Apopulation centre, in the context of aCanadian census, is a populated place, or a cluster of interrelated populated places, which meets the demographic characteristics of anurban area, having a population of at least 1,000 people and a population density of no fewer than 400 people per square km².^[1]

The term was introduced in theCanada 2011 Census; prior to that,Statistics Canada used the termurban area.^[1]

Statistics Canada listed 944 population centres in its 2011 census data; 513 of them, 54 per cent of all population centres inCanada, were located inOntario orQuebec, the two most populous provinces.

The term "population centre" was chosen in order to better reflect the fact that urban vs. rural is not a strict division, but rather a continuum within which several distinct settlement patterns, and several competing interpretations of the distinction, may exist.^[1] For example, a community may fit a strictly statistical definition of an urban area, but may not be commonly thought of as "urban" because it has a smaller population, or because it functions socially and economically as a suburb of another urban area rather than as a self-contained urban entity, or because it is geographically remote from other urban communities. Municipal boundaries are ignored in determining population centres and they are focused entirely on their geographic and built-up nature.

Accordingly, the new definition set out three distinct types of population centres: small (population 1,000 to 29,999), medium (population 30,000 to 99,999) and large (population 100,000 or greater).^[1] Despite the change in terminology, however, the demographic definition of a population centre remains unchanged from that of an urban area: a population of at least 1,000 people where the density is no fewer than 400 persons per square kilometre.

A population centre does not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of amunicipality or of acensus division. For example, a less densely populated area within a city's municipal boundaries may not be included as part of its population centre, while areas outside the city limits that directly continue a city's urban core population may be included.

For example, the population centre ofToronto extends into neighbouringPeel Region,Halton Region,Durham Region andYork Region, encompassing places such asOakville,Mississauga,Brampton,Vaughan,Markham,Richmond Hill,Aurora,Newmarket,Pickering andAjax. Despite this, numerous other communities which are considered part of theGreater Toronto Area for political purposes arenot part of the population centre of Toronto; because more rural areas separate them geographically from the primary zone of urban settlement, communities such asMilton,Georgetown,Caledon East,Bolton,Nobleton, andStouffville instead form their own separate small or medium population centres,^[2] and even a portion of the city of Toronto itself, to the north and east of theToronto Zoo inScarborough, is excluded from the population centre as it is much less densely populated than the rest of the city.

However, the Statistics Canada definition of a population centre is that it does not cross the boundaries of aCensus Metropolitan Area (CMA); even though the band of continuous urban development emanating outward from downtown Toronto along the shore ofLake Ontario extends even further intoHamilton andOshawa, these two cities are both considered separate CMAs by Statistics Canada rather than being part of Toronto's, and accordingly each is also considered a distinct population centre.

Conversely, a single municipality may also contain more than one distinct population centre, if less densely populated or undeveloped regions separate more urbanized areas from one another. For example,Ottawa has seven distinct population centres (Ottawa-Gatineau,Constance Bay,Kanata,Richmond,Osgoode,Manotick andMetcalfe),^[3] the neighbouring city ofGatineau has a secondary population centre atBuckingham in addition to its primary urban core forming part of Ottawa-Gatineau, andGreater Sudbury has eight distinct population centres (Sudbury,Azilda,Capreol,Chelmsford,Coniston,Dowling,Lively andValley East).^[4]

For actual "city limits" populations, seeList of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, and formetropolitan area populations, seeList of metropolitan areas in Canada.

• List of population centres in Alberta
• List of population centres in British Columbia
• List of population centres in the Canadian Territories
• List of population centres in Manitoba
• List of population centres in New Brunswick
• List of population centres in Newfoundland and Labrador
• List of population centres in Nova Scotia
• List of population centres in Ontario
• List of population centres in Prince Edward Island
• List of population centres in Quebec
• List of population centres in Saskatchewan

• List of the largest cities and towns in Canada by area
• List of census metropolitan areas and agglomerations in Canada
• Population of Canada by province and territory
• List of largest Canadian cities by census
• Population of Canada by year
• List of cities in Canada
• List of towns in Canada
• Regional municipality

• Demographics of Canada
• Lists of urban areas
• Lists of populated places in Canada

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