First, understand the difference between universes (unit of observation), variables, and values. Only variables can be browsed or searched. There is no support for searching universes or values.
Universes are the units or entities (populations or sub-populations) described by a characteristic or variable. For example, whether or not a person is employed (variable) is a characteristic only of persons 15 years of age or over (sub-population), ie. those who are legally allowed to work according to Canadian labour laws, while monthly rent (a variable) is a characteristic only of a dwelling (sub-population: rental dwellings). Descriptions of the populations and sub-populations for which data are released in the census of population are defined in the 2001 census dictionary:
'Variable' is another word for a characteristic, concept or attribute, i.e. something that 'varies'. Each unit in the population, family, household, or dwelling universe has a number of characteristics that together define it. For example, most individual over the age of 15 have a sex, age, marital status, labour force status, ethnic origin, place of birth, highest level of schooling, income (even if a negative one) etc. The characteristic of 'marital status' may 'vary' from one individual to another, but together, all the possible states (single, married, divorced, etc.) of the concept 'marital status' describe aspects or variations of the same characteristic. The variables available for each of the universes are defined in the 2001 census dictionary:
A variable has a number of different values, which are normally mutually exclusive, and exhaustive. For example, the variable 'sex' can take on the values 'male' or 'female', but generally not both values, or neither value. An individual may, on the age variable, be '15 years of age' or '16 years of age', or '85 years of age', but no two different ages simultaneously. Some values may seem to be common to a number of different variables, but it is important to differentiate carefully between the variables of which they are values. For example: 'ethnic origin = Swedish' is not the same as 'mother tongue = Swedish' nor 'home language = Swedish' and none of these are equivalent to 'country of birth = Sweden'. The values taken by each of the census variables is outlined in:
Not enabled. The only variables are count of persons and count of dwellings.
Not enabled. Select an appropriate major topic.
Not enabled. Select an appropriate major topic.
Select 2001 Census homepage : Data : Search by census variable. Select appropriate first letter of census variable. Scroll through list to census variable (duplicates are for different stub-set breakdowns and different universes). Returns a list of topic-based tabulations containing selected variable by predetermined universe.
Note 1: Not all variables are listed by their first letter. 'Highest level of schooling', 'Language spoken at home', and 'Mother tongue' are all to be found under 'Detailed ...' as well as under their respective letters ('H', 'L', and 'M').
Note 2: Not all planned products are currently listed under the Topic-based Tabulations. The only complete listing of planned census products is the 2001 census catalogue.
An interactive mapping product that enables searching by place name, as well as by street, or street intersections. Returns a map, population and dwelling counts, and all higher geographic area codes and names.
Identifies the geographic level of place names. Returns a list of profile files or topic-based tabulations at that geographic level.