I noticed that CCSs could be either an urban or rural area, because several CCSs may make up a CA or CMA, which are considered as urban areas. Is there are way to tell whether a CCS is urban or rural? I am only interested in rural areas in SK, BC, MB and AB.
Answer
The Geography Division explained that: "being a population centre (formerly referred to as ‘urban area’) or rural, is not a classification system for different geographic areas but are instead their own distinct geographic area types. I have highlighted the CCS and population centres in the image below,
Both geographic areas can be built from dissemination blocks, but a CCS can contain dissemination blocks that are part of a population centre, and dissemination blocks that are not (and are therefore part of the rural area). This means it is not possible to classify consolidated census subdivisions as being wholly population centre or wholly rural (except in those cases where all the dissemination blocks within it are classified as one geographic type or the other).
More information on the change from urban to population centres can be found in the General Notice, <http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/standard-norme/sgc-cgt/notice-avis/sgc-cgt-06-eng.htm>
More information on population centres, including delineation criteria, can be found in the Census Dictionary, <http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/ref/dict/geo 049a-eng.cfm>
More information on Census consolidated subdivisions, including criteria used to define them can be found in the Census Dictionary,<http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/ref/dict/geo007-eng.cfm>
