Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, Special Issue

The Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, Special Issue (PCFRF Special Issue) refers to the federal electoral districts (FEDs) based on the 2013 Representation Order. It does not replace the Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF), 2003 Representation Order, released in October 2013.

The postal code^OM reference date for this file is June 2013. This is the same as for the most recent versions of the Postal Code^OM Conversion File (PCCF) and the Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF), 2003 Representation Order, released in October 2013.

Price note

An initial annual licensing administration fee ($892) is required to access any or all of the Postal Code^OM Conversion File, Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, or Postal Code^OM Conversion File Plus products.

To obtain the Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, Special Issue based on the 2013 Representation Order, please contact us.

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• Overview
• Methodology for creation of Special Issue File
• Postal codes^OM linked to more than one federal electoral district, 2013 Representation Order
• References

Text begins

Overview

The Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, Special Issue (PCFRF Special Issue) is a digital file that provides a link between the six-character postal code^OM and Canada's federal electoral districts (which are also known as federal ridings). This special version of the PCFRF links 848,257 active postal code^OM records, existing as of June 2013, to the 338 federal electoral districts of the 2013 Representation Order.

Elections Canada defines a federal electoral district (FED) as any place or territorial area entitled to return a Member of Parliament (MP) to serve in the House of Commons. Federal electoral district legal limits and descriptions are the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer, and are usually revised every 10 years after the results of the decennial census. There are 338 FEDs in the 2013 Representation Order, the most recent revision of the federal electoral district limits. The FEDs are based on the 2011 Census population data. These new federal electoral districts will be applied in the first general election called after May 1, 2014.

For more information on the redistricting process, please refer to the Elections Canada website.

Methodology for creation of Special Issue File

The Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, Special Issue was created by converting the existing federal electoral districts (2003 Representation Order) and their linked postal codes^OM to the new federal electoral districts (2013 Representation Order), transferring the postal code^OM linkages. The conversion process was accomplished using 2011 Census Dissemination Blocks and a best fit methodology for dissemination blocks that were found in more than one federal electoral district. During the conversion process, in cases where dissemination blocks overlapped two or more federal electoral districts (2013 Representation Order), a complete allocation was made of the dissemination block to one FED based on the population count or the area of the dissemination block found in each FED.

Postal codes^OM linked to more than one federal electoral district, 2013 Representation Order

As is the case with the 2013 version of the standard product Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File (2003 Representation Order), postal codes^OM can and are linked to more than one FED. In such cases, a 'weight' has been established in order to provide an indicator of the magnitude of overlap.

The 'weight' estimates the proportion of the population of a postal code^OM that resides within each FED. If a postal code^OM is linked to only one FED in the PCFRF, the weight is equal to 1. If the postal code^OM is linked to more than one FED and is reported in the 2011 Census, the weight is equal to the proportion of the population that reported the postal code^OM in each of the FEDs. If the postal code^OM was not reported in the census, the weight is estimated using the address ranges in the service area of the postal code^OM. If necessary, the weights for a postal code^OM are normalised and adjusted using the single link indicator variable in the PCCF so that the sum of weights equals 1.0.

Table 1
Postal codes^OM by federal ridings file, special issue record layout
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1 Postal codes by federal ridings file, special issue record layout. The information is grouped by Position (appearing as row headers), Size, Type and Description (appearing as column headers).

Position	Size	TypeNote 1	Description
1	6	C	Postal codeOM
7	5	C	Federal electoral district code
12	56	C	Federal electoral district name - English
68	56	C	Federal electoral district name - French
124	1	C	Unique link
125	3	C	Weight
Note 1. The field type 'C' refers to both alphabetic and numeric characters. Return to note 1 referrer

Table 2
Comparison summary of postal codes^OM linked to 2003 federal electoral districts and 2013 federal electoral districts
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 2 Comparison summary of postal codes linked to 2003 federal electoral districts and 2013 federal electoral districts. The information is grouped by Number of federal electoral districts (appearing as row headers), Postal codes to 2003 federal electoral districts and Postal codes to 2013 federal electoral districts (appearing as column headers).

Number of federal electoral districts	Postal codesOM to 2003 federal electoral districts	Postal codesOM to 2013 federal electoral districts
1	838,842	839,629
2	4,155	2,602
3	304	779
4	34	145
5	3	129
6	7	61
Total multiple linkages (2 to 6 federal electoral districts)	4,503	3,716

References

For more information on the standard product Postal Codes^OM by Federal Ridings File, 2003 Representation Order, refer to its reference guide.

For more information on the Postal Code^OM Conversion File, refer to its reference guide.