Section 5 Technical specifications

View the most recent version.

File specifications
Record layout
Data descriptions
File naming convention

File specifications

The current version of the Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) is an ASCII file and does not include any software or instructions on how to use the product within specific Geographical Information Systems (GIS) or mapping packages.

Record layout

Table 5.1 Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) record layout

Top of Page

Data descriptions

Postal code

The postal code is a six-character alphanumeric code defined and maintained by CPC for the sortation and delivery of mail.

The alphanumeric characters are arranged in the form ANA NAN, where 'A' represents a letter of the alphabet and 'N' a numeric digit. The first character of a postal code (allocated in alphabetic sequence from east to west across Canada) represents a province or territory or a major sector entirely within a province.

The first three characters represent a set of well-defined and stable areas known as the forward sortation area (FSA). Rural FSAs are identifiable by the presence of a '0' in the second position of the FSA code.

The last three characters identify the local delivery unit (LDU). In established urban areas, the LDU can specify a small and easily defined area within an FSA such as block-face (one side of a city street between consecutive intersections with streets), an apartment building, an office building, or a large firm or organization which does large volume business with the post office. In rural areas, the LDU denotes a service area – the area serviced by rural route delivery from a post office or station (e.g., a rural route, general delivery, or post office box).

Federal electoral district code

A federal electoral district (FED) is any place or territorial area entitled to return a member to serve in the House of Commons. 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. The 2003 Representation Order is the most current revision, and is based on 2001 Census population data. This code uniquely identifies a federal electoral district – 2003 Representation Order. The first two digits identify the province or territory.

Federal electoral district name – English

This contains the English name of the federal electoral district from the 2003 Representation Order.

Federal electoral district name – French

This contains the French name of the federal electoral district from the 2003 Representation Order.

Unique link

The unique link value given in the file can be either '1', which indicates the postal code is linked to one FED, or '2', which indicates that the postal code is linked to two or more FEDs.

Weight

The 'weight' estimates the proportion of the population of a postal code that resides within each FED. If postal code is linked to only one FED in the PCFRF, the weight is equal to 1. When a postal code is linked to more than one FED, the sum of weights for that postal code equals 1.0.

Top of Page

File naming convention

The naming convention for PCFRF data files is bilingual and reflects the reference date of the CPC data used in the release.

Data files in this release are:

National file

Regional files

Table 5.2 File name structure of Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF)