Four

provinces and territories Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

have legislation that allow

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 ...

to conduct a municipal

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

. These include the provinces of

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

and the territories of

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

and

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

. Of these four provinces and territories, municipalities in Alberta were the only ones that exercise the option to conduct a municipal census as of 2006.

Alberta

Alberta's Municipal Government Act (MGA) is the enabling legislation that allows its municipalities to conduct their own censuses. The MGA also stipulates that the Minister of

Alberta Municipal Affairs Alberta Municipal Affairs is a ministry of the Executive Council of Alberta. Its major responsibilities include assisting municipalities in the provision of local government, administering the assessment of linear property in Alberta, administeri ...

(AMA) may regulate how municipal populations are determined and how they are conducted. The regulation that stipulates these is the MGA's Determination of Population Regulation (DOPR). The DOPR provides a three-month period for municipalities to conduct censuses, which begins on April 1 and ends on June 30, and requires the municipalities to set a census date within this period relating to enumeration. It also requires that censuses be conducted in accordance with a training manual approved by the Minister of AMA, and submission of the results to AMA before September 1 of the same year in which the census is conducted. The results become the populations of the submitting municipalities if they are accepted by the Minister of AMA. The conducting of municipal censuses in Alberta is widespread. Between 2007 and 2011 inclusive, the last full five-year period between

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

's releases of the last two federal censuses, 157 of its 357 municipalities conducted at least one municipal census. Of these, each of Alberta's 17 cities and 8 Metis settlements conducted censuses, as well as 64 of its 108 towns, 45 of its 93 villages, 3 of its 51 summer villages, 3 of its 5 specialized municipalities and 17 of its 64 municipal districts. In 2013, at least 40 municipalities conducted censuses. Alberta recognized censuses conducted by 38 of these municipalities. Municipalities choose to conduct their own censuses with the goal of acceptance by Alberta Municipal Affairs for multiple reasons. Municipal censuses allow for collection of important demographic data to assist in the planning and provision of community services. They also allow municipalities experiencing high levels of population growth to capitalize on increased provincial grant funding involving population per capita formulae. Some municipalities simply choose to conduct a census to verify it has grown since the last federal census. Historically, municipal censuses are conducted via paper-based enumeration of households done door-to-door. More recently, municipalities have been permitted to conduct them electronically door-to-door using wireless handheld devices or online with census question responses being entered directly into a secure census database by a representative of the household. During enumeration, only those people enumerated that are "usual residents" of that municipality may be included in the total population count. However, a municipality may enumerate those that are not "usual residents" as its "shadow population" if approved by the Minister of AMA.

Nunavut

The Cities, Towns and Villages Act and the Hamlets Act enables Nunavut's municipalities to conduct their own censuses. As of 2006, municipalities in Nunavut were not exercising their opportunities to conduct their own censuses.

Saskatchewan

The Municipalities Act allows municipalities within Saskatchewan to conduct their own censuses. The City of Lloydminster, which straddles Saskatchewan's provincial boundary with Alberta, conducted municipal censuses in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2013. Convinced

undercounted its population during the Canada 2011 Census, the Town of La Ronge conducted its own census in 2012. A municipal census was conducted in 2019 for the Organized Hamlet of Elk Ridge to inform an application for resort village status.

Yukon

Municipalities in Yukon may conduct their own censuses pursuant to the Municipal Act. As of 2006, municipalities in Yukon were not exercising their opportunities to conduct their own censuses.

Notes

References

External links

Alberta Municipal AffairsMunicipal Census & Population Lists
{{Census-ca Censuses in Canada