An unorganized area or unorganized territory (french: Territoire non organisé) is any geographic region in Canada that does not form part of a

municipality 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 ...

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

. In these areas, the lowest level of government is provincial or territorial. In some of these areas, local service agencies may have some of the responsibilities that would otherwise be covered by municipalities.

British Columbia

Most

regional district In the province of British Columbia in Canada, a regional district is an administrative subdivision of the province that consists of a geographic region with specific boundaries and governmental authority. there were 28 regional districts in t ...

s in British Columbia include some electoral areas, which are unincorporated areas that do not have their own municipal government, but residents of such areas still receive a form of local government by electing representatives to their regional district boards. The Stikine Region in the province's far northwest is the only part of British Columbia not in a regional district, because of its low population and the lack of any incorporated municipalities. The Stikine Region—not to be confused with the

Stikine Country The Stikine Country , also referred to as the Stikine District or simply "the Stikine", is one of the historical geographic regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located inland from the central Alaska Panhandle and comprising the ...

or the Kitimat-Stikine Regional District—provides services and regulatory capacities in the same way as regional districts, however, but is managed directly by the provincial government instead of by a regional district board.

Ontario

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, unorganized areas are found only in the

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...

region, inclusive of the

Parry Sound District Parry Sound District is a census division of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its boundaries are District of Muskoka to the south, the Sudbury District to the north-northwest, the French River and Lake Nipissing in the north, Nipissing Distri ...

, the parts of the province where there is no

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

regional municipality A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Municipal government in Canada, Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipality, municipal local government, government level as a county, although the specific structure an ...

level of government. Some communities within unorganized areas may have some municipal services administered by local services boards. Unorganized areas in Ontario are named only by the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of which they are a part, with a geographic qualifier added when a single district contains more than one such area. Three of the province's unorganized areas had no reported population in the Canada 2006 Census; they are marked with †daggers. * Algoma, UNO, North Part * † Algoma, UNO, South East Part * Cochrane, UNO, North Part * Cochrane, UNO, South East Part * † Cochrane, UNO, South West Part * Kenora, UNO * Manitoulin, UNO, Mainland * Manitoulin, UNO, West Part * Nipissing, UNO, North Part * Nipissing, UNO, South Part * Parry Sound, UNO, Centre Part * Parry Sound, UNO, North East Part * Rainy River, UNO * Sudbury, UNO, North Part * Thunder Bay, UNO * † Timiskaming, UNO, East Part * Timiskaming, UNO, West Part

Quebec

Unorganized territories (''territoires non organisés'') in Quebec are located within

regional county municipalities The term regional county municipality or RCM (''french: municipalité régionale de comté, MRC'') is used in Quebec, Canada to refer to one of 87 county-like political entities. In some older English translations they were called county r ...

. They are usually named for a geographic feature within the

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Manitoba

In Manitoba, territories not part of rural municipalities, urban municipalities (city, town, or village),

local government districts The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

, or

Indian reserves In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

are classified as "Unorganized". These cover 67.4% of the total area of the province of

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, with Unorganized Division No. 23 constituting more than half of the entire unorganized area of the province. The unorganized areas of Manitoba are labeled to and referred as with the Census division number they are located in, even though census divisions do not serve any administrative purpose.

British Columbia

Ontario

Quebec

Manitoba

See also