The City of Vancouver's planning department has arranged for custom census tabulations based on neighbourhood boundaries, for every census from 1971 on. These reports contain valuable information for understanding how land use policies shape our neighbourhoods, however they are not widely known, or easy to find, especially the archival copies. Abundant Housing Vancouver hopes this page will help everyone interested in the city's future, to better understand it's past and present.
1971 | 1971-1976 | 1971-1981 | 1986 | 1981-1991 | 1996-2016 |
Source | Source | Source | Source | Source | Source |
Population and Density Spreadsheet
We've entered the population and area from all of the booklets above, and created a spreadsheet you can use for your own research and analysis.
Community Statistics Census Data, 1996-2016
For 1996 to 2016, we've created a spreadsheet booklet containing all the data in the planning department's current series of documents, from population to unemployment, from commute mode share to average rent.
Census Tract Population and Density, 1941-2016
Jens von Bergmann and Stuart Smith digitized (read: typed in by hand at the library!) census tract populations of Vancouver going back to 1941, showing that contrary to perception, most of Vancouver is not growing. Jens analyzed the data, classified it into archetypes and wrote about it here.
Sources
1996 - 2016
The city maintains a PDF file of census statistics for each neighbourhood. You can find these by starting at the Areas of the City page, selecting the neighbourhood you are interested in, then scrolling down to find "View Community Statistics Census Data"
1971 - 1991
Reports from 1971 to 1991 were previously only available on microfiche in the City Archives. Abundant Housing Vancouver volunteers have scanned every page, and reassembled them into the original report format.
Just click on the image above for your year (or years) of interest, to download the relevant pdf(s).