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

municipality 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' ...

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined 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." ...

. 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 districts 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 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.

Manitoba

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

local government districts The districts of England (officially, local authority districts, abbreviated LADs) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the structure of local government in England is not uniform, there ...

, or

s 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 ...

, 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.

Nunavut

Nunavut has three unorganized areas: Kitikmeot, Unorganized, Qikiqtaaluk, Unorganized and Kivalliq, Unorganized.

Ontario

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 ...

, unorganized areas are found only in the

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

region, inclusive of the Parry Sound District, the parts of the province where there is no

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

regional municipality A regional municipality (or region) is a type of Canadian municipal government similar to and at the same municipal government level as a county, although the specific structure and servicing responsibilities may vary from place to place. R ...

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

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 The 2006 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The following census was the 2011 census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897. This count was lower ...

; 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 () in Quebec are located within regional county municipalities. They are usually named for a geographic feature within the

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Saskatchewan

The

Northern Saskatchewan Administration District The Northern Saskatchewan Administration District (NSAD) is the unincorporated area of Northern Saskatchewan, Canada. It encompasses approximately half of Saskatchewan's land mass. Despite its extent, the majority of Saskatchewanians live in the ...

is the unorganized area of

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 ...

, which encompasses approximately half of the province’s landmass. Because of its extremely sparse population, the district has no local government and is directly subject to the Minister of Government Relations.

Yukon

Unorganized Yukon is the unorganized area covering the majority of

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unorganized Area (Canada) *