MIZs within Canada. The second variant, the Statistical Area Classification by Province and Territory - Variant of SGC 2011 shows all CMAs, CAs and MIZs by province/territory and presents the provincial/territorial parts of CMAs, CAs and MIZs which cross provincial/territorial boundaries. Those variants of SGC 2011 provide easier access to the census metropolitan categories and to the codes of CMAs, CAs and MIZs for all of the landmass of Canada as well as by province and territory and they define CMAs, CAs and MIZs by reference to CSDs.

The Economic Regions - Variant of SGC 2011 provides ER names and codes by province and territory with their component CDs, providing the name and code for each component CD.

A list of place names showing alternative place names and repeated place names is included for each census subdivision. Alternative place names include alternative names from history or other languages and alternative spellings of the same name. Repeated place names appear more than once within a province and reflect the fact that a place name has been used for more than one locality. Repeated names also appear when a CSD boundary splits a locality and the place name is repeated for each CSD code.

Three concordance tables present a complete summary of the changes affecting the SGC between January 2, 2006 and January 1, 2011. For that period, they show the changes that impact directly upon the SGC, such as changes in code, name, or type, and indicate how the new and old codes relate to one another.

Finally, a table provides 2006 Census population counts based on the census subdivision boundaries of each January and July 1st for census subdivisions affected by a boundary change during the period 2006 to 2011.

Volume II, Reference Maps

This product contains a series of 23 maps depicting the boundaries in effect on January 1, 2011 for census divisions, census subdivisions, census metropolitan areas, and census agglomerations. The boundaries are plotted on base maps, showing water features. The maps identify each CSD by name and code, and CDs and CMAs/CAs by code.

Also included are four maps of Canada, which illustrate:

  1. The boundaries of census divisions
  2. The locations of census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations
  3. The spatial distribution of CSDs among CMAs, CAs, census metropolitan influenced zones (MIZs), and territories
  4. The boundaries of economic regions with their component CDs

An index to census division and census subdivision reference maps is also included.

References

  1. Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 2006
  2. Interim List of Changes to Municipal Boundaries, Status, and Names, Catalogue no. 92F0009X
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