A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres.
DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns, and villages.
They are created by provincial or territorial governments for the purpose of providing data for settled concentrated populations that are identifiable by name but are not legally incorporated under the laws of the province/territory in which they are located.
Others may be formerly unincorporated settlements or formerly independent municipalities that have been merged into larger governments, and have retained DPL status in order to ensure statistical continuity with past censuses.
One significant difference is that Statistics Canada applies the designation to much smaller communities than does the United States Census Bureau.