Publications
Forward Sortation Area Boundary File, Reference Guide
4. Technical specifications
Record layouts and data descriptions
Software formats
File extension and accented character information
Geographic representation
File naming convention
Record layouts and data descriptions
The following table identifies and briefly describes the selected attributes comprising the content of the 2011 Census Forward Sortation Area Boundary File.
| Attribute name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FID | Object ID (4) | Specific to ArcGIS® |
| Shape | Geometry | Specific to ArcGIS® |
| DigitalBoundary CartographicBoundary | MultiPolygon PropertyType | Shape geometry; specific to Geography Markup Language |
| CFSAUID | Character (3) | Uniquely identifies a forward sortation area (composed of three alphanumeric characters) |
| PRUID | Character (2) | Uniquely identifies a province or territory |
| PRNAME | Character (55) | Province or territory name |
Hydrographic reference files
The hydrographic reference files are provided for the mapping of inland and coastal waters, Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. These files were created to be used in conjunction with the boundary files to enable mapping at various scales. The record layout in Table 4.2 below is for inland lakes and rivers (polygons), coast (polygons) and inland rivers (lines).
| Attribute name | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| FID | Object ID (4) | Specific to ArcGIS® |
| Shape | Geometry | Specific to ArcGIS® |
| DigitalBoundary Cartographic Boundary | MultiPolygon PropertyType | Shape geometry; specific to Geography Markup language |
| HYDROUID | Character (7) | Uniquely identifies a hydrographic feature |
| NAME | Character (55) | Feature name |
| RANK | Integer | Feature rank |
| PRUID | Character (2) | Uniquely identifies a province or territory |
| Province or territory unique identifier | Coastal file (number of polygons) | Lakes and Rivers file (number of polygons) | Rivers file (number of lines) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 5,083 | 4,965 | 6,062 |
| 11 | 147 | 358 | 80 |
| 12 | 1,966 | 8,226 | 4,063 |
| 13 | 472 | 3,418 | 3,759 |
| 24 | 4,330 | 37,775 | 19,078 |
| 35 | 12,164 | 43,237 | 19,471 |
| 46 | 71 | 6,804 | 4,745 |
| 47 | 0 | 5,455 | 6,027 |
| 48 | 0 | 4,270 | 9,606 |
| 59 | 26,386 | 56,834 | 186,648 |
| 60 | 35 | 1,563 | 3,714 |
| 61 | 1,319 | 26,236 | 8,375 |
| 62 | 26,264 | 26,659 | 5,988 |
| Greater than 62 | 53 | 22 | 5 |
| Total | 78,290 | 225,822 | 277,621 |
| Rank | Coastal file (number of polygons) | Lakes and Rivers file (number of polygons) | Rivers file (number of lines) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 78,290 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 111 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 3,237 | 11,442 |
| 3 | 0 | 3,357 | 19,221 |
| 4 | 0 | 10,873 | 36,032 |
| 5 | 0 | 19,967 | 80,914 |
| 6 | 0 | 64,245 | 130,012 |
| 7 | 0 | 124,032 | 0 |
| Total | 78,290 | 225,822 | 277,621 |
|
Notes: All features within the Coastal file (polygon) are assigned a rank value equal to the value 'zero.' Within the Lakes and Rivers file (polygons) and the Rivers file (lines), the general guiding principle is that larger features are assigned lower rank values (e.g., 1, 2, 3) whereas smaller features are assigned higher rank values (e.g., 5, 6, 7). Lakes and Rivers (polygon) features assigned rank value '7' consist of hydrographic bodies and islands having extremely small polygon areas. Features located outside Canada are assigned a PRUID value greater than 62. |
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Attribute domain values
Province and territory unique identifier (PRUID)
The following is a list of province and territory unique identifiers and their associated name.
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
Forward sortation area unique identifier (CFSAUID)
The following is a list of province and territory unique identifiers and the first letter of the FSAs associated with that province or territory within the FSA Boundary File.
PRUID FSA first letter
10 A
11 C
12 B
13 E
24 G, H, J
35 K, L, M, N, P
46 R
47 S
48 T
59 V
60 Y
61 X
62 X
Software formats
The 2011 Census Forward Sortation Area Boundary File is available in the following formats.
- ArcGIS®
File extension: .shp
- Geography Markup Language version 3.1.1
File extension: .gml
- MapInfo®
File extension: .tab
This reference guide does not provide details on specific software packages that are available for use with the 2011 Census Forward Sortation Area 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 2011 Census Forward Sortation Area 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 2011 Census Forward Sortation Area Boundary File is available in the following geographic representation:
Datum: NAD83
Coordinates: Latitude and Longitude
The North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) is an adjustment of the 1927 datum (NAD27) that reflects the higher accuracy of geodetic surveying.
The geographical coordinate system is the primary locational reference system for the earth. This system provides for the unique statement of location for features such as points, lines and polygons.
Users of 2011 Census Forward Sortation Area Boundary File can transform the file into the representation that best satisfies their needs, knowing the effects these representations have on angles, areas, distances and direction.
File naming convention
Spatial product file names follow a file naming convention. The file projection, geographic level, geographic coverage, file type, geographic reference date, software type 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
g projection is Geographic (latitude and longitude)
Next three characters: primary geographic level of file/type of file
fsa forward sortation area
hy_ supporting hydrography (Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, oceans, etc.)
Next three numbers: geographic code of coverage
000 Canada
Next character: file type
a digital boundary file
b cartographic boundary file
c interior lakes and rivers hydrographic reference file (polygon)
d interior rivers hydrographic reference file (line)
h hydrographic coverage of Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River and surrounding oceans
Next two numbers: geographic reference date
The geographic reference date is a date determined by Statistics Canada for the purpose of finalizing the geographic framework for which census statistical data are collected, tabulated and reported. For 2011 Census products, the geographic reference date is January 1, 2011.
11 geographic reference date is 2011
Next character: file format
a ArcGIS® (.shp)
g Geography Markup Language (.gml)
m MapInfo® (.tab)
Final two characters: language
_e English
_f French
- Date modified: