Skip to the content of the web site.

Ask us: via chat, in person, email or phone

Maps • Geospatial Centre

2001 Census Mapping Variable Definitions

List of Map Categories * (click on selected group to advance)

  1. Demography Maps
  2. Education Maps
  3. Employment Maps
  4. Mode of Transportation Maps
  5. Ethnicity & Immigration Maps
  6. Housing Maps
  7. Income Maps
  8. Language Maps
  9. Martial Status Maps
  10. Religion Maps
  1. Demography Maps

    • Population Density

      Refers to the number of persons per square kilometre.

    • Population Change 1996-2001

      Refers to percentage population change between two given census years.

    • Population Age/Sex Characteristics

      (persons aged 19 and younger, 20 – 64, and 65 and older
      females aged 20 – 64, 65 and older)
      Refers to percent of the total population per census tract per age group or by sex.

    • Male/Female Ratio

      Refers to the ratio of total population of males to total population of females.

  2. Education Maps

    Total population 20 years and over by highest level of schooling

    Refers to the highest grade or year of elementary or secondary (high) school attended, or to the highest year of university or college education completed. University education is considered to be a higher level of schooling than college education. Also, the attainment of a degree, certificate or diploma is considered to be at a higher level than years completed or attended without an educational qualification.

    • No High School Diploma

      Refers to the total population aged 20 years and overwithout a high school diploma.

    • High School Diploma

      Refers to the total population aged 20 years and overwith a high school diploma.

    • Trades Certificate

      Refers to the total population aged 20 years and overwith a high school diploma.

    • College Certificate

      Refers to the total population aged 20 years and overwith a college certificate as defined as 'Other non-university certificate or diploma' in previous censuses, this sector includes non-degree-granting institutions such as community colleges, CEGEPs, private business colleges and technical institutes.

    • University Diploma and higher

      Refers to the total population aged 20 years and overwith an university diploma and higher

  3. Employment Maps

    Total population 15 years and over by labour force activity

    Refers to the age at last birthday (as of the census reference date, May 15, 2001 ). This variable is derived from date of birth.

    Respondents were classified as either employed, or unemployed, or as not in the labour force. The labour force includes the employed and the unemployed.

    • Employment/Unemployment Rate

      Refers to the number of persons employed/unemployed in the week prior to Census Day, expressed as a percentage of the total population 15 years and older.

  4. Mode of Transportation Maps

    Mode of transportation (car, truck, or van, public transit, bicycle or walking)

    Refers to the mode of transportation to work of non-institutional residents 15 years of age and over who worked at some time since January 1, 2000 .

    Persons who use more than one mode of transportation are asked to identify the single mode they use for most of the travel distance. As a result, the question provides data on the primary mode of transportation to work. The question does not measure multiple modes of transportation, nor does it measure the seasonal variation in mode of transportation or trips made for purposes other than the commute from home to work.

  5. Ethnicity & Immigration Maps

    • Canadian Citizens

      Refers to the legal citizenship status of the respondent.

    • Aboriginal Identity

      Refers to those persons who reported identifying with at least one Aboriginal group, i.e. North American Indian, Métis or Inuit (Eskimo), and/or those who reported being a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada and/or who were members of an Indian Band or First Nation. In 1991 and previous censuses, Aboriginal persons were determined using the ethnic origin question (ancestry). The 2001Census included a question on the individual's own perception of his/her Aboriginal identity.

    • Visible Minority

      Refers to the visible minority group to which the respondent belongs. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as 'persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour'.
      The visible minority population includes the following groups: Chinese, South Asian, Black, Filipino, Latin American, Southeast Asian, Arab, West Asian, Korean, Japanese, Visible Minority, n.i.e. and Multiple Visible Minorities.

    • Total Immigration Population as % of total population

      Refers to total immigrants by selected places of birth.

    • Mobility Status

      Refers to the relationship between a person's usual place of residence on Census Day and his or her usual place of residence five years earlier. A person is classified as a non-mover if no difference exists. Otherwise, a person is classified as a mover and this categorization is called Mobility Status (5 Years Ago)

      Internal/External Migrants
      Migrants are movers who, on Census Day, were residing in a different CSD five years earlier (internal migrants) or who were living outside Canada five years earlier (external migrants).

  6. 6. Housing Maps

    Occupied private dwellings

    Refers to a private dwelling in which a person or a group of persons is permanently residing. Also included are private dwellings whose usual residents are temporarily absent on Census Day.

    A separate set of living quarters which has a private entrance either directly from outside or from a common hall, lobby, vestibule or stairway leading to the outside, and in which a person or a group of persons live permanently.

    • Total Number of Occupied Private Dwellings

      Refers to a private dwelling in which a person or a group of persons is permanently residing. Also included are private dwellings whose usual residents are temporarily absent on Census Day.

    • Number of Owned Dwellings as % of Total Occupied Dwellings

      Refers to whether some member of the household owns the dwelling.

    • Number of Rented Dwellings as % of Total Occupied Dwellings

      Refers to whether some member of the household rents the dwelling.

    • Average Monthly Gross Rent

      Refers to average monthly total of all shelter expenses paid by tenant households. Gross rent includes the monthly rent and the costs of electricity, heat and municipal services.

    • Number of Dwellings Constructed before 1991, 1991-2001

      Refers to the period in time during which the building or dwelling was originally constructed.

  7. Income Maps

    Household Total Income

    The total income of a household is the sum of the total incomes of all members of that household.

    Total Income

    Total income refers to the total money income received from the following sources during calendar year 2000 by persons 15 years of age and over:

    • wages and salaries (total);
    • net farm income;
    • net non-farm income from unincorporated business and/or professional practice;
    • Canada Child Tax benefits;
    • Old Age Security pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement;
    • benefits from Canada or Quebec Pension Plan;
    • benefits from Employment Insurance;
    • other income from government sources;
    • dividends, interest on bonds, deposits and savings certificates, and other investment income;
    • retirement pensions, superannuation and annuities, including those from RRSPs and RRIFs;
    • other money income.

    • Median household income

      Refers to the median income of a specified group of households is that amount which divides their income size distribution into two halves. That is, the incomes of the first half of households are below the median, while those of the second half are above the median. Median incomes of households are normally calculated for all units in the specified group, whether or not they reported income.

    • Median individual income (persons, females, males)

      Refers to the median income of a specified group of income recipients is that amount which divides their income size distribution into two halves, i.e. the incomes of the first half of individuals are below the median, while those of the second half are above the median. Median income is calculated from the unrounded number of individuals (e.g. males 45 to 54 years of age) with income in that group.

    • Incidence of low household income *

      Refers to the proportion or percentage of economic families or unattached individuals in a given classification below the low income cut-offs. These incidence rates are calculated from unrounded estimates of economic families and unattached individuals 15 years of age and over.

      * Measures of low income known as low income cut-offs (LICOs) were first introduced in Canada in 1968 based on 1961 Census income data and 1959 family expenditure patterns. At that time, expenditure patterns indicated that Canadian families spent about 50% of their total income on food, shelter and clothing. It was arbitrarily estimated that families spending 70% or more of their income (20 percentage points more than the average) on these basic necessities would be in "straitened" circumstances. With this assumption, low income cut-off points were set for five different sizes of families. Subsequent to these initial cut-offs, revised low income cut-offs were established based on national family expenditure data from 1969, 1978, 1986 and 1992. These data indicated that Canadian families spent, on average, 42% in 1969, 38.5% in 1978, 36.2% in 1986 and 34.7% in 1992 of their total income on basic necessities. Since 1992, data from the expenditure survey have indicated that this proportion has remained fairly stable. By adding the original difference of 20 percentage points to the basic level of expenditure on necessities, new low income cut-offs were set at income levels differentiated by family size and degree of urbanization. Since 1992, these cut-offs have been updated yearly by changes in the consumer price index.

  8. Language Maps

    Knowledge of official languages

    • (English only, French only, Both English & French, Language other than English or French)
      Refers to the ability to conduct a conversation in English only, in French only, in both English and French, or in neither of the official languages of Canada .

    • German as first language as % of total population

      Refers to the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census .

  9. Martial Status Maps

    Legal Marital Status

    A person's conjugal status under the law (e.g. single, married, widowed).

    • Single as % of total population 15 years and older

      Refers to persons who have never married.

    • Legally Married as % of total population 15 years and older

      Refers to legally married (and not separated).

    • Divorced as % of total population 15 years and older

      Refers to legally divorced and not remarried.

    • Common-Law Relationship as % of total population 15 years and older

      Refers to two people of the opposite sex or of the same sex who live together as a couple, but who are not legally married to each other.

  10. Religion Maps

    • Religion type as a % of total population by selected religion

      (no religion, Mennonite)
      Refers to specific religious denominations, groups or bodies, as well as to sects, cults, or other religiously defined communities or systems of belief.

, Library Assistant
May 16, 2012