9.7 Census and geographic data

CensusMapper provides an interactive way to identify Canadian census datasets, regions, and variables (CensusMapper, n.d.). The cancensus package can retrieve census data and spatial geometries for reproducible R work after an API key is configured (Bergmann, Shkolnik, and Jacobs 2026). Similar principles apply to census and geographic sources in other countries.

When using census data:

• select a census year and geography that match the question;
• read variable definitions and universes;
• distinguish counts, percentages, rates, estimates, and projections;
• join with stable geographic identifiers where possible;
• check boundary changes across years;
• inspect unmatched and duplicated identifiers; and
• preserve required attribution.

Population counts and projections are not interchangeable. Counts describe an observed or estimated period. Projections estimate future populations under stated demographic assumptions.

References

Bergmann, Jens von, Dmitry Shkolnik, and Aaron Jacobs. 2026. Cancensus: Access, Retrieve, and Work with Canadian Census Data and Geography. https://mountainmath.github.io/cancensus/.

CensusMapper. n.d. “CensusMapper API.” https://censusmapper.ca/api.