Tenure - Refers to whether the household owns or rents their private dwelling. The private dwelling may be situated on rented or leased land or be part of a condominium. A household is considered to own their dwelling if some member of the household owns the dwelling even if it is not fully paid for for example if there is a mortgage or some other claim on it. A household is considered to rent their dwelling if no member of the household owns the dwelling. A household is considered to rent that dwelling even if the dwelling is provided without cash rent or at a reduced rent or if the dwelling is part of a cooperative.

For historical and statutory reasons shelter occupancy on Indian reserves or settlements does not lend itself to the usual classification by standard tenure categories. Therefore a special category band housing has been created and is included in the classification of tenure.

Condominium status - Refers to whether the private dwelling is part of a condominium development. A condominium is a residential complex in which dwellings are owned individually while land and common elements are held in joint ownership with others.

Bedrooms - Refers to rooms in a private dwelling that are designed mainly for sleeping purposes even if they are now used for other purposes such as guest rooms and television rooms. Also included are rooms used as bedrooms now even if they were not originally built as bedrooms such as bedrooms in a finished basement. Bedrooms exclude rooms designed for another use during the day such as dining rooms and living rooms even if they may be used for sleeping purposes at night. By definition one-room private dwellings such as bachelor or studio apartments have zero bedrooms.

Rooms - Refers to enclosed areas within a private dwelling which are finished and suitable for year-round living. The number of rooms of a private dwelling includes kitchens bedrooms and finished rooms in the attic or basement. The number of rooms of a private dwelling excludes bathrooms halls vestibules and rooms used solely for business purposes. Partially divided rooms are considered to be separate rooms if they are considered as such by the respondent (e.g. L-shaped dining-room and living-room arrangements).

Persons per room - Refers to an indicator of the level of crowding in a private dwelling. It is calculated by dividing the number of persons in the household by the number of rooms in the dwelling.

Housing suitability - Refers to whether a private household is living in suitable accommodations according to the National Occupancy Standard (NOS); that is whether the dwelling has enough bedrooms for the size and composition of the household. A household is deemed to be living in suitable accommodations if its dwelling has enough bedrooms as calculated using the NOS.

Housing suitability and the National Occupancy Standard (NOS) on which it is based were developed by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) through consultations with provincial housing agencies.

Period of construction - Refers to the period in time during which the building or dwelling was originally constructed. This refers to the period in which the building was completed not the time of any later remodelling additions or conversions.

Includes data up to May 10 2016.

Dwelling condition - Refers to whether the dwelling is in need of repairs. This does not include desirable remodelling or additions.

Number of household maintainers - Refers to the number of persons of the same household who have been identified as household maintainers.

A household maintainer is a person residing in the household who is responsible for paying the rent or the mortgage or the taxes or the electricity or other services or utilities. Where a number of people may contribute to the payments more than one person in the household may be identified as a household maintainer. If no person in the household is identified as making any such payments the first person listed is selected by default.

Primary household maintainer - The first person in the household identified as someone who pays the rent or the mortgage or the taxes or the electricity or other services or utilities for the dwelling. When more than one member of the household contributes to the payments the first person listed is chosen as the primary household maintainer. If no person in the household is identified as making any such payments the first person listed is selected by default.

The order of the persons in a household is determined by the order in which they are listed on the questionnaire. Generally an adult is listed first followed if applicable by their spouse or common-law partner and then by their children. The order does not necessarily correspond to the proportion of household payments made by each person.

Shelter-cost-to-income ratio - Refers to the proportion of average total income of household which is spent on shelter costs.

Shelter-cost-to-income ratio is calculated for private households living in owned or rented dwellings who reported a total household income greater than zero.

Private households living in band housing located on an agricultural operation that is operated by a member of the household and households who reported a zero or negative total household income are excluded.

The relatively high shelter-costs-to-household income ratios for some households may have resulted from the difference in the reference period for shelter costs and household total income data. The reference period for shelter cost data is 2016 while household total income is reported for the year 2015. As well for some households the 2015 household total income may represent income for only part of a year.

For more information on household total income or shelter costs refer to the Census Dictionary: Total income and Shelter cost.

Presence of mortgage payments - Refers to whether an owner household makes regular mortgage or loan payments for their dwelling.

Shelter cost refers to the average monthly total of all shelter expenses paid by households that own or rent their dwelling.

Shelter costs for owner households include where applicable mortgage payments property taxes and condominium fees along with the costs of electricity heat water and other municipal services. For renter households shelter costs include where applicable the rent and the costs of electricity heat water and other municipal services.

Value (owner estimated) of private dwelling - Refers to the dollar amount expected by the owner if the asset were to be sold.

In the context of dwelling it refers to the value of the entire dwelling including the value of the land it is on and of any other structure such as a garage which is on the property. If the dwelling is located in a building which contains several dwellings or a combination of residential and business premises all of which the household owns the value is estimated as a portion of the market value that applies only to the dwelling in which the household resides.

Subsidized housing - Refers to whether the dwelling is subsidized. Subsidized housing includes rent geared to income social housing public housing government-assisted housing non-profit housing rent supplements and housing allowances.