General

The Canadian Census Analyser contains census and National Household Survey (NHS) data for dissemination areas (DAs), census tracts (CTs), census subdivisions (CSDs), census divisions (CDs)*, federal electoral districts (FEDs), forward sortation areas (first three digits of a postal code), provinces/territories, and Canada.  Note that the levels of geographies available for any given census / NHS vary.

*In BC, census divisions = regional districts.

Remember that, with the exception of language data, the 2011 Census does not include data that was previously collected through the mandatory long-form census data.  This data is now collected through the NHS.

Important: Read Things to Consider When Using NHS Data carefully, and remember to use NHS data with caution.

Census geography reference material.

Note: Although, the instructions below are written for retrieving Census Subdivision (CSD) data from the 2006 Census, you should have no problem adjusting the procedure to download data from the 2001 Census or to download data at other levels of geography.  

1. Go to the library web site.
2. Click on ALL DATA under COLLECTIONS --> DATA & STATISTICS.
3. Read and understand the Terms & Conditions of Use under Canadian census analyser @ CHASS, and then click on Canadian Census Analyser @ CHASS.
4. Authenticate with your UNBC account information, and click on Submit.
5. Click on Census Subdivision under by Census Geography:.
6. Click on 2016 (or on desired year) . For years prior to 2016 you can choose cumulative or a specific subset (e.g., "Labour market activity, industry, occupation, education, language of work, place of work and mode of transportation").
7. Click on uncheck all under by Name Alphabetically: and select the first letter of your community's name.
8. Select British Columbia under by Province:.
9. Select the desired CSD in the Retrieved CDs List (you may need to scroll down the list to see the name of your community), and then click on =(copy CSDs)=> to move the selected CSD to the My CSDs List.
10. Click on the CSD name in your My CSDs List to highlight it.
11. Select the desired census characteristics under Census Category.  Use your shift key to select a range, or use the Ctrl key (PC) or the command key (MAC) to select various groupings from different parts of the list.
12. Select Census Subdivision name under Include in the result:.
13. Select how you would like the data to appear (columns or rows) under Data category to be listed as:.
14. Select an output format under Select the output format:. (MS Excel ready would be a good choice to download to Excel.)
15. Click on Submit Query.
16. Save the file to the desired location.

Note for 2001 data: In Step 14, select Spreadsheet (comma delimited).  The data will then appear in your browser in the correct format, but you will need to save the page as a .csv file.  If .csv does not appear as a format choice when you are saving your file, just add the extension .csv after your file name.  The file should then save in the correct format, which you can then open in Excel.

Tip: Instructions for transposing data from rows to columns or visa versa.

Note: Although, the instructions below are written for retrieving Census Subdivision (CSD) data from the 2011 Census / National Household Survey (NHS), you should have no problem adjusting the procedure to download data at other levels of geography. 

1. Go to the library web site.
2. Click on ALL DATA under COLLECTIONS --> DATA & STATISTICS.
3. Read and understand the Terms & Conditions of Use under Canadian census analyser @ CHASS, and then click on Canadian Census Analyser @ CHASS.
4. Authenticate with your UNBC account information, and click on Submit.
5. Click on Census Subdivision under by Census Geography:.
6. Click on 2011 (cumulative) or 2011 NHS (cumulative) depending on whether you want census or NHS data.
7. Click on -uncheck all- under by Name, and select the first letter of your community's name.
8. Click on the by Province tab, and select British Columbia.
9. Select the desired census subdivision in the resulting list.
10. Select the desired census characteristics (as many as you like) in Step 2.  Note that there are additional characteristics listed under the Marital, families & households and Language tabs as well as under each major category's sub-tabs. 
11. Select CSD name under Optionally include in the result:.
12. Select how you would like the data to appear (columns or rows) under Census variables to be listed as:.
13. Select an output format under Select the output format:. (MS Excel ready would be a good choice to download to Excel.)
14. Click on Submit Query.
15. If the data does not automatically download to you computer at this point, follow the directions to download the file(s).  Note that if you selected Comma-Separated Values (CSV) file for spreadsheet under Download to a file as an output format you will need to download both the Data and Header files.  The Header file provides the column titles, without which the data would be meaningless.

Tip: Instructions for transposing data from rows to columns or visa versa.