List of the largest population centres in Canada

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

Map of Canada

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

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

History

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.

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.

Characteristics

A population centre does not necessarily correspond to the boundaries of a municipality or of a census 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 of Toronto extends into neighbouring Peel Region, Halton Region, Durham Region and York Region, encompassing places such as Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Aurora, Newmarket, Pickering and Ajax. Despite this, numerous other communities which are considered part of the Greater Toronto Area for political purposes are not part of the population centre of Toronto; because more rural areas separate them geographically from the primary zone of urban settlement, communities such as Milton, Georgetown, Caledon, Bolton, Nobleton, Bradford and Stouffville 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 the Toronto Zoo in Scarborough, 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 a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA); even though the band of continuous urban development emanating outward from downtown Toronto along the shore of Lake Ontario extends even further into Hamilton and Oshawa, 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 and Metcalfe),[3] the neighbouring city of Gatineau has a secondary population centre at Buckingham in addition to its primary urban core forming part of Ottawa-Gatineau, and Greater Sudbury has eight distinct population centres (Sudbury, Azilda, Capreol, Chelmsford, Coniston, Dowling, Lively and Valley East).[4]

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

Lists

By population rank

Rank Population centre[5] Province[5] Size group[5] Population (2021)[5] Population (2016)[5] Change[5] Land area (km2)[5] Population density[5]
1TorontoOntarioLarge urban5,647,656 5,433,590 +3.9%1,829.053,087.8/km2
2MontréalQuebecLarge urban3,675,219 3,528,651 +4.2%1,382.472,658.4/km2
3VancouverBritish ColumbiaLarge urban2,426,160 2,268,864 +6.9%911.642,661.3/km2
4CalgaryAlbertaLarge urban1,305,550 1,240,413 +5.3%621.722,099.9/km2
5EdmontonAlbertaLarge urban1,151,635 1,070,998 +7.5%627.21,836.2/km2
6Ottawa - GatineauOntario / QuebecLarge urban1,068,821 994,576 +7.5%549.491,945.1/km2
7WinnipegManitobaLarge urban758,515 712,858 +6.4%356.992,124.8/km2
8QuébecQuebecLarge urban733,156 708,280 +3.5%442.851,655.5/km2
9HamiltonOntarioLarge urban729,560 693,362 +5.2%356.032,049.2/km2
10KitchenerOntarioLarge urban522,888 473,230 +10.5%296.451,763.8/km2
11LondonOntarioLarge urban423,369 384,784 +10.0%244.971,728.2/km2
12VictoriaBritish ColumbiaLarge urban363,222 337,235 +7.7%222.711,630.9/km2
13HalifaxNova ScotiaLarge urban348,634 317,334 +9.9%238.291,463.1/km2
14OshawaOntarioLarge urban335,949 309,759 +8.5%159.792,102.4/km2
15WindsorOntarioLarge urban306,519 288,363 +6.3%184.961,657.2/km2
16SaskatoonSaskatchewanLarge urban264,637 245,904 +7.6%134.631,965.7/km2
17St. Catharines - Niagara FallsOntarioLarge urban242,460 229,776 +5.5%140.591,724.6/km2
18ReginaSaskatchewanLarge urban224,996 214,664 +4.8%105.612,130.4/km2
19St. John'sNewfoundland and LabradorLarge urban185,565 181,955 +2.0%1781,042.5/km2
20KelownaBritish ColumbiaLarge urban181,380 160,095 +13.3%168.921,073.8/km2
21BarrieOntarioLarge urban154,676 146,394 +5.7%95.331,622.5/km2
22SherbrookeQuebecLarge urban151,157 140,300 +7.7%102.611,473.1/km2
23GuelphOntarioLarge urban144,356 132,705 +8.8%79.571,814.2/km2
24KanataOntarioLarge urban137,118 118,308 +15.9%62.352,199.2/km2
25AbbotsfordBritish ColumbiaLarge urban132,300 122,163 +8.3%71.21,858.1/km2
26Trois-RivièresQuebecLarge urban128,057 124,158 +3.1%98.581,299.0/km2
27KingstonOntarioLarge urban127,943 119,061 +7.5%83.431,533.5/km2
28MiltonOntarioLarge urban124,579 101,885 +22.3%45.22,756.2/km2
29MonctonNew BrunswickLarge urban119,785 109,075 +9.8%110.731,081.8/km2
30White RockBritish ColumbiaLarge urban109,167 93,811 +16.4%54.232,013.0/km2
31NanaimoBritish ColumbiaLarge urban106,079 96,415 +10.0%86.761,222.7/km2
32BrantfordOntarioLarge urban104,413 98,250 +6.3%62.131,680.6/km2
33Chicoutimi - JonquièreQuebecLarge urban103,934 104,741 −0.8%94.561,099.1/km2
34Saint-JérômeQuebecLarge urban100,859 91,205 +10.6%96.971,040.1/km2
35Red DeerAlbertaMedium99,846 99,773 +0.1%65.931,514.4/km2
36Thunder BayOntarioMedium95,266 94,767 +0.5%76.031,253.0/km2
37LethbridgeAlbertaMedium92,563 89,309 +3.6%641,446.3/km2
38KamloopsBritish ColumbiaMedium92,442 85,702 +7.9%74.351,243.3/km2
39SudburyOntarioMedium92,093 88,155 +4.5%75.791,215.1/km2
40Saint-Jean-sur-RichelieuQuebecMedium88,083 85,022 +3.6%53.81,637.2/km2
41PeterboroughOntarioMedium84,793 82,149 +3.2%54.581,553.6/km2
42ChilliwackBritish ColumbiaMedium81,622 73,171 +11.5%56.021,457.0/km2
43ChâteauguayQuebecMedium75,891 71,164 +6.6%50.481,503.4/km2
44BellevilleOntarioMedium75,052 68,859 +9.0%89.48838.8/km2
45SarniaOntarioMedium73,944 73,403 +0.7%60.531,221.6/km2
46AirdrieAlbertaMedium73,578 61,082 +20.5%33.032,227.6/km2
47DrummondvilleQuebecMedium72,089 68,634 +5.0%52.31,378.4/km2
48Welland - PelhamOntarioMedium69,302 63,011 +10.0%57.211,211.4/km2
49Fort McMurrayAlbertaMedium68,002 67,123 +1.3%52.171,303.5/km2
50Prince GeorgeBritish ColumbiaMedium67,339 66,315 +1.5%73.9911.2/km2
51Sault Ste. MarieOntarioMedium64,923 66,313 −2.1%52.971,225.7/km2
52FrederictonNew BrunswickMedium64,614 61,014 +5.9%89.6721.1/km2
53Saint JohnNew BrunswickMedium63,447 61,152 +3.8%70.05905.7/km2
54Medicine HatAlbertaMedium63,382 63,111 +0.4%53.21,191.4/km2
55Grande PrairieAlbertaMedium63,172 62,382 +1.3%49.741,270.0/km2
56GranbyQuebecMedium62,624 59,706 +4.9%48.391,294.2/km2
57Bowmanville - NewcastleOntarioMedium56,742 48,929 +16.0%31.231,816.9/km2
58BeloeilQuebecMedium52,959 51,132 +3.6%26.51,998.5/km2
59CharlottetownPrince Edward IslandMedium52,390 48,054 +9.0%57.56910.2/km2
60VernonBritish ColumbiaMedium51,896 48,425 +7.2%51.161,014.4/km2
61North BayOntarioMedium51,433 50,396 +2.1%64.91792.4/km2
62Saint-HyacintheQuebecMedium50,616 50,104 +1.0%30.81,643.4/km2
63BrandonManitobaMedium50,532 48,345 +4.5%28.731,758.9/km2
64JolietteQuebecMedium49,246 46,277 +6.4%39.031,261.7/km2
65CourtenayBritish ColumbiaMedium48,917 45,314 +8.0%56.58864.6/km2
66CornwallOntarioMedium47,286 46,114 +2.5%32.41,459.4/km2
67VictoriavilleQuebecMedium46,322 44,735 +3.5%35.271,313.4/km2
68WoodstockOntarioMedium46,296 40,614 +14.0%34.411,345.4/km2
69St. ThomasOntarioMedium45,732 41,834 +9.3%28.11,627.5/km2
70ChathamOntarioMedium45,171 43,550 +3.7%31.211,447.3/km2
71GeorgetownOntarioMedium44,058 42,326 +4.1%25.71,714.3/km2
72Salaberry-de-ValleyfieldQuebecMedium41,655 39,655 +5.0%33.931,227.7/km2
73Spruce GroveAlbertaMedium39,348 36,279 +8.5%29.761,322.2/km2
74ShawiniganQuebecMedium38,930 38,695 +0.6%31.771,225.4/km2
75RimouskiQuebecMedium38,708 38,478 +0.6%27.791,392.9/km2
76BradfordOntarioMedium38,128 30,765 +23.9%16.12,368.2/km2
77Campbell RiverBritish ColumbiaMedium38,108 35,440 +7.5%331,154.8/km2
78PentictonBritish ColumbiaMedium36,893 33,899 +8.8%25.841,427.7/km2
79Prince AlbertSaskatchewanMedium36,768 35,102 +4.7%21.371,720.5/km2
80StouffvilleOntarioMedium36,753 32,634 +12.6%14.172,593.7/km2
81SorelQuebecMedium36,650 36,365 +0.8%30.611,197.3/km2
82MissionBritish ColumbiaMedium36,193 33,713 +7.4%27.231,329.2/km2
83LeamingtonOntarioMedium35,730 33,049 +8.1%31.771,124.6/km2
84OrangevilleOntarioMedium34,177 32,318 +5.8%19.771,728.7/km2
85LeducAlbertaMedium33,505 29,561 +13.3%67.43496.9/km2
86OrilliaOntarioMedium33,379 31,128 +7.2%22.681,471.7/km2
87StratfordOntarioMedium32,878 31,094 +5.7%23.31,411.1/km2
88Moose JawSaskatchewanMedium32,813 32,993 −0.5%22.141,482.1/km2
89CochraneAlbertaMedium31,638 25,501 +24.1%23.711,334.4/km2
90LloydminsterAlberta / SaskatchewanMedium31,582 31,400 +0.6%24.431,292.8/km2
91Cape Breton - SydneyNova ScotiaMedium30,960 30,170 +2.6%30.911,001.6/km2
92OkotoksAlbertaMedium30,214 28,833 +4.8%17.231,753.6/km2
93InnisfilOntarioSmall29,464 24,277 +21.4%23.711,242.7/km2
94TimminsOntarioSmall28,874 29,331 −1.6%18.491,561.6/km2
95Saint-GeorgesQuebecSmall27,402 27,103 +1.1%27.091,011.5/km2
96ParksvilleBritish ColumbiaSmall27,330 25,364 +7.8%27.45995.6/km2
97Keswick - Elmhurst BeachOntarioSmall27,145 26,999 +0.5%16.561,639.2/km2
98Fort SaskatchewanAlbertaSmall26,831 23,944 +12.1%21.851,228.0/km2
99BoltonOntarioSmall26,795 26,378 +1.6%20.711,293.8/km2
100MidlandOntarioSmall26,246 24,443 +7.4%27.41957.5/km2

By province or territory

See also

References

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