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). Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada. Census subdivisions (CSDs) are classified into 53 types according to official designations adopted by provincial/territorial or federal authorities. Two exceptions are 'subdivision of unorganized' (SNO) in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 'subdivision of county municipality' (SC) in Nova Scotia, which are geographic areas created as equivalents for municipalities by Statistics Canada, in cooperation with those provinces, for the purpose of disseminating statistical data. The census subdivision type accompanies the census subdivision name in order to distinguish CSDs from each other, for example, Balmoral, VL (for the village of Balmoral) and Balmoral, P (for the parish / paroisse (municipalité de) of Balmoral).

The 2022 Census Subdivision Boundary File depicts the boundaries of all 5,180 census subdivisions (CSDs), which combined, cover all of Canada. It contains the unique identifier (UID), name and type, as well as the UIDs, names and types (where applicable) of selected higher geographic levels. The 2022 Census Subdivision Boundary File is portrayed in Lambert conformal conic projection (North American Datum of 1983 [NAD83]). The 2022 Census Subdivision Boundary File is available as a national file.

GeoSuite is a tool used for data retrieval, query and tabular output. It allows users to explore the links between all standard levels of geography and to identify geographic codes, names, unique identifiers, and, where applicable, types, as well as land area and population and dwelling counts. GeoSuite includes data for the following the 2021 Census standard geographic areas: • Canada (CAN) • Provinces and territories (PRs) • Census divisions (CDs) • Federal electoral districts (FEDs) (2013 Representation Order) • Census subdivisions (CSDs) • Designated places (DPLs) • Economic regions (ERs) • Census consolidated subdivisions (CCSs) • Census metropolitan areas (CMAs), census agglomerations (CAs) and census metropolitan influenced zones (MIZs) • Census tracts (CTs) • Population centres (POPCTRs) and rural areas (RAs) • Dissemination areas (DAs) • Dissemination blocks (DBs) • Aggregate dissemination areas (ADAs) • Place names (PNs)

Group 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. Census division (CD) is the general term for provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté and regional district) or their equivalents. In other provinces and the territories where laws do not provide for such areas, Statistics Canada defines equivalent areas for statistical reporting purposes in cooperation with these provinces and territories. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province/territory level and the municipality (census subdivision). Census divisions (CD) have been established in provincial law to facilitate regional planning, as well as the provision of services that can be more effectively delivered on a scale larger than a municipality. In Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, provincial or 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 CDs for the purpose of disseminating statistical data. In Yukon, the CD is equivalent to the entire territory. Next to provinces and territories, census divisions (CD) are the most stable administrative geographic areas, and are therefore often used in longitudinal analysis.

This service shows the percentage of the population who reported an Aboriginal identity by census division. The data is from the Census Profile, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Aboriginal identity refers to whether the person identified with the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This includes those who are First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit) and/or those who are Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada) and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band. Aboriginal peoples of Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35 (2) as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada. Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population. For additional information refer to the 2016 Census Dictionary for 'Aboriginal identity'. To have a cartographic representation of the ecumene with this socio-economic indicator, it is recommended to add as the first layer, the “NRCan - 2016 population ecumene by census division” web service, accessible in the data resources section below.