Canada’s Census of Environment: Measuring settled area expansion, 2010 to 2020​

Settled areas are a type of intensively used ecosystem that represent the places where people live and work. While they make up a small percentage of the total land area in Canada, the expansion of settled areas onto adjacent landscapes greatly affects the surrounding environment. ​Contiguously settled areas (CSAs) are a new geography that represent the physical footprint of settled areas on the landscape and can be used to measure the expansion of these areas over time, contributing to a better understanding of urban sprawl. ​