Not every organization needs a specific assigned IPv6 address space. Typically, only large organizations with multiple upstream providers need IP address space. Smaller organizations receive a range of address space from their upstream ISP within the ISP assigned address space and therefore are not visible in this graph.

ARIN makes a distinction between the allocation and the assignment of addresses blocks. An assignment is made to an end-user organization for use exclusively in it's operational network while an allocation is the delegation to an organization of an address space which will be subsequently made into assignments (see ARIN terminology).

This graph shows the evolution over time of the number of organizations that have requested and received an IPv6 address space assignment from ARIN and are registered as Canadian organization in ARIN database. These Canadian organizations include Internet service providers (ISP), content providers, government and enterprises.

     shows the number of Canadian organizations that have allocated or assigned an IPv6 address space. While it is expected that at some point the assigned address space will be used and routed on the IPv6 Internet, not all allocated or assigned IPv6 address space are used and routed.

     is the subset of line      . It shows the number of organizations that are using and advertising their assigned IPv6 address space on the IPv6 Internet and are originating their address space. Originating means that these organizations have their own AS number and the address space is advertised by this AS. This subset usually includes Internet service providers and organizations that have more than one ISP as upstream providers.

     is the subset of line     . It shows the number of organizations that have an IPv6 allocated or assigned address space advertised on the IPv6 Internet.

     shows the number of Canadian organizations that have allocated or assigned an IPv4 address space. While it is tempting to compare with the IPv6 related line, it is not comparable, since the address assignment policies, especially at the beginning of the IPv4 Internet, were very different and much more loose than IPv6. Moreover, the initial address space size is much larger in IPv6 than IPv4.