Township (Canada)

The historic colony of Nova Scotia (present-day Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) used the term township as a subdivision of counties and as a means of attracting settlers to the colony.

Geographic townships are the original historical administrative subdivisions surveyed and established primarily in the 1800s.

They are used primarily for geographic purposes, such as land surveying, natural resource exploration and tracking of phenomena such as forest fires or tornados, but are not political entities.

However, the distinction is changing as many rural townships are replacing the title with "mayor" to reduce confusion.

In the Prairie Provinces and parts of British Columbia, a township is a division of the Dominion Land Survey.

Historical township boundaries are of interest in Atlantic Canada especially by those conducting genealogical research.