About the data, Aboriginal Population Profile, 2016 Census

The Aboriginal Population Profile provides data from the 2016 Census of Population and includes characteristics for:

• Aboriginal peoples
• Age and sex
• Education
• Families and marital status
• Households
• Income
• Journey to work
• Labour
• Language, Language of work
• Mobility and migration
• Type of dwelling

Geographic levels

The Aboriginal Population Profile provides 2016 Census data for various levels of geography. These geographic levels include:

• Canada
• Province or territory
• Census division (CD)
• Census subdivision (CSD)
• Census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomeration (CA)
• First Nation/Indian band and Tribal Council areas
• Inuit regions
• Métis settlements
• Historic treaty areas
• Modern treaty and self-government agreement areas

Incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements

In 2016, there were a total of 14 Indian reserves and Indian settlements that were incompletely enumerated. For these reserves and settlements, dwelling enumeration was either not permitted or was interrupted before it could be completed.

This represents a decrease compared to the 31 Indian reserves and Indian settlements that were incompletely enumerated in the 2011 Census. Note that in 2011, of the 31 incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements, 13 were not enumerated as a result of forest fires in Northern Ontario at the time of census collection. In 2016, there were no Indian reserves or Indian settlements that were not enumerated due to a natural disaster.

The 2016 Census population and dwelling counts are not available for the 14 incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements, and are not included in 2016 Census tabulations. Data for geographic areas containing one or more of these reserves and settlements are noted accordingly. Because of the missing data, users are cautioned that for the affected geographic areas, comparisons (e.g., percentage change) between 2011 and 2016 may not be precise. The impact of the missing data for higher-level geographic areas (Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations) is very small. However, the impact can be significant for lower-level geographic areas (e.g., census divisions), where the incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements account for a higher proportion of the population. This is especially true for lower-level geographic areas where a particular Indian reserve or Indian settlement was incompletely enumerated for the 2016 Census and enumerated for the 2011 Census and vice versa.

Table 1 provides the list of incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements for the 2016 Census, along with population counts from the last two censuses (where available).

Table 2 shows, in alphabetical order, the list of incompletely enumerated Indian reserves and Indian settlements for the 2016 Census by province, census division and, where applicable, for the census metropolitan area or census agglomeration.

About First Nations/Indian bands and Tribal Councils within this profile

First Nations/Indian bands are included within this profile and are defined using census subdivisions or designated places. The list uses information from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and shows communities (census subdivisions or designated places) that are affiliated with First Nations/Indian bands. (Name changes may have occurred over time and will be added in updates to the list.) People who live in the communities do not all belong to the specific First Nation/Indian band.

Tribal Councils are groups made up of several First Nation communities that represents the interests of those First Nations. The tribal council may administer funds or deliver common services to those First Nations. Membership in a tribal council tends to be organized along geographic, political or cultural and linguistic lines.

The 'Search' function allows you to type the name of the First Nation/Indian band in the 'Place name search' box and obtain information on the grouping of communities affiliated with the First Nation/Indian band.

  List of First Nation/Indian band or Tribal Council areas and the census subdivisions/designated places they include

About Inuit regions within this profile

Inuit regions are included within this profile and are defined using census subdivisions, except for 'Nunavut Inuit region,' which represents the Nunavut territory.

'Inuit Nunangat' is the Inuktitut expression for 'Inuit homeland,' an expanse comprising more than one third of Canada's land mass, extending from northern Labrador to the Northwest Territories. In recent years, four Inuit land claims have been signed across Inuit Nunangat.

Inuit Nunangat is comprised of four Inuit regions. These four regions are:

• Nunatsiavut: This is the most easterly region, in northern Labrador, was created through the 2005 Labrador Inuit Land Claim Agreement and includes about 72,500 square kilometers of land and the adjacent ocean zone.
• Nunavik: This region in northern Quebec was established through the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. This was the first modern land claims agreement in Canada, signed in 1975. Nunavik covers 660,000 square kilometers of land.
• Nunavut: The 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement led to the creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999. It was formed out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. The territory spans 2 million square kilometers.
• Inuvialuit region: In 1984, the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA) was signed, giving ownership to 90,650 square kilometers of land in the Northwest Territories to the Inuvialuit (Inuit of the western Arctic).

  List of Inuit regions and the census subdivisions they include

About Métis settlements within this profile

There are 8 Métis settlements in northern Alberta: Gift Lake, Kikino, Paddle Prairie, Buffalo Lake, Elizabeth, Fishing Lake, East Prairie and Peavine. The Alberta Métis Settlement Act of 1990 transferred the land title to the Métis people and legally established the Métis Settlements General Council, along with eight settlement corporations.

About historic treaty within this profile

The impact of treaty making in Canada has been wide-ranging and long standing. The treaties the Crown has signed with Indigenous peoples since the 18^th century have permitted the evolution of Canada as we know it. In fact, much of Canada's land mass is covered by treaties. This treaty-making process, which has evolved over more than 300 years between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada, has its origins in the early diplomatic and economic relationship developed between European settlers and Indigenous peoples. After the issuance of the Royal Proclamation of 1763, protocols and practices were established for the Crown to acquire Indigenous lands. After Confederation, government policies maintained the practice to secure Canada's sovereignty over the West, open the lands for settlement and secure peaceful relations with First Nations. For signatory First Nations, the treaties were concluded to share the wealth of the land to the benefit of both parties, guarantee assistance in times of need and secure their economic well-being. These treaty proceedings were the first steps in a long process that has led to today's comprehensive claims agreements between the Crown and Indigenous groups.

Canada recognizes treaties (both historic and modern) as unique types of agreements which represent a solemn exchange of promises by the Crown and Indigenous groups which have constitutional protection by virtue of s. 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.

Between 1701 and 1923, approximately 70 historic treaties were concluded between the Crown and Indigenous Nations.

There are seven groups of historic treaties:

• Peace and Neutrality Treaties (1701, 1760)
• Peace and Friendship Treaties (1725-1779)
• Upper Canada Land Surrenders (1763-1862)
• Robinson Treaties (1850)
• Douglas Treaties (1850-1854)
• Numbered Treaties (1871-1921)
• Williams Treaties (1923)

  List of historic treaty areas and the census subdivisions they include

About modern treaty and self-government agreement within this profile

As historic treaties only addressed a portion of Aboriginal rights to land across Canada, there remained considerable areas where these rights were still in question. Subsequent to a series of court decisions in 1973, most notably the Calder et al. v. Attorney-General of British Columbia decision which recognized Aboriginal rights for the first time, the treaty process was renewed under the Comprehensive Land Claims Policy. The first modern treaty, the James Bay and Northern Québec Agreement, was signed in 1975. Since 1975, Canada has signed 25 additional treaties (called modern treaties or comprehensive land claim agreements) with Indigenous groups in Canada. Some of these treaties include self-government. Over the past four decades, Canada's approach to treaty negotiations has evolved as a result of developments in Indigenous law, joint innovations at negotiating tables and past engagement with Indigenous groups and key stakeholders.

Self-Government Agreements are arrangements for Indigenous groups to govern their internal affairs and assume greater responsibility and control over the decision making that affects their communities.

  List of modern treaty or self-government agreement areas (March 2017) and the census subdivisions or territory they include

Area and data suppression

In addition to random rounding, area and data suppression has been adopted to further protect the confidentiality of individual respondents' personal information.

Area and data suppression results in the deletion of all information for geographic areas with populations below a specified size. For example, areas with a population of less than 40 persons are suppressed. If the community searched has a population of less than 40 persons, only the total population counts will be available. Suppression of data can be due to poor data quality or to other technical reasons.

For more information, refer to Geographic areas not released.

Random rounding

Note on data quality and disclosure control