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    Census Subdivision Boundary File, Reference Guide, 2013

    3. About this product

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    Purpose of the product

    The purpose of the 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File is to provide a framework for mapping and spatial analysis and to support Geographic Information System (GIS) applications used for land use and demographic studies, social, economic and market research.

    The 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File is positionally consistent with the 2013 Road Network File, which provides additional reference for mapping.

    Note: It is recommended that the 2011 Census Boundary Files and Road Network File be used as a basis for the retrieval of 2011 Census data for user-defined areas. Users can define their custom areas based on the roads in the 2011 Census Road Network File. Roads within the 2011 Census Road Network File correspond to the 2011 Census geographic frame and therefore do not require additional boundary reconciliation work, which facilitates the geocoding process. For information on custom area creation and geocoding services, please contact the National Contact Centre at 1-800-263-1136 or infostats@statcan.gc.ca.

    Definitions and concepts

    A census subdivision is a municipality or an area treated as equivalent to a municipality for statistical purposes (for example, Indian reserves and unorganized territories). Municipal status is defined by laws in effect in each province and territory in Canada.

    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

    The 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File contains the unique identifiers (UIDs), names and types of the geographic areas represented, as well as the UIDs, names and types (where applicable) of higher geographic levels including census divisions and provinces or territories.

    Note: The boundaries, names, and codes of census subdivisions reflect those in effect on January 1, 2013, the geographic reference date for this edition of the Census Subdivision Boundary File. Information about census subdivision changes that were effective on or before the January 1, 2013 geographic reference date must be received by Statistics Canada prior to March 1, 2013, in order to be processed in time for this edition of the file.

    The 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File is 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 file reside on Statistics Canada's Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) which is derived directly from data stored on the NGD.

    Creation of the 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File

    The Census Subdivision Boundary File was created from the lowest level of geography maintained in the SDI. Primary data manipulation of the product file included preserving the geographic hierarchy of the attributes inherent within a geographic level. The census subdivision file was copied into a File Geo Database to facilitate geo-processing (e.g., joins, transforming and verification operations).

    The file was verified for spatial and attribute content, 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 are compressed into WinZip® files (file extension .zip) and made available for download from the Internet.

    Limitations

    The input data used to create the file was originally obtained from several sources having a wide range of scales. This boundary file 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 file should not be used to determine the precise location of boundaries. This boundary file is not intended to serve as a legal or cadastral representation of the standard geographic areas.

    The positional accuracy of the file does not support cadastral, surveying, digitizing or engineering applications.

    Comparison to other products/versions

    Differences between the 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File and previous versions of the census subdivision boundary file include:

    • The 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File is similar but not necessarily consistent with the suite of boundary files made available as a part of the 2011 Census geographic product line.

    Using with other products

    When considering using the 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File, users should be aware of the compatibility of this file 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 statistical data are collected, tabulated and reported. The geographic reference date for the 2013 Census Subdivision Boundary File is January 1, 2013.

    The geographic areas (e.g., municipalities and equivalents referred to as census subdivisions, census divisions and provinces or territories) are those in effect on January 1, 2013, provided that Statistics Canada received information on changes by March 1, 2013.

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