Census Divisions of Ontario

Census Divisions Of Ontario

In the Canadian province of Ontario, there are three different types of census divisions: single-tier municipalities, upper-tier municipalities (which can be regional municipalities or counties) and districts. They differ primarily in the services that they provide to their residents.

The varying structures of municipal and regional governments in Ontario can sometimes be confusing, as they result from a variety of approaches to local government, implemented at different times by different provincial governments in specific areas to serve specific needs. Due to the vast disparities among Ontario's different regions, it would be extremely difficult for a provincial government to apply a consistent, unified system across the entire province.

In some cases, as well, a census division may retain its historical name even if it changes government type (e.g. Oxford County, Haldimand County, Norfolk County and Prince Edward County are no longer counties even though they retain "county" in their name; Oxford is a regional municipality and the others are single-tier municipalities.)

These divisions are used by Statistics Canada to aggregate census data. A smaller municipality within a census division is called a census subdivision.

Several census divisions in Ontario have significantly changed their borders or been discontinued entirely. For more information, see also Historic counties of Ontario.