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Section 2 Overview
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.
The Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) is a digital file which provides a link between the six-character postal code and Canada’s federal electoral districts (which are also known as federal ridings). The current version of the PCFRF links 834,954 active postal code records, existing as of July 2009, to the 308 federal electoral districts.
Elections Canada defines a federal electoral district as any place or territorial area entitled to return a Member of Parliament (MP) to serve in the House of Commons. Federal electoral district (FED) legal limits and descriptions are the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer, and are usually revised every 10 years after the results of the decennial census. There are 308 FEDs in the 2003 Representation Order, the most recent revision of the federal electoral districts limits. The FEDs are based on the 2001 Census population data.
Reference dates
The reference date is July 2009 for postal codes contained in the PCFRF. This is the same date as the postal codes contained in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) product released in January 2010.
The geographic reference date is a date determined by Statistics Canada to finalize the geographic framework for which the census data are collected, tabulated and reported. The geographic reference date for the 2006 Census is January 1, 2006.
