Section 5 Technical specifications

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File specifications
Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) and Retired 2005 record layouts and data descriptions
Name files record layouts

File specifications

The current version of the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) includes five files: the PCCF, three name files (CD_DR.txt, FED03_CEF03.txt, SAC_CSS.txt), and a special auxiliary file, Retired 2005 (R2005.txt). Postal codes retired before January 1, 2006 are included in the Retired 2005 file. This reduces the size of the PCCF. These are ASCII files and do not include any software nor instructions on how to use the product within specific Geographical Information Systems (GIS) or mapping packages.

Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) and Retired 2005 record layouts and data descriptions

Table 5.1 Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) and Retired 2005 record layouts

Postal code
The postal code is a six-character code defined and maintained by Canada Post Corporation (CPC) for the purpose of sorting and delivering mail. The form of the postal code is 'ANA NAN', where 'A' is an alphabetic character and 'N' is a numeric character. The first character of a postal code represents a province or territory, or a major sector entirely within a province. Refer to Appendix C Postal code structure for more information.

FSA
The forward sortation area is the first three characters of the postal code, designating a postal delivery area within Canada.

PR
The PR uniquely identifies provinces and territories.

1. 10 Newfoundland and Labrador
2. 11 Prince Edward Island
3. 12 Nova Scotia
4. 13 New Brunswick
5. 24 Quebec
6. 35 Ontario
7. 46 Manitoba
8. 47 Saskatchewan
9. 48 Alberta
10. 59 British Columbia
11. 60 Yukon
12. 61 Northwest Territories
13. 62 Nunavut

CDuid
This uniquely identifies a census division. The first two digits of the CDuid identify the province or territory (PR). Census division names are found in the Census division names file (CD_DR.txt).

CSDuid
This uniquely identifies a census subdivision in the country. The province/territory, census division, and census subdivision (municipality) codes combine to represent the 2006 Standard Geographical Classification (SGC).

CSDname
This contains the name of the census subdivision (municipality) in effect as of January 1, 2006.

CSDtype
This field provides abbreviations used to identify the census subdivision (municipality) type. See Appendix F Census subdivision types by province and territory, 2006 Census, for the complete list.

CCScode
This identifies a census consolidated subdivision within a census division. It should be combined with the CDuid to uniquely identify a census consolidated subdivision in the country.

SAC
The Statistical Area Classification groups census subdivisions according to whether they are a component of a census metropolitan area (CMA), a census agglomeration (CA), a census metropolitan area and census agglomeration influenced zone (strong MIZ, moderate MIZ, weak MIZ or no MIZ), or the territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut). Corresponding names are found in the Statistical Area Classification names file (SAC_CSS.txt).

1. 000 Territories
2. 001 to 995 CMA/CA unique identifier
3. 996 Strongly influenced zone
4. 997 Moderately influenced zone
5. 998 Weakly influenced zone
6. 999 No influenced zone

SACtype
This identifies the type of Statistical Area Classification in which the census subdivision is located.

1. 1 Census metropolitan area
2. 2 Tracted census agglomeration
3. 3 Non-tracted census agglomeration
4. 4 Strongly influenced zone
5. 5 Moderately influenced zone
6. 6 Weakly influenced zone
7. 7 No influenced zone
8. 8 Territories

CTname
This identifies a census tract within a CMA/CA. To uniquely identify each census tract in its corresponding census metropolitan area or tracted census agglomeration, the three-digit CMA/CA code must precede the CT 'name'. If a census tract is split into two or more parts due to a population increase, the number after the decimal point identifies the splits. For example, CT 0042.00 becomes CT 0042.01 and CT 0042.02. If CT 0042.01 is subsequently split, it becomes CT 0042.03 and CT 0042.04.

Non-tracted areas outside a CMA/CA are assigned a code that is a concatenation of '99' plus the two-digit province/territory code. For example, records in areas outside of a CMA/CA in Nova Scotia are assigned a CT name of '9912.00'.

ER
This identifies an economic region within a province/territory. This field must be combined with the province/territory code to uniquely identify an economic region.

DPL
This identifies a designated place within a province/territory. This field must be combined with the province/territory code to uniquely identify a designated place.

Areas which are not a designated place are assigned a four-digit code that is a concatenation of '99' plus the two-digit province/territory code. For example, records in areas outside of a DPL in New Brunswick are assigned a DPL of '9913'.

FED03uid
This uniquely identifies a federal electoral district – 2003 Representation Order. The first two digits of the FED03uid identify the province or territory (PR). Corresponding names are found in the 2003 Federal electoral district names file (FED03_CEF03.txt).

UARA
Urban area codes are unique four-digit codes that are assigned sequentially upon the UA creation. These codes remain constant between censuses. If an urban area is retired due to amalgamation or failure to meet the population or density thresholds, then its code is retired.

Rural area codes are unique four-digit codes which are a concatenation of '99' plus the two-digit province/territory code. For example, records in rural areas in Manitoba are assigned '9946'. This field will be '0000' for postal codes linked to dissemination areas only (Rep_Point = 3).

UARAtype
For urban areas, the type code indicates the relationship of the urban area to the CMA/CA structure.

1. 0 Rural area
2. 1 Urban core
3. 2 Urban fringe
4. 4 Urban areas outside CMA/CAs
5. 6 Secondary urban core

This field will be '9' for postal codes linked to dissemination areas only (Rep_Point = 3). There is no UARAtype available for postal codes linked at the dissemination area level. UARAtype is only available for postal codes linked at the more detailed dissemination block or block-face level.

DAuid
The DAuid uniquely identifies a dissemination area. It is composed of the two-digit province/territory code, the two-digit census division code and the four-digit dissemination area code.

Dissemination block
A dissemination block (DB) is an area bounded on all sides by roads and/or boundaries of standard geographic areas. Dissemination blocks cover all the territory of Canada. This code should be combined with the DAuid to uniquely identify the dissemination block within the country. This field will be '00' for postal codes linked to dissemination areas only (Rep_Point = 3).

Rep_Pt_Type
This identifies whether the record uses a block-face, dissemination block or dissemination area representative point as the coordinate.

Table 5.2 Representative points in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF)

LAT
This is the latitude, in decimal degrees, of the dissemination area, dissemination block, or block-face representative point. The decimal point is explicit.

LONG
This is the longitude, in decimal degrees, of the dissemination area, dissemination block, or block-face representative point. The decimal point is explicit.

SLI
The single link indicator (SLI) provides a geographic record for mapping a postal code representative point. It can be used to establish a one-to-one relationship between postal codes and dissemination areas, dissemination blocks, or block-faces. The SLI has the value of '1' to flag one record of an active postal code. Every set of retired records for a postal code, for a given retirement date, has one SLI equal to '1'. The SLI value '0' indicates additional records.

PCtype
This indicates the type of addresses used to identify the points of call served by the postal code. This field was introduced by CPC some time after the creation of the original PCCF. Where possible, a value has been imputed by Statistics Canada for retired postal codes using historical address information and delivery mode type.

Table 5.3 Postal code types in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF)

Comm_Name
The community name, as defined by CPC, denotes any city, town or village in Canada that is recognised as a valid mailing address.

DMT
This is the delivery mode type as defined by CPC. Note that Statistics Canada assigns a DMT of 'W' to rural postal codes, which are left blank by CPC. See Table 5.4 for DMT descriptions.

Table 5.4 Delivery mode types in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF)

H_DMT
The historic delivery mode retains the previous delivery mode type value, if known. If the previous DMT is not known, it contains the current DMT.

Birth_Date
This is the date when the postal code became effective. All postal codes created before April 1983 were given a birth date of '19830401'.

Ret_Date
This is the date when a postal code was retired. All postal codes retired before April 1983 have '19830401' as the retirement date. Users should note that some postal codes have been retired and reintroduced at a later date. Active postal codes have a retirement date of '19000001'.

PO
This indicates whether the record represents coding to a post office where the mail can be accessed. The value '1' indicates this record was coded to a post office or other postal installation and the value '2' indicates 'unknown'. The value '0' indicates this record was coded to the area serviced by the postal code.

Postal code type (PCtype) 3 and 5 postal codes represent mail service that can be accessed at the post office or other postal installation. Where possible, these records are coded to the appropriate post office or other postal installation.

QI
The quality indicator (QI) provides an indicator of the quality of the link established between the postal code and the geographic area. While every attempt is made to provide the best quality of link, this is not always possible. QI is only available for records coded using the automated geocoding system.

The first character of the QI indicates the quality of geocoding to the CSD, the second character indicates the quality of geocoding to the street and the last character indicates the quality of geocoding to the address range. A QI of 'AAA' indicates the highest quality and a QI of 'CCC' indicates the lowest quality. Please see Appendix D Quality indicator for a more detailed explanation of QI.

The QI is established at the record level and is currently available only for the postal codes that were geocoded using the automated geocoding system. The possible values of QI and the number of records by source are indicated in Table 5.5.

Table 5.5 Number of records by geocoding source and quality indicator

Source
The source indicates the primary source of the geocoding. The values of the source are given in Table 5.6.

Table 5.6 Explanations of geocoding sources codes used in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF)

Name files record layouts

To reduce the size of the PCCF, names for census divisions, Statistical Area Classification, federal electoral districts – 2003 Representation Order, are shown in the following individual name files.

Table 5.7 Census division (CD_DR.txt) name file record layout

Table 5.8 Statistical Area Classification (SAC_CSS.txt) name file record layout

Table 5.9 Federal electoral district – 2003 Representation Order (FED03_CEF03.txt) name file record layout