HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the
Canadian census Statistics Canada conducts a national census of population and census of agriculture every five years and releases the data with a two-year lag. The Census of Population provides demographic and statistical data that is used to plan public serv ...
as the statistical counterparts of
incorporated place The United States Census Bureau defines a place as a concentration of population which has a name, is locally recognized, and is not part of any other place. A place typically has a residential nucleus and a closely spaced street pattern, and it f ...
s such as
cities A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be de ...
, towns, and villages. Though lacking separate municipal government, DPLs otherwise physically resemble incorporated places. They are created by provincial or territorial governments for the purpose of providing data for settled concentrated populations that are identifiable by name but are not legally incorporated under the laws of the province/territory in which they are located. The boundaries of a DPL therefore have no legal status, and not all unincorporated communities are necessarily granted DPL status. Some designated places may have a quasi-governmental status, such as a
local services board A local services board (LSB) is an organization in the Canadian province of Ontario that is contracted by the Government of Ontario to provide municipal-level services in a community that is not part of an incorporated municipality. Most local ser ...
in Ontario or an
organized hamlet In most cases in Saskatchewan, a hamlet is an unincorporated community with at least five occupied dwellings situated on separate lots and at least 10 separate lots, the majority of which are an average size of less than one acre. Saskatchewan has ...
in Saskatchewan. Others may be formerly unincorporated settlements or formerly independent municipalities that have been merged into larger governments, and have retained DPL status in order to ensure statistical continuity with past censuses. DPLs are similar to the function of
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
s in the United States, but are defined differently. One significant difference is that Statistics Canada applies the designation to much smaller communities than does the United States Census Bureau.


Criteria

As of the 2016 census, Statistics Canada requires small communities or settlements to meet the following criteria in order to become a designated place: * an area less than or equal to * "a boundary that respects the block structure from the previous census, where possible." In
2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 FIFA ...
, the criteria required for a community to be defined as a designated place included:"More information on Designated place (DPL)"
Statistics Canada.
* a minimum population of 100 and a maximum population of 1,000. The maximum population limit may be exceeded provided that the population density is less than 400 persons per square kilometre, which is the population density that defines a population centre. * a population density of 150 persons or more per square kilometre * an area less than or equal to 10 square kilometres * a boundary that respects the block structure from the previous census, where possible * a boundary that respects
census subdivision The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of st ...
(CSD) limits. If a named area with DPL status crosses the boundary of two or more census subdivisions, then it is enumerated as multiple DPLs, each designated "Part A", "Part B", etc., rather than as a single DPL. The status of designated place was created for the first time in the Canada 1996 Census. Prior to 1996, such areas were only counted as regular enumeration areas within the applicable
census divisions Census divisions, in Canada and the United States, are areas delineated for the purposes of statistical analysis and presentation; they have no government in and of themselves. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic unit ...
, and no special aggregation of figures was published.


Types

The provinces and territories of Canada can also have their own designated place types. The following are the designated place types as recorded in the 2016 census. (There were no designated places in Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut for the 2016 census.)


By province and territory

In the 2021 Census of Population, there were 1,685 designated places in Canada, an increase from 1,629 in the 2016 Census of Population. Designated places are present in nine provinces and two territories. Only Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories were without designated places in 2021.


Alberta


British Columbia


Manitoba


New Brunswick


Newfoundland and Labrador


Northwest Territories

There were no designated places in the Northwest Territories in 2021.


Nova Scotia


Nunavut

In the 2021 census, Nunavut had one designated place, an increase from none in 2016.


Ontario


Prince Edward Island

There were no designated places in Prince Edward Island in 2021.


Quebec


Saskatchewan


Yukon

In the 2021 census, Yukon had two designated places, an increase from one in 2016.


See also

*
Census subdivision The census geographic units of Canada are the census subdivisions defined and used by Canada's federal government statistics bureau Statistics Canada to conduct the country's quinquennial census. These areas exist solely for the purposes of st ...
*
Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Designated Place Demographics of Canada * Statistics Canada