Population Distribution, 2006

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Abstract

According to the 2006 census, the population of Canada was 31 612 897 on May 16, 2006. This map shows the population distribution, based on the population density and the population counts of census dissemination blocks. A dissemination block is generally an area the size of a city block bounded by intersecting streets. There are 478 831 blocks across Canada. In order to define the three population-distribution classes, the blocks for all of Canada were ordered by their population density, from highest to lowest. The population counts for each block were then used to determine where 75 per cent of the population lived, where 24 per cent of the population lived, and where less than 1 percent of the population lived.

The first class shows where 75 per cent of Canada's population lived in 2006. The total population of this area was 23 709 745 and the total geographic area contained in it was 8 020.77 square kilometres. The second class shows where 24 per cent of Canada's population lived. The total population of this area was 7 587 017 and the total geographic area contained in it was 489 888.76 square kilometres. Theses two classes represent 99 per cent of Canada's population, in an area that represents only 5 per cent of the total geographic area of Canada.

The third class shows the remaining 1 per cent of Canada's population in 2006, who lived in areas with the lowest dissemination-block population densities. The total population of this area was 316 135 and the total geographic area contained in it was 9 058 317.25 square kilometres. The dissemination-block population density inside this area varied from 1.2 persons per square kilometre to zero persons per square kilometre.

A large percentage of Canada's population lives in urban areas: cities, towns, and villages. Despite the large number of people in urban entities, the geographic areas involved are actually quite small, especially when compared to the country’s total area of 9 984 670 square kilometres.

Details of the settlement pattern within cities are also visible on this map. Large commercial areas, airports, and large parks are not recorded on the census as containing people. These areas are white on the map and the surrounding residential areas are in red. Small towns or villages with sufficient population density appear as very small red dots. Also, there are several large Indian reserves in Canada that were incompletely enumerated in the 2006 census. They contain an undetermined number of people not recorded in the population count.