Canada Census Divisions Boundaries — GeoJSON Download (76 Divisions)
Quick answer: This page hosts Canada's 76 census divisions as a single 1.4 MB GeoJSON FeatureCollection, with a map preview and one-click download under the Open Government Licence Canada 2.0.
About this dataset
Canada's 76 census divisions as one hosted GeoJSON — the second-level administrative units between province and municipality, ready to join Statistics Canada tables.
Download Canada census division boundaries as GeoJSON: 76 divisions covering every province and territory in a single FeatureCollection. Census divisions are the units Statistics Canada publishes most sub-provincial data against — population, age structure, employment, and housing — so they are the natural join target for Canadian regional analysis. The hosted layer carries shapeName, shapeISO, and shapeID, and is simplified to about a 1 km tolerance with islet fragments removed, keeping the national file at roughly 1.4 MB while preserving every division and every interior hole. Note that census divisions are an administrative reporting geography rather than a level of government, so their names vary by province: divisions in Quebec, and the 'Avalon Peninsula' and 'South Coast--Burin Peninsula' style names in Newfoundland and Labrador, reflect that heritage.
Data source: Statistics Canada (StatCan) via geoBoundaries
How to download
- 1 Preview the census division layer above — all 76 divisions render from one file.
- 2 Download the GeoJSON and open it in QGIS, ArcGIS, or GeoDataViewer Studio.
- 3 Join your Statistics Canada table on shapeName or shapeID.
- 4 Roll the divisions up to provinces with the Canada provinces layer when you need a national view.
Hosted simplified GeoJSON (1.34 MB)
76 divisions, web-ready — used by the map preview above
Full-detail GeoJSON from geoBoundaries
Every original vertex, ~29 MB — for precise area and distance work
Statistics Canada boundary files
Official 2021 Census geographic boundary files, including census divisions
geoBoundaries Canada metadata
Machine-readable licence, source, and download record
FAQ
What is a census division in Canada?
A census division is a Statistics Canada reporting geography between the province and the municipality. In Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces they generally correspond to counties or regional municipalities; in the Prairie provinces and territories they are administrative groupings created for statistical reporting rather than units of government.
Why do some names contain asterisks or doubled dashes?
Those are Statistics Canada's own naming conventions for bilingual or compound division names in Newfoundland and Labrador, such as 'South Coast--Burin Peninsula'. The hosted file preserves the source names verbatim so joins against official tables keep working.
Do these divisions nest inside the province layer?
Yes. Census divisions are a strict subdivision of the provinces and territories, so you can aggregate division-level values up to the provincial layer without any spatial overlay.
Can I use this commercially?
Yes, under the Open Government Licence Canada 2.0, which permits commercial use with attribution to Statistics Canada.