A designated place (DPL) is a type of

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

or settlement identified by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

that does not meet the criteria used to define

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities,

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

s, and

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

s. Though lacking separate

municipal government 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 ...

, 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 in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

or an organized hamlet in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. 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 Place (United States Census Bureau), 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 counte ...

s in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, 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 The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

. Statistics Canada indexes designated places numerically, with each designated place referred to by a unique six-digit code, the first two digits of which are the Standard Geographical Classification code for the province or territory in which the place is located, an example being 590066 for Shawnigan Lake in British Columbia.

Criteria

As of the 2016 census,

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, the criteria required for a community to be defined as a designated place included:"More information on Designated place (DPL)"

. * a minimum population of 100 and a maximum population of 1,000. The maximum population limit may be exceeded provided that the

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

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, and no special aggregation of figures was published.

Types

The

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

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 Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, 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

and the

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.

References

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