Area units:
Areas shown represent provinces/territories/colonies, and within these, census divisions and selected cities are shown. Within these, settled area (ecumene) is coloured to show where continuous settlement occurred.

Data units:
Population by census division is shown by dots, each representing 300 people. Selected cities (see Legend Description below for selection criteria), are further represented by proportional squares, sized according the number of people residing in each city.
Note: First nations people were under-enumerated in all the early censuses, especially in the West. The distribution of native people is better represented using other data sources in the section National Perspectives -> Native Canada.

Population distribution
Dots represent the number of people residing in a given census division or selected city in a given year, where one dot represents 300 people. The dots are placed randomly within the settled area of a given census division or selected city, and are not meant to represent the exact location of individuals.
Cities selected had a population of more than 20 000 people in 1961, and first appear as separate from the surrounding census division when their population became greater than 10 000. Note that when a city is shown as a separate area from its surrounding census division, the population of that city is not included in the census division population.

Selected cites
Cities fitting the above criteria, are further symbolized by proportional squares. The square is sized according to the number of people residing in that city. The city squares can be turned off to see the dot distribution map on its own (see Layers below).

by census division and selected cities
This is a qualifying statement applying to both the Population distribution and the Selected city data.

Settlement
Settled area (ecumene) is coloured to show where continuous settlement occurred. "Unsettled area" may have contained some population, but it was sparse.

Identify: Click on the Identify tool, then click on the map on one of the census divisions or selected cities, to pop up a box showing the name of the census division or city.

Table: Click on the Table tool, then click or drag a rectangle on the map across one or more census divisions/cities, to select them and pop up a table showing information about the selected census division/city. See Table Fields below.