3. About this product

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Purpose of the product
Definitions and concepts
Content
General methodology
Limitations
Comparison to other products/versions
Using with other products
Reference date

Text begins

Purpose of the product

The purpose of the 2011 Census Boundary Files is to provide a framework to support Geographic Information System (GIS) applications used for land use and demographic studies, social, economic and market research and mapping. Geographic identifiers facilitate the linkage of statistical data to 2011 Census standard geographic areas depicted in the boundary files. Boundary files can also be used to create new geographic areas by combining 2011 Census standard geographic areas. The boundary files are positionally consistent with the 2011 Census Road Network File, which provides additional reference for mapping.

Definitions and concepts

Geographic terms and concepts are briefly defined in the glossary (Appendix A). More details can be found in the 2011 Census Dictionary (Catalogue no. 98-301-X) and the 2011 Illustrated Glossary (Catalogue no. 92-195-X).

Content

Each boundary file contains the unique identifier (UID), name and type (where applicable) of the geographic level the file represents, as well as the UID, name and type of all higher level geographies, where available at time of release.

In addition to containing UID and name, the Province/Territory boundary file contains English name, French name, English abbreviation and French abbreviation.

In addition to containing UID and name, the Federal Electoral District boundary file contains English name and French name.

2011 Census population centre, census metropolitan area and census agglomeration geographic areas are portrayed in parts where these areas straddle a provincial boundary.

All files are available in English and French, in three formats: ArcGIS^® (.shp), Geography Markup Language (.gml) and MapInfo^® (.tab).

General methodology

The National Geographic Database (NGD) is a joint Statistics Canada-Elections Canada initiative to develop and maintain a spatial database which serves the needs of both organizations. The focus of the NGD is the continual improvement of quality and currency of spatial coverage using updates from provinces, territories and local sources. The source files used for the creation of the boundary files reside on Statistics Canada's Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) which was derived directly from data stored on the NGD.

To produce the boundary files, the following processes were applied:

Creation of the 2011 Census Digital Boundary Files

For digital boundary file creation, spatial and attribute information were extracted from the SDI using the lowest level of geography, the dissemination block. Primary data manipulation of the product files included preserving the geographic hierarchy of the attributes inherent within a geographic level. The dissemination block file was copied into a File Geo Database to facilitate geo-processing (e.g., projecting, joins, transforming and verification operations). The spatial component of the file was reprojected from Lambert Conformal Conic into latitude and longitude coordinates (NAD83) using the ArcGIS^® ArcCatalog Feature-Project tool.

All of the higher level digital boundary files were created from the dissemination block level. The files were verified for their spatial and attribute content, translated into French and English, and appropriately named according to the file naming convention (see section 4). Final data processing consisted of the conversion from the File Geo Database format, using FME^® (Safe Software), into the following GIS file formats: ArcGIS^® (.shp), Geography Markup Language (.gml) and MapInfo^® (.tab).

The ArcGIS^®, Geography Markup Language and MapInfo^® files were compressed into WinZip^® files (file extension .zip) and made available for download from the Internet.

Creation of the 2011 Census Cartographic Boundary Files

To create the cartographic boundary files, a subset of the full hydrography, the coastal file, was created. This subset of coastal hydrographic features was then used to erase the portions of dissemination blocks that are covered by coastal waters. As with the digital boundary file creation, all of the higher level cartographic boundary files were created from the dissemination block level.

The files were verified for their spatial and attribute content, translated into French and English, and appropriately named according to the file naming convention (see section 4). Final data processing consisted of the conversion from the File Geo Database format, using FME^® (Safe Software), into the following GIS file formats: ArcGIS^® (.shp), Geography Markup Language (.gml) and MapInfo^® (.tab).

The ArcGIS^®, Geography Markup Language and MapInfo^® files were compressed into WinZip^® files (file extension .zip) and made available for download from the Internet.

Creation of the 2011 Hydrographic reference files

Coastal file

The coastal file was created by selecting a subset of hydrographic features which represent the coastal water bodies surrounding the land area of Canada. This file includes the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and Lake-of-the-Woods.

Inland lakes and rivers (polygon) file

The inland water file was created by selecting water features from the National Geographic Database's hydrographic reference layer. These reference data were sourced from the National Topographic Data Base (1:50,000 and the 1:250,000 maps) and the Digital Chart of the World. In British Columbia, information was supplemented with data from the National Hydro Network. The inland lakes and rivers polygon file contains a selection of water bodies not found in the coastal file.

Inland rivers (line) file

The inland rivers file contains a selection of linear water features such as rivers and streams.

The Hydrographic reference files were translated into French and English, and appropriately named according to the file naming convention. Final data processing consisted of the conversion from the File Geo Database format, using FME^® (Safe Software), into the following GIS file formats: ArcGIS^® (.shp), Geography Markup Language (.gml) and MapInfo^® (.tab).

The ArcGIS^®, Geography Markup Language and MapInfo^® files were compressed into WinZip^® files (file extension .zip) and made available for download from the Internet.

Limitations

The positional accuracy of these files does not support cadastral, surveying, digitizing or engineering applications.

The input data used to create the files were obtained from several sources having a wide range of scales. Boundary files will not be precise if plotted at a larger scale than the scale of the source material used in its creation. Maps created from the boundary files should not be used to determine the precise location of boundaries. The boundary files are not intended to serve as a legal or cadastral representation of the 2011 Census standard geographic areas.

Comparison to other products/versions

The suite of 2011 Census Boundary Files are compatible in that they portray their respective 2011 Census standard geographic area boundaries, as well as selected attributes for all higher level geographies that respect the geographic hierarchy, available at the time of release. Boundary files are derived from the same native source.

The land area for 2011 Census standard geographic areas present in GeoSuite may not be consistent with that computed from the cartographic boundary files. This is because the hydrographic features used in the creation of the cartographic boundary files are based on hydrographic features that were selected for thematic mapping.

The 2011 Census Boundary Files are similar but not necessarily consistent with boundary files released prior to the 2011 Census.

Using with other products

The 2011 Census Boundary Files can be linked to other 2011 Census statistical data products using the UID for each 2011 Census standard geographic area.

The 2011 Census Population Ecumene Census Division Cartographic files are generalized to render them suitable for cartographic display at a small scale. Due to this generalization, the position of the shorelines are not necessarily consistent with the suite of 2011 Census Cartographic Boundary Files or 2011 Census Road Network File.

When considering using the 2011 Census Boundary Files, users should be aware of the compatibility of these files with those that are available from other sources. They may not be consistent with Statistics Canada files.

Reference date

The geographic reference date is a date determined by Statistics Canada to finalize the geographic framework for which 2011 Census statistical data are collected, tabulated and reported. The reference date for 2011 Census standard geographic areas is January 1, 2011. More specifically, the Census reports data according to the geographic areas (e.g., municipalities and equivalents referred to as census subdivisions) that are in effect on January 1, 2011, provided that Statistics Canada receives the information on the changes by March 1, 2011 (see 2011 Census Dictionary – Geographic reference date for more details).