How we build every audience
Official sources, a transparent model, and a label on every number. This is the foundation that every page, kit and playbook is built on.
Published as-is
Taken directly from a Statistics Canada or IRCC table for that geography.
Calculated from official figures
Ratios, shares and growth computed from official counts, e.g. owner share = owners ÷ households.
Estimated by our model
Multi-dimension audiences and FSA-level estimates, from Census microdata (PUMF) and iterative proportional fitting to official totals.
Sources
| Source | What we use | Geography | Refresh |
|---|---|---|---|
| Census of Population 2021 (Statistics Canada) | Age, gender, households, income, education, occupation, language, ethnocultural origin, religion, immigration, housing, commuting, mobility | Canada → province → CMA → city (CSD) → dissemination area | 2026 Census from Feb 2027 |
| Census Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) | Joint distributions used to model multi-dimension audiences | Province / large CMA | Per census |
| IRCC open data | New permanent residents by month, province, CMA, country of citizenship, immigration category; study and work permits | Province / CMA | Monthly |
| Business Counts (Statistics Canada) | Establishments by NAICS industry and size, for competition density | Province / CMA / city | Twice yearly |
| Canadian Internet Use Survey and other national surveys | Online behaviour, platforms, shopping channels | National / province | Per release |
| Statistics Canada boundary files (dissemination areas and FSAs) | Postal-code (FSA) audiences, by overlaying dissemination-area boundaries on FSA boundaries. We do not use the paid Postal Code Conversion File | FSA (~1,600) | Per census |
| MediaBuy.ca | Media outlets, formats and price ranges for "how to reach" and budget modules | 23 media regions | Continuous |
How the numbers are made
Fetch and fingerprint
Every raw file is downloaded from the publisher, fingerprinted (SHA-256) and logged with its URL. Table numbers are checked before use; a mismatch stops the run.
Postal-code areas
Statistics Canada publishes the Census down to dissemination areas, not postal codes. We intersect dissemination-area and FSA boundaries and allocate counts by overlapping area, rounded to 5 like Statistics Canada's own counts, with a confidence range.
Combined audiences
For audiences that combine up to four dimensions (say, women 25–44 who speak Mandarin in households earning $100K+), we start from the joint distribution in the Census microdata file and fit it to the official totals for the place with iterative proportional fitting.
Concentration index
How much more common an audience is in a place than in Canada as a whole: local share ÷ national share. Maps and rankings use it.
Quality checks
Provinces must add up to Canada and cities to their metro areas within 0.5%; postal-code areas to provinces within 2%. Shares must sit between 0 and 1. A failed check stops publication.
Small numbers
Estimates under 50 people are shown as "<50". Pages for places under 5,000 people are not indexed by search engines. Sensitive audiences (religion, ethnicity, health, sexual orientation) are never shown for a postal-code area under 50.
Sensitive audiences
We publish statistics on religion, ethnicity, health and sexual orientation because communities, charities and businesses use them to serve people well. We never advise targeting individuals by these attributes. Where ad platforms prohibit it, our "how to reach" advice uses compliant alternatives: postal-code areas, language, media and community partnerships.
Refresh calendar
Source: Statistics Canada, 2026 Census key content release schedule.
Figures currently on the site
Until the pipeline replaces them with Statistics Canada's own tables, some figures are seed values drawn from Statistics Canada publications, municipal republications of the Census, and secondary sources that cite the Census. Seed values from secondary sources are underlined with a dotted line wherever they appear.
| Source | Publisher | Quality | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada at a Glance 2023: population | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| Canadian Industry Statistics: NAICS 6212 (StatCan Business Counts special tabulation) | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada | Primary | Open Government Licence – Canada |
| StatCan infographic 11-627-M 2025015: dentists | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| The Daily, 17 Aug 2022: chart, languages spoken at home | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| The Daily, 17 Aug 2022: languages | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| The Daily, 21 Sep 2022: housing | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| The Daily, 26 Oct 2022: immigration and ethnocultural diversity | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| The Daily, 27 Apr 2022: age, sex at birth and gender | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| The Daily, 9 Feb 2022: population and dwelling counts | Statistics Canada | Primary | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder: age, sex, gender, dwelling type | City of Toronto (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder: families, households, income | City of Toronto (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder: housing | City of Toronto (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder: immigration, ethnoracial, religion | City of Toronto (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder: language | City of Toronto (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| City of Toronto 2021 Census backgrounder: population and dwellings | City of Toronto (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| York Region 2021 Census release: age and sex | York Region (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| York Region 2021 Census release: language | York Region (republishing Statistics Canada) | Republication | Statistics Canada Open Licence |
| CareerBeacon: Brampton (citing 2021 Census Profile) | CareerBeacon | Secondary | Citation |
| CareerBeacon: Markham (citing 2021 Census Profile) | CareerBeacon | Secondary | Citation |
| City Population: Brampton (citing 2021 Census) | citypopulation.de | Secondary | Citation |
| The Canadian Encyclopedia: Brampton | Historica Canada | Secondary | Citation |
| Wikipedia: 2021 Canadian census (citing Statistics Canada) | Wikipedia | Secondary | CC BY-SA (citing StatCan) |
| Wikipedia: Brampton (citing 2021 Census Profile) | Wikipedia | Secondary | CC BY-SA (citing StatCan) |
| Wikipedia: Markham, Ontario (citing 2021 Census Profile) | Wikipedia | Secondary | CC BY-SA (citing StatCan) |
Licence and attribution
Statistics Canada data are used under the Statistics Canada Open Licence and IRCC data under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Use of these data does not imply endorsement by either department.
Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population. Adapted from Statistics Canada; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.