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5. Technical specifications

Software formats
Installation instructions
Geographic representation
Record layouts

Software formats

Boundary Files for the 2006 Census are available for download from the Statistics Canada website in the following formats:

• ArcInfo^® format version 9.0; File extension: .shp
• Geography Markup Language version 2.1.2; File extension: .gml
• MapInfo^® format version 7.0; File extension: .tab

Installation instructions

The ArcInfo^®, Geography Markup Language and MapInfo^® are compressed into WinZip^® files (file extension .zip).

An additional template (.tem) file is included with the Geography Markup Language files for use with the Java Unified Mapping Platform (JUMP) free GIS data viewer.

Some of the 2006 Boundary Files contain attributes with accented characters. These characters can be seen in UNIX and Windows^® versions of ArcInfo^® and MapInfo^®. (They were tested on desktop versions of ArcGIS^®9.0 and MapInfo^® 7.0, 8.0 and 8.5.

Geographic representation

The 2006 Boundary Files are available on the Statistics Canada website in the following geographic representation:

To ensure calculations are relevant (e.g., to calculate land area), it is recommended that the latitude/longitude coordinates be transformed to an appropriate map projection.

Record layouts

1. Province and Territory

The Province and Territory Boundary Files contain the boundaries of all 10 provinces and three territories. Province and territory refer to the major political units of Canada. From a statistical point of view, province and territory are basic areas for which data are tabulated.

2. Census division

The Census Division Boundary Files contain the boundaries of all 288 census divisions. A census division is an administrative area, which is a component of the Standard Geographical Classification and is comprised of census subdivisions. Census division is the general term for provincially legislated areas (such as county, municipalité régionale de comté and regional district) or their equivalents. Census divisions are intermediate geographic areas between the province or territorial level and the municipality (census subdivision).

Domain

CDTYPE is a three-character field indicating the census division type.

CDTYPE	Census division type
CDR	Census division / Division de recensement
CT	County / Comté
CTY	County
DIS	District
DM	District municipality
MB	Management board
MRC	Municipalité régionale de comté
RD	Regional district
REG	Region
RM	Regional municipality
TÉ	Territoire équivalent
TER	Territory / Territoire
UC	United counties

3. Economic region

The Economic Region Boundary Files contain the boundaries of all 76 economic regions. An economic region is a grouping of complete census divisions (with one exception in Ontario) created as a standard geographic area for analysis of regional economic activity.

4. Census metropolitan area/census agglomeration

The Census Metropolitan Areas/Census Agglomeration Boundary Files contain the boundaries of all 33 census metropolitan areas and 111 census agglomerations. A census metropolitan area or a census agglomeration is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a large urban area (known as the urban core). A census metropolitan area must have a total population of at least 100,000 of which 50,000 or more must live in the urban core. A census agglomeration must have an urban core population of at least 10,000. To be included in the census metropolitan area or census agglomeration, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central urban area, as measured by commuting flows derived from census place of work data.

There are four census metropolitan areas/census agglomerations that cross provincial boundaries. In each of these cases, the census metropolitan area/census agglomeration is divided by the provincial limit and is represented as two polygon records in the boundary file.

The four census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations that cross provincial limits are:

• Census Agglomeration of Campbellton, CMAUID 330, crosses the New Brunswick/Quebec provincial boundary
• Census Agglomeration of Hawkesbury, CMAUID 502 crosses the Quebec/Ontario provincial boundary
• Census Metropolitan Area of Ottawa - Gatineau, CMAUID 505 crosses the Quebec/Ontario provincial boundary
• Census Agglomeration of Lloydminster, CMAUID 840 crosses the Saskatchewan/Alberta provincial boundary

Domain

CMATYPE:

The types associated with the census metropolitan areas/census agglomerations are:

CMATYPE	Census metropolitan area/census agglomeration type
B	census metropolitan area
D	census agglomeration with no census tracts
K	census agglomeration with census tracts

5. Census consolidated subdivision

The Census Consolidated Subdivision Boundary Files contain the boundaries of all 2,341 census consolidated subdivisions. A census consolidated subdivision is a statistical area comprised of an aggregation of adjacent census subdivisions which is used by the Census of Agriculture. Generally the smaller more urban census subdivisions (towns, villages, etc.) are combined with the surrounding, larger, more rural census subdivision, in order to create a geographic level between the census subdivision and the census division.

6. Census subdivision

The Census Subdivision Boundary Files contain the boundaries of all 5,418 census subdivisions. A census subdivision is an administrative area, which is a component of the Standard Geographical Classification. Census subdivision is the general term for municipalities, as determined by provincial and territorial legislation, or areas treated as municipal equivalents for statistical purposes, for example, Indian reserves, Indian settlements and unorganized territories.

Domain

SACTYPE:
The Statistical Area Classification groups census subdivisions according to whether they are a component of a census metropolitan area, a census agglomeration, a census metropolitan area and census agglomeration influenced zone (strong MIZ, moderate MIZ, weak MIZ or no MIZ), or the territories (Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories and Nunavut). The Statistical Area Classification is used for data dissemination purposes.

The values for Statistical Area Classification are:

SACTYPE	Statistical Area Classification type
1	Census subdivision within census metropolitan area
2	Census subdivision within census agglomeration, with at least one census tract
3	Census subdivision within census agglomeration, having no census tracts
4	Census subdivision outside of census metropolitan area/census agglomeration area having strong metropolitan influence
5	Census subdivision outside of census metropolitan area/census agglomeration area having moderate metropolitan influence
6	Census subdivision outside of census metropolitan area/census agglomeration area having weak metropolitan influence
7	Census subdivision outside of census metropolitan area/census agglomeration area having no metropolitan influence
8	Census subdivision within a territory

7. Federal electoral district

The Federal Electoral District Boundary Files portray the federal electoral district boundaries for which 2006 Census data are disseminated. A federal electoral district is an area represented by a member of the House of Commons. The federal electoral district boundaries used for the 2006 Census are based on the 2003 Representation Order. The files contain the boundaries for all 308 federal electoral districts which combined cover all of Canada.

8. Census tract

The Census Tract Boundary Files portray the census tract boundaries for which 2006 Census data are disseminated. Census tracts are small, relatively stable geographic areas that usually have a population of 2,500 to 8,000. They are located in census metropolitan areas and in census agglomerations with an urban core population of 50,000 or more in the previous census. The files contain the boundaries of all 5,076 census tracts located within the 33 census metropolitan areas and 15 census agglomerations which are part of the Census Tract Program.

9. Dissemination area

The Dissemination Area Boundary Files portray the dissemination area boundaries for which 2006 Census data are disseminated. A dissemination area is a small area composed of one or more neighbouring blocks and is the smallest standard geographic area for which all census data are disseminated. The digital boundary file contains the boundaries of the 54,626 dissemination areas which combined cover all of Canada. The cartographic boundary file contains the boundaries of 54,624 dissemination areas. Dissemination areas 59290104 and 59290108 are not included within the cartographic boundary file because they are located entirely within coastal waters, they are therefore automatically removed during the production of the cartographic boundary file.

10. Dissemination block

The Dissemination Block Boundary Files portray the dissemination block boundaries for which 2006 Census data are disseminated. A dissemination block is an area bounded on all sides by roads and/or boundaries of standard geographic areas and is the smallest geographic area for which population and dwelling count data are disseminated. The digital boundary file contains the boundaries of all 478,831 dissemination blocks which combined cover all of Canada. The cartographic boundary file contains the boundaries of 478,780 dissemination blocks.

The table below lists the 51 dissemination blocks which are not included within the cartographic boundary file. These dissemination blocks are located entirely within coastal waters and are therefore automatically removed during the production of the cartographic boundary file.

11. Urban area

The Urban Area Boundary Files portray the urban area boundaries for which 2006 Census data are disseminated. An urban area has a minimum population concentration of 1,000 persons and a population density of at least 400 persons per square kilometre, based on the current census population count. The files contain the boundaries of all 895 urban areas defined for the 2006 Census.

Domain

UATYPE is a one-character field which identifies whether the urban area is within a census metropolitan area or a census agglomeration.

UATYPE	Urban area type
1	urban core
2	urban fringe
4	urban area outside a census metropolitan area or census agglomeration
6	secondary urban core

12. Designated place

The Designated Place Boundary Files portray the designated place boundaries for which 2006 Census data are disseminated. A designated place is normally a small community or settlement that does not meet the criteria established by Statistics Canada to be a census subdivision (an area with municipal status) or an urban area. Designated places are created by provinces and territories, in cooperation with Statistics Canada, to provide data for sub-municipal areas.

The digital boundary file contains the boundaries of all 1,289 designated places which combined cover all of Canada. The cartographic boundary file contains the boundaries of 1,285 designated places. Designated places 350084 (Campbell part B, Ontario), 590239 (Saltspring Island Trust Area part F, British Columbia), 590240 (Saltspring Island Trust Area part G, British Columbia) and 590253 (Gambier Island Trust Area part E, British Columbia) are not included within the cartographic boundary file because they are located entirely within coastal waters. They are therefore automatically removed during the production of the cartographic boundary file.

Domain

DPLTYPE is a three-character field indicating the designated place type.

DPLTYPE	Designated place type
CFA	Class IV area
DMU	Dissolved municipality
DPL	Designated place
IST	Island trust
LSB	Local service board
LSD	Local service district
MDI	Municipalité dissoute
MET	Métis settlement
NCM	Northern community
OHM	Organized hamlet
SE	Aboriginal settlement
UNP	Unincorporated place

13. Supplementary hydrographic layers

The supplementary hydrographic layers are provided to allow for the mapping of inland water, oceans, Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and land outside the Canadian land mass. The hydrographic layers were created to be used in conjunction with the boundary files. The record layout in Table 5.13.1 below is for interior water bodies (polygons), coastal water bodies (polygons) and interior rivers (lines). Table 5.13.2 below displays the recommended ranks for scale dependant mapping.