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).

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.

GeoSearch is an interactive mapping application that makes it easy to find places in Canada, see them on a map, and get basic geographic and demographic data for them.