Statistics Canada takes great care to ensure that no publicly-released Census data can be used to identify an individual person or business.
This means that some data cannot be released, or must be combined (aggregated) into larger categories or bigger geographic areas to prevent such disclosure.
If you don't find what you need using this portal, try the other tools listed on this guide.
content: a few key indicators from each Census component (topic); tables provide counts, % distribution and sometimes % change figures from 2001 Census
customization: user can select specific geographic area(s) and sort columns
smallest geographic area: Census Subdivision (CSD) = municipality level
other features: Some tables include a "figure": a ready-made chart or graph.
content: 85 key indicators from the 1996, 2001 and 2006 Censuses
customization: users can compare how one key indicator has changed in different regions over 15 years (e.g. % visible minorities), or compare how all indicators (or a chosen subset) have changed for one region; can sort some columns
smallest geographic area: Census Subdivision (CSD) = municipality level
other features: Some tables include a "figure": a ready-made chart or graph.
A Census Profile is table with "a collection of characteristics for a given set of geographic areas.”
Profile Tables usually present each characteristic (also called a 'variable') individually:
e.g. sex: number of females in a specific area
Some profiles combine (cross-tabulate) two or more characteristics:
e.g. sex and age: number of females in a specific age bracket, in a specific area
If you're looking for more complex combinations of variables, you need the Topic-Based Tabulations instead.
There are several kinds of Profile Tables, with different levels of detail. See the other tabs in this box.
content: over 200 characteristics
customization: can compare two places, side-by-side in table
smallest geographic area: Census Subdivision (CSD) = city/municipality level
other features: can map selected variables
Census Tract Profiles [online customizable tables]:
content: over 200 characteristics
customization: can select categories from drop-down menu, or select specific variables using the View Builder tool
smallest geographic area: Census Tract (CT) = neighbourhood; average CT population is 4,000, but it can range from 2,500-8,000 people; CT's only exist in urbanized areas
other features: can search by postal code or map; can map selected variables (first select 'View data profile' and then 'Map' at the top of the table)
Census Tract Profiles [printed tables]:
content: very detailed profile tables for five topics: Aboriginal peoples; Labour; Ethnic origin and visible minorities; Immigration and place of birth; Place of work.
customization: can change geographic level and select specific variables using drop-down menus
smallest geographic area: Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) = regional district level
Cumulative Profiles:
content: these are the MOST DETAILED profiles available; they include every Census variable (2,175 characteristics).
smallest geographic area: Dissemination Area (DA); these are the only tables available below the Census Tract (CT) level; each DA is several square blocks with between 400-700 people: one-tenth the size of a CT. All of Canada is divided into DA's.
access: there are four ways to access the Cumulative Profiles. They differ in the way you look up the tables, how easy they are to search, and how you can export or display the statistics.
These tables typically combine at least four variables to provide a much more in-depth portrait of an area than the Profiles. Many of these variables are broken down to a very fine level of detail. Some tables are available at the Census Tract level, but most are not, due to the need for confidentiality.
An Example of a Topic-Based Tabulation:
Occupation - National Occupational Classification for Statistics 2006 (720C), Sex (3) and Selected Demographic, Cultural, Labour Force, Educational and Income Characteristics (273) for the Population 15 Years and Over (Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations)
To make sense of what this table can tell you, it helps to separate out the variables (also called 'dimensions') that it includes:
Working with Topic-Based Tabulations:
When you view this table on the Statistics Canada website (in HTML), the only things that you can change about the display are the level of geography, and the specific occupation: one occupation at a time. To do anything else, you must download the statistics into CSV or TAB formats to view in a spreadsheet program like Excel, or into IVT format to analyze in Beyond 20/20 software.
What does this mean? From the HTML table on the Statistics Canada website, you could find out the number of females aged 25 to 34 who work as Human Resource Managers in Greater Vancouver. To find out how many of these women are from visible minority groups, you would have to analyze the data using Beyond 20/20 software (free download, Windows version only) which allows you to 'slice and dice' the data in different ways.
GeoSearch 2006 is a great tool for mapping basic 2006 Census data, and locating any type of 2006 Census boundary.
To find out the ID number for an area, click on the i symbol ('Identify') and then click on the area.
Includes about 30 demographic characteristics from the 2006 Census. Although you can view the boundary lines for areas as small as a Dissemination Block, the smallest area for which you can display Census data is the Census Tract (neighborhood).
The tables on the Statistics Canada website are fairly 'fixed'; you can only customize the tables to a limited extent.
You can export most tables in other formats (for example .csv) for use with spreadsheet software such as Excel.
Many tables are available in Beyond 20/20 (.ivt) format. This software allows you to work with the data to create very customized tables with different cross-tabulations.