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Record layouts and data descriptions
Attribute domain values
Software formats
System requirements
File extension and accented character in formation
Geographic representation
File naming convention
Record layouts and data descriptions
The following table identifies and briefly describes the selected attributes comprising the content of the 2011 Census Road Network File.
Table 4.1 2011 Census Road Network File record layout
Attribute domain values
Representation of unknown or no value
The null value is used to represent values of the street's name, type, direction and address range that are either missing or non-existent.
The null value is also used for geographic unique identifier, name and type to indicate that it is outside of Canada, or inside Canada but not applicable.
Street type
This indicates the street type associated with the arc.
Street direction
Street direction can be used in conjunction with street name and type to identify common street elements (e.g., Elm ST S versus Elm ST W or Elm ST). Street direction has no relation to the direction the street arc was digitized.
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CSDTYPE_L and CSDTYPE_R
Census subdivisions are classified according to designations adopted by provincial/territorial or federal authorities.
| CSDTYPE | CSD description |
|---|---|
| < Null > | not applicable |
| C | City / Cité |
| CC | Chartered community |
| CG | Community government |
| CN | Crown colony / Colonie de la couronne |
| COM | Community |
| CT | Canton (municipalité de) |
| CU | Canton unis (municipalité de) |
| CV | City / Ville |
| CY | City |
| DM | District municipality |
| HAM | Hamlet |
| ID | Improvement district |
| IGD | Indian government district |
| IM | Island municipality |
| IRI | Indian reserve / Réserve indienne |
| LGD | Local government district |
| LOT | Township and royalty |
| M | Municipality / Municipalité |
| MD | Municipal district |
| MÉ | Municipalité |
| MU | Municipality |
| NH | Northern hamlet |
| NL | Nisga'a land |
| NO | Unorganized / Non organisé |
| NV | Northern village |
| P | Parish / Paroisse (municipalité de) |
| PE | Paroisse (municipalité de) |
| RCR | Rural community / Communauté rurale |
| RDA | Regional district electoral area |
| RG | Region |
| RGM | Regional municipality |
| RM | Rural municipality |
| RV | Resort village |
| S-É | Indian settlement / Établissement indien |
| SA | Special area |
| SC | Subdivision of county municipality / Subdivision municipalité de comté |
| SÉ | Settlement / Établissement |
| SET | Settlement |
| SG | Self-government / Autonomie gouvernementale |
| SM | Specialized municipality |
| SNO | Subdivision of unorganized / Subdivision non organisée |
| SV | Summer village |
| T | Town |
| TC | Terres réservées aux Cris |
| TI | Terre inuite |
| TK | Terres réservées aux Naskapis |
| TL | Teslin land |
| TP | Township |
| TV | Town / Ville |
| V | Ville |
| VC | Village cri |
| VK | Village naskapi |
| VL | Village |
| VN | Village nordique |
CMATYPE_L and CMATYPE_R
Census metropolitan area or census agglomeration type.
| CMATYPE | CMA description |
|---|---|
| B | Census metropolitan area (CMA) |
| D | Census agglomeration (CA) that is not tracted |
| K | Census agglomeration (CA) that is tracted |
| < Null > | not applicable (outside of CMA or CA) |
PRUID_L and PRUID_R
Uniquely identifies a province or territory.
| PRUID | Province or territory name |
|---|---|
| 10 | Newfoundland and Labrador/Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador |
| 11 | Prince Edward Island/Île-du-Prince-Édouard |
| 12 | Nova Scotia/Nouvelle-Écosse |
| 13 | New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick |
| 24 | Quebec/Québec |
| 35 | Ontario |
| 46 | Manitoba |
| 47 | Saskatchewan |
| 48 | Alberta |
| 59 | British Columbia/Colombie-Britannique |
| 60 | Yukon |
| 61 | Northwest Territories/Territoires du Nord-Ouest |
| 62 | Nunavut |
| < Null > | not applicable (outside of Canada) |
RANK
Rank is a value assigned to a street arc to facilitate the selection of streets.
| Street rank code | Street rank description |
|---|---|
| 1 | Trans-Canada Highway (Transport Canada) |
| 2 | National Highway System (Transport Canada) (not rank 1) |
| 3 | Major Highway (not rank 1 or 2) |
| 4 | Secondary Highway, Major Street (not rank 1, 2, or 3) |
| 5 | All other streets (not rank 1, 2, 3 or 4) |
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CLASS
A code that identifies the different types of street features.
| Street class code | Street class description |
|---|---|
| 10 | Highway |
| 11 | Expressway |
| 12 | Primary highway |
| 13 | Secondary highway |
| 20 | Road |
| 21 | Arterial |
| 22 | Collector |
| 23 | Local |
| 24 | Alley/Lane/Utility |
| 25 | Connector/Ramp |
| 26 | Reserve/Trail |
| 27 | Rapid transit |
| 28 | Planned |
| 29 | Strata |
| 80 | Bridge/Tunnel |
| 90 | Unknown |
Software formats
The Road Network File is available for download from the Statistics Canada website in the following formats:
- ArcInfo®
File extension: .shp
- Geography Markup Language (GML) 3.1.1
File extension: .gml
- MapInfo®
File extension: .tab
System requirements
Not applicable
File extension and accented character information
The ArcInfo®, Geography Markup Language and MapInfo® files are compressed into WinZip® files (file extension .zip).
A XML schema file (.xsd) is included to describe and validate the structure and content of the .gml files.
The street names in the Road Network File contain accented characters. They were successfully tested on desktop versions of ArcGIS 9.3.1 and MapInfo® 11.0.1.
Geographic representation
The Road Network File is available on the Statistics Canada website in the following geographic representation:
Datum: NAD83
Coordinates: Longitude/Latitude
The North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) is an adjustment of the 1927 datum that reflects the higher accuracy of geodetic surveying.
The geographical coordinate system is the primary locational reference system for the earth. This system provides for the unique statement of location for features such as points, lines and polygons.
Users of the Census Road Network Files can transform the files into the representation that best satisfies their needs knowing the effects these representations have on angles, areas, distances and direction. Users have the option to choose the best projection in concert with the maps objectives.
File naming convention
Spatial product file names follow a file naming convention. The geographic area and code, file type, geographic reference date, software type and language are embedded within the file name. Standardizing the names of the files facilitates the storage of compressed files, all having the extension .zip.
Each file name is 13 characters in length. All alphabetic characters are in lower case to maintain consistency.
First character: projection of file
g - projection of file is Geographic (latitude/longitude)
Next three characters: primary geographic level of file/type of file
rnf - road network file
Next three numbers: geographic code of coverage
000 - Canada
Next character: file type
r - road network file
Next two numbers: geographic reference date
The geographic reference date is a date determined by Statistics Canada for the purpose of finalizing the geographic framework for which census data are collected, tabulated and reported. For the 2011 Census, the geographic reference date is January 1, 2011.
11 - geographic reference date is 2011
Next character: file format
a - ArcInfo® (.shp)
g - Geography Markup Language (.gml)
m - MapInfo® (.tab)
Final two characters: language
_e - English
_f - French
- Date modified: