F-023: Census Demographics Data

Status: Proposed · Priority: P2 · Updated: Mar 6, 2026

Summary

Enrich the platform with demographic data from Statistics Canada censuses beyond income. Population, age distribution, household composition, housing tenure, language, immigration status, and other census variables — visualized at census tract level on maps and available per-listing.

Potential Data Sources

StatCan Census 2021 (and 2016 for comparison)

Table	Description	Geography
98-10-0001	Population & dwelling counts	CT, CSD, CMA
98-10-0002	Age & sex	CT
98-10-0006	Household type & size	CT
98-10-0007	Marital status	CT
98-10-0010	Knowledge of official languages	CT
98-10-0011	Mother tongue	CT
98-10-0016	Immigration & citizenship	CT
98-10-0021	Ethnic/cultural origin	CT
98-10-0029	Labour force status	CT
98-10-0038	Housing tenure (own vs rent)	CT
98-10-0041	Structural type of dwelling	CT
98-10-0049	Mobility (moved in last year/5 years)	CT

Most Relevant for a Rental Platform

1. Housing tenure (own vs rent %) — directly relevant to renters
2. Population density & household size — area character
3. Age distribution — young professional vs family area
4. Language — French/English/bilingual area character
5. Immigration — newcomer-friendly areas
6. Mobility — turnover rate (% moved recently)
7. Dwelling type — apartment vs house mix

Requirements

• [ ] Research which StatCan tables are auto-downloadable (direct CSV/ZIP)
• [ ] Identify Montreal CMA census tract data availability
• [ ] Design schema for flexible demographic storage (key-value vs wide table)
• [ ] Parsers for selected census tables
• [ ] Download script additions
• [ ] Seed pipeline
• [ ] API endpoints for demographic data
• [ ] Choropleth map modes (extend existing /income-map or new page?)
• [ ] Per-listing demographic summary card
• [ ] 2016 vs 2021 comparison for relevant metrics
• [ ] Bilingual (FR/EN)

Design Questions

1. Scope: Which of the ~12 available tables are worth importing? All, or a curated subset?
2. Storage: Wide table per topic (like census_tracts has income columns) vs normalized key-value (like income_snapshots)?
3. Visualization: Extend the existing income choropleth with more map modes, or create a separate demographics page?
4. Per-listing: What demographic stats are most useful on a listing detail page?
5. National scope: Import all Canadian CTs (like CMHC rent) or just Montreal CMA?

Discussion Notes

Mar 6, 2026

• Feature proposed after completing F-022 (income data). Natural extension — we already have CT boundaries and the choropleth map infrastructure.
• Existing infrastructure to build on: 1,004 census tracts with boundaries, income choropleth, recharts, tabbed layout on /income-map.