More information on Economic region (ER)

Censuses:

• 2006, 2001, 1996 (economic region)
• 1991, 1986, 1981, 1976, 1971 (subprovincial region)

Remarks:

Within the province of Quebec, economic regions (régions administratives) are designated by law. In all other provinces and territories, economic regions are created by agreement between Statistics Canada and the province/territory concerned. Prince Edward Island and the three territories each consist of one economic region. In Ontario, there is one exception where the economic region boundary does not respect census division boundaries: the census division of Halton is split between the ER of Hamilton - Niagara Peninsula and the ER of Toronto.

Each economic region is assigned a two-digit code. In order to uniquely identify each economic region in Canada, the two-digit province/territory code must precede the ER code. For example:

Changes to economic regions for the 2006 Census

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the composition of West Coast - Northern Peninsula - Labrador (ER 10 30) changed due to the creation of the new census division, Division No. 11 (CD 10 11).

In Quebec, the composition of Chaudière - Appalaches (ER 24 25) changed due to the dissolution of the CD of Desjardins (CD 24 24). The component census subdivisions (CSDs) of Pintendre, M (24 24 010), Saint-Joseph-de-la-Pointe-de-Lévy, P (24 24 015), and Lévis, V (24 24 020) were annexed to Les Chutes-de-la-Chaudière (CD 24 25) and the CSD of Saint-Henri, M (24 24 005) was annexed to Bellechasse (CD 24 19).

In Manitoba, the boundary between Southwest (ER 46 30) and Parklands (ER 46 70) was affected because part of Gambler 63, IRI (CSD 46 16 025) was taken from Division No. 16 (CD 46 16) and annexed to Gambler 63 (Part), IRI (CSD 46 15 049) in Division No. 15 (CD 46 15).

In British Columbia, the composition of Lower Mainland - Southwest (ER 59 20) and Thompson - Okanagan (ER 59 30) were affected because part of Boothroyd 8A, IRI (CSD 59 09 803) was taken from Fraser Valley (CD 59 09) and annexed to Boothroyd 8A (Part), IRI (CSD 59 33 897), in Thompson-Nicola (CD 59 33). This did not, however, result in a boundary change.

Table 1 in the Introduction shows the number of economic regions by province and territory.

Changes prior to the current census:

For 2001, the province of Quebec increased the number of economic regions from 16 to 17. The région administrative of Mauricie-Bois-Francs (ER 24 70) was replaced by two new régions administratives:

• Mauricie (ER 24 70), composed of the municipalités régionales de comté (MRC) of Francheville, Le Centre-de-la-Mauricie, Le Haut-Saint-Maurice, Maskinongé, and Mékinac
• Centre-du-Québec (ER 24 33), composed of the MRCs of Arthabaska, Bécancour, Drummond, L'Érable, and Nicolet-Yamaska.

In addition, the boundary between Centre-du-Québec (ER 24 33) and Estrie (ER 24 30) was affected when the municipalité of Ulverton (CSD 24 49 010) was taken from the of Drummond (CD 24 49) and annexed to the MRC of Le Val-Saint-François (CD 24 42). Also, the name of the région administrative of Québec (ER 24 20) was changed to Capitale-Nationale (ER 24 20).

In Ontario, the boundary between Muskoka - Kawarthas (ER 35 20) and Kingston - Pembroke (ER 35 15) was affected when Murray Township (CSD 35 14 001) was taken from Northumberland County (CD 35 14) and annexed to the newly incorporated City of Quinte West (CSD 35 12 015) in Hastings County (CD 35 12).

In Alberta, five economic regions were affected by boundary and name changes of census divisions. Boundary changes include moving CD 48 09 from ER 48 50 to ER 48 40, moving CD 48 10 from ER 48 80 to ER 48 20, and moving CD 48 13 from ER 48 40 to ER 48 70. The name changes include Camrose - Drumheller (ER 48 20), Banff - Jasper - Rocky Mountain House (ER 48 40), Red Deer (ER 48 50), Athabasca - Grande Prairie - Peace River (ER 48 70), and Wood Buffalo - Cold Lake (ER 48 80).

In 1996, the codes and names of economic regions were standardized. The census adopted the Labour Force Survey's (LFS) economic regions to replace subprovincial regions that had been used by the census from 1971 to 1991. Boundary differences between these two sets of geographic areas were the result of the different update cycles (every five years for the subprovincial regions and every ten years for the LFS regions). In order to align these sources for 1996, the eleven LFS economic regions of Ontario were adopted in place of the five subprovincial regions of the 1991 Census. The LFS economic regions were made up of counties (complete census divisions), except for the County of Halton, of which part (the entire City of Burlington) was assigned to the ER of Hamilton - Niagara Peninsula, with the remainder of the county falling within the ER of Toronto.