Contained within the Atlas of Canada Poster Map Series, is a poster showing population density across Canada. There is a relief base to the map on top of which is shown all populated areas of Canada where the population density is great than 0.4 persons per square kilometer. This area is then divided into five colour classes of population density based on Statistics Canada's census divisions.

Contained within the 3rd Edition (1957) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate that shows the distribution of population in what is now Canada circa 1851, 1871, 1901, 1921 and 1941. The five maps display the boundaries of the various colonies, provinces and territories for each date. Also shown on these five maps are the locations of principal cities and settlements. These places are shown on all of the maps for reference purposes even though they may not have been in existence in the earlier years. Each map is accompanied by a pie chart providing the percentage distribution of Canadian population by province and territory corresponding to the date the map is based on. It should be noted that the pie chart entitled Percentage Distribution of Total Population, 1851, refers to the whole of what was then British North America. The name Canada in this chart refers to the province of Canada which entered confederation in 1867 as Ontario and Quebec. The other pie charts, however, show only percentage distribution of population in what was Canada at the date indicated. Three additional graphs are included on this plate and show changes in the distribution of the population of Canada from 1867 to 1951, changes in the percentage distribution of the population of Canada by provinces and territories from 1867 to 1951 and elements in the growth of the population of Canada for each ten-year period from 1891 to 1951.

Population density (people per sq. km of land area) in Canada was reported at 4.4306 sq. Km in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Canada - Population density (people per sq. km) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Contained within the 3rd Edition (1957) of the Atlas of Canada is a map that shows the density of the Canadian population for 1951. The first map display Western provinces, while the second map concentrates on southern Ontario and the Maritimes. Only the most populous areas are covered. Population density is illustrated by denoting the number of inhabitants per square mile. It shows a significant difference in the population distribution across Canada, mainly in urban and metropolitan areas. The cities with greater inhabitants are clusters within Capital cities, and a even larger concentration south, near the U.S. border, in particular along ocean or inland coastlines.

Contained within the 5th Edition (1978 to 1995) of the National Atlas of Canada is a map that shows the density of population in continuously settled area of Canada using ten density classes based on 1976 Census data.

Estimated number of persons by quarter of a year and by year, Canada, provinces and territories.

Contained within the 2nd Edition (1915) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate that shows two maps. The first map shows the density of population per square mile for every township in the Maritime Provinces and Quebec, circa 1911. The second map shows the density of population per square mile for every township in Quebec and Ontario, circa 1911. Communities with a population greater than 5000 people are shown as proportional dots on the map. In addition, major railway systems displayed.

A population ecumene is the area of inhabited lands or settled areas generally delimited by a minimum population density. This ecumene shows the areas of the densest and most extended population within census divisions. Census divisions are the provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté, and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province or territory level and the municipality (census subdivision). For further information, consult the Statistics Canada’s 2016 Illustrated Glossary (see below under Data Resources). The assemblage of dissemination area population density data from the 2016 Census of Population are used to form the ecumene within census divisions. Areas included in the ecumene are dissemination areas where the population density is greater than or equal to 0.4 persons per square kilometre or about one person per square mile. In some areas to capture more population within the ecumene the criteria was extended to 0.2 persons per square kilometre. The ecumene areas were generalized in certain areas to enhance the size of some isolated ecumene areas in northern Canada. This map can be used as an “ecumene” overlay to differentiate the sparsely populated areas from the ecumene in conjunction with census division data or other small-scale maps. This ecumene shows a more meaningful distribution of the population for Canada.

Contained within the 1st Edition (1906) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate that shows two maps. The maps show the density of population per square mile for every township the Maritime Provinces, Quebec and Ontario, circa 1901. Cities and towns of 5000 inhabitants or more are shown as black dots. The size of the circle is proportionate to the population. The map uses eight classes, seven of which are shades of brown, more densely populated portions are shown in the darker tints. Numbers make it clear which class is being shown in any one township.

“Ecumene” is a term used by geographers, meaning “inhabited lands.” Populated places in the ecumene database are referenced using natural boundaries, as opposed to administrative or census boundaries, and provide a more suitable means for integrating socio-economic data with ecological and environmental data in a region.

The Canadian Ecumene GeoDatabase 3.0 includes the custom boundaries for more than 3,000 populated areas across Canada, many of which were derived from remote-sensing “night-lights” imagery. Each ecumene place has a corresponding set of attributes pertaining to place name, province, ecozone, indigenous communities, and other descriptive information, as well as an initial custom set of demographic variables derived from Statistics Canada Census and National Household Survey data for 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. A number of additional layers are also included that map the extents of Canada's ecumene in alternate ways, using transportation and utility networks, nightlights imagery, and population density.

(NOTE: In the list below, the V2 Shape, KML, and TIFF files have not changed for the CanEcumene 3.0)

Provided layer: The Canadian Ecumene (CanEcumene) 3.0 GIS Database

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Database Citation (Update):

Eddy, B.G., Muggridge, M., LeBlanc, R., Osmond, J., Kean, C., and Boyd, E. 2023. The CanEcumene 3.0 GIS Database. Federal Geospatial Platform (FGP), Natural Resources Canada. https://open.canada.ca

Methods Publication Citation:

Eddy B, Muggridge M, LeBlanc R, Osmond J, Kean C, Boyd E (2020) An Ecological Approach for Mapping Socio-Economic Data in Support of Ecosystems Analysis: Examples in Mapping Canada’s Forest Ecumene. One Ecosystem 5: e55881. https://doi.org/10.3897/oneeco.5.e55881

This table presents the 2021 and 2016 population counts and the 2021 dwelling counts, land area and population density at the designated place level and at all the higher geographic levels in which the designated place is located, including census subdivision, census division, province or territory, and Canada. It also shows the percentage change in the population counts between 2016 and 2021.

Canada, with 3.33 people per square kilometre, has one of the lowest population densities in the world. In 2001, most of Canada's population of 30,007,094 lived within 200 kilometres of the United States (along Canada's south). In fact, the inhabitants of our three biggest cities -- Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver -- can drive to the border in less than two hours. Thousands of kilometres to the north, our polar region -- the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut -- is relatively empty, embracing 41% of our land mass but only 0.3% of our population. An inset map shows in greater detail the Windsor-Québec Corridor where a high concentration of Canadians live.

Contained within the 4th Edition (1974) of the Atlas of Canada is a map that shows the density of population for Western Canada that has inhabitants from 0 to 1000 per square mile.

The Indigenous Populations of Canada map is derived from the CanEcumene 2.0 Geodatabase using custom tabulations of census-based population data. Indigenous communities within the level of the census sub-division (CSD) were identified using a combination of sources from census field data (see Eddy et. al. 2020 for more details). This map shows the percent of Indigenous population in CanEcumene 2.0 communities using graduated symbols, overlaid upon a population density raster. The larger the symbol, the higher the percentage of Indigenous population in that area. The darker the colour in the underlying raster, the denser is the general population. This map illustrates how the majority of Indigenous populations reside in locations outside of the denser populated areas of Canada.

This thematic map presents the population density in Canada based on 2011 census dissemination areas.

According to the 2006 census, the population of Canada was 31 612 897 on May 16, 2006. This map shows the population distribution, based on the population density and the population counts of census dissemination blocks. A dissemination block is generally an area the size of a city block bounded by intersecting streets. There are 478 831 blocks across Canada. In order to define the three population-distribution classes, the blocks for all of Canada were ordered by their population density, from highest to lowest. The population counts for each block were then used to determine where 75 per cent of the population lived, where 24 per cent of the population lived, and where less than 1 percent of the population lived.

Contained within the 1st Edition (1906) of the Atlas of Canada is a plate that shows two maps. The maps show the density of population per square mile for every township in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Alberta, circa 1901. The statistics from the 1901 census are used, yet the population of Saskatchewan and Alberta is shown as confined within the vicinity of the railways, this is because the railways have been brought up to date of publication, 1906. Cities and towns of 5000 inhabitants or more are shown as black dots. The size of the circle is proportionate to the population. The map uses eight classes, seven of which are shades of brown, more densely populated portions are shown in the darker tints. Numbers make it clear which class is being shown in any one township. Major railway systems are shown. The map also displays the rectangular survey system which records the land that is available to the public. This grid like system is divided into sections, townships, range, and meridian from mid-Manitoba to Alberta.

A map showing the Population Density per Hectare in the City of Peterborough from the 2006 Statistics Canada Census Data.Size: 11" x 17"Colour: Full ColourFormat: PDF

This table contains 13 series, with data for years 1926 - 1960 (not all combinations necessarily have data for all years), and was last released on 2000-02-18. This table contains data described by the following dimensions (Not all combinations are available): Geography (13 items: Canada; Newfoundland and Labrador; Prince Edward Island; Nova Scotia ...).

The Population of Canada, 10km Gridded national scale datasets display the distribution and areal extent of rural, urban and total populations across Canada for both 2011 and 2016. The 10km gridded framework is the same 10km gridded framework used within the Biomass Inventory Mapping and Analysis Tool. This data was created for AAFC by Statistics Canada using AAFC’s 10km gridded framework. The purpose of this data is to display the distribution of rural and urban populations across a 10km x 10km grid of Canada.