Publications

    Census Subdivision Boundary File, Reference Guide, 2012

    4. Technical specifications

    Record layout and data descriptions
    Software formats
    File extension and accented character information
    Geographic representation
    File naming convention

    Record layout and data descriptions

    The following table identifies and briefly describes the selected attributes comprising the content of the 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File.

    Table 4.1 2012 Census subdivision boundary file record layout

    Attribute domain values

    PRUID

    Uniquely identifies a province or territory.

    PRUID
    Table summary
     This table displays the results of pruid. The information is grouped by pruid (appearing as row headers), province or territory name (appearing as column headers).
    PRUID Province or territory name
    10 Newfoundland and Labrador/Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador
    11 Prince Edward Island/Île-du-Prince-Édouard
    12 Nova Scotia/Nouvelle-Écosse
    13 New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick
    24 Quebec/Québec
    35 Ontario
    46 Manitoba
    47 Saskatchewan
    48 Alberta
    59 British Columbia/Colombie-Britannique
    60 Yukon
    61 Northwest Territories/Territoires du Nord-Ouest
    62 Nunavut

    CSDTYPE

    Census subdivisions are classified according to designations adopted by provincial, territorial or federal authorities. The following is a list of the types of census subdivisions.

    CSDTYPE
    Table summary
     This table displays the results of CSDTYPE. The information is grouped by CSDTYPE (appearing as row headers), CSD description (appearing as column headers).
    CSDTYPE CSD description
    C City / Cité
    CC Chartered community
    CG Community government
    CN Crown colony / Colonie de la couronne
    COM Community
    CT Canton (municipalité de)
    CU Cantons unis (municipalité de)
    CV City / Ville
    CY City
    DM District municipality
    HAM Hamlet
    ID Improvement district
    IGD Indian government district
    IM Island municipality
    IRI Indian reserve / Réserve indienne
    LGD Local government district
    LOT Township and royalty
    M Municipality / Municipalité
    MD Municipal district
    MÉ Municipalité
    MU Municipality
    NH Northern hamlet
    NL Nisga'a land
    NO Unorganized / Non organisé
    NV Northern village
    P Parish / Paroisse (municipalité de)
    PE Paroisse (municipalité de)
    RCR Rural community / Communauté rurale
    RDA Regional district electoral area
    RGM Regional municipality
    RM Rural municipality
    RV Resort village
    S-É Indian settlement / Établissement indien
    SA Special area
    SC Subdivision of county municipality / Subdivision municipalité de comté
    SÉ Settlement / Établissement
    SET Settlement
    SG Self-government / Autonomie gouvernementale
    SM Specialized municipality
    SNO Subdivision of unorganized / Subdivision non organisée
    SV Summer village
    T Town
    TC Terres réservées aux Cris
    TI Terre inuite
    TK Terres réservées aux Naskapis
    TL Teslin land
    TP Township
    TV Town / Ville
    V Ville
    VC Village cri
    VK Village naskapi
    VL Village
    VN Village nordique

    CDTYPE

    The following is a list of the types of census divisions.

    Attribute domain values
    Table summary
     This table displays the results of CSDTYPE. The information is grouped by CSDTYPE (appearing as row headers), Descrption (appearing as column headers).
    CDTYPE Description
    CDR Census division / Division de recensement
    CT County / Comté
    CTY County
    DIS District
    DM District municipality
    MRC Municipalité régionale de comté
    RD Regional district
    REG Region
    RM Regional municipality
    TÉ Territoire équivalent
    TER Territory / Territoire
    UC United counties

    Software formats

    The 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File is available for download from the Statistics Canada website in the following formats:

    • ArcGIS® format
      File extension: .shp
    • Geography Markup Language (GML) 3.1.1
      File extension: .gml
    • MapInfo® format
      File extension: .tab

    This reference guide does not provide details on specific software packages that are available for use with the 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File. Users are advised to contact the appropriate software vendor for information.

    File extension and accented character information

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

    An XML schema file (.xsd) is included to describe and validate the structure and content of the .gml files.

    The 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File contains attributes with accented characters. They were successfully tested on desktop versions of ArcGIS® 9.3.1 and MapInfo® 11.0.1.

    Geographic representation

    The 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File is available from the Statistics Canada website in the following geographic representation:

    • Projection: Lambert conformal conic
    • False easting: 6200000.000000
    • False northing: 3000000.000000
    • Central meridian: -91.866667
    • Standard parallel 1: 49.000000
    • Standard parallel 2: 77.000000
    • Latitude of origin: 63.390675
    • Linear unit: metre (1.000000)
    • Datum: North American 1983 (NAD83)
    • Prime meridian: Greenwich
    • Angular unit: Degree
    • Spheroid: GRS 1980

    The North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) is an adjustment of the 1927 datum (NAD27) that reflects the higher accuracy of geodetic surveying.

    Users of the 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File can transform the file into the representation that best satisfies their needs, knowing of the effects these representations have on angles, areas, distances and direction. Users have the option to choose the best projection in concert with display objectives.

    File naming convention

    Spatial product file names follow a file naming convention. The file projection, geographic level, geographic coverage, file type, geographic reference date, file format and language are embedded within the file name. Standardizing the names of the files facilitates the storage of compressed files, all having the extension .zip.

    Each file name is 13 characters in length. All alphabetic characters are in lower case to maintain consistency.

    First character: projection of file

    • l - projection of file is Lambert conformal conic

    Next three characters: primary geographic level of file

    • csd - census subdivision

    Next three numbers: geographic code of coverage

    • 000 - Canada

    Next character: file type

    • a - digital boundary file

    Next two numbers: geographic reference date

    The geographic reference date is a date determined by Statistics Canada to finalize the geographic framework for which statistical data are collected, tabulated and reported. The geographic reference date for the 2012 Census Subdivision Boundary File is January 1, 2012.

    • 12 - geographic reference date is 2012

    Next character: file format

    • a - ArcGIS® (.shp)
    • g - Geography Markup Language (.gml)
    • m - MapInfo® (.tab)

    Final two characters: language

    • _e - English
    • _f - French
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