Illustrated Glossary
National Geographic Database (NGD)

Definition

The National Geographic Database (NGD) is a spatial database that contains attributed roads (names and addresses) and boundaries used to delineate administrative and statistical geographic entities such as provinces, municipalities, census tracts and health regions. The fundamental components of the NGD include a road and boundary line layer fully integrated with a polygon layer. The road and boundary line layer define polygons, which are then aggregated into the various statistical and administrative geographies. Road attribution from the line layer, specifically road name and address range, is also used to determine the location of buildings and place them into specific geographies based on the road and line layer relationship to the polygons. The collection and dissemination of socio-economic data can therefore be organized into a geographic framework as a result of the NGD line and polygon relationships. The NGD is a shared database between Statistics Canada and Elections Canada as both agencies have shared requirements for attributed road network to conduct their respective business and collective maintenance reduces costs.