Area units:
Areas shown represent provinces/territories/colonies, and within these, census divisions and selected cities are shown.

Data units:
Proportional circles are shown for each census division, and for selected cities (see Legend Description below for selection criteria), and are sized according to the number of people residing in each census division or city.
Note: First nations people were under-enumerated in all the early censuses, especially in the West. The distribution of native people is better represented using other data sources in the section National Perspectives -> Native Canada.

Population growth
Proportional circles represent the number of people residing in a given census division or selected city in a given year.
Cities selected had a population of more than 20 000 people in 1961, and first appear as separate from the surrounding census division when their population became greater than 10 000. Note that when a city is shown as a separate area from its surrounding census division, the population of that city is not included in the census division population.

Identify: Click on the Identify tool, then click on the map on one of the census divisions or selected cities, to pop up a box showing the name of the census division or city.

Table: Click on the Table tool, then click or drag a rectangle on the map across one or more census divisions/cities, to select them and pop up a table showing information about the selected census division/city. See Table Fields below.