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Section 3 How to use this product
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.
Purpose of the product
Limitations
Content
Comparison with other products
Purpose of the product
The Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) was conceived as a tool for use with files containing postal codes. By using the postal code as a link, data from files may be organized and/or tabulated by federal electoral district.
Limitations
Some postal codes straddle one or more federal electoral district (FED) boundaries. The ‘unique link’ variable indicates if the postal code is linked to one or more federal electoral districts (FEDs).
Users often link the postal code in their data set to the FED in the PCFRF. When performing this link, users should be aware that the postal code in their data set may represent a mailing address used by a person, not necessarily where the person actually resides. Similarly, a postal code in a business-based mailing address may not necessarily indicate where the business activity took place.
Limitations of the relationship between postal codes and geographic areas are described in section 4, Data quality. Before using this file, users should first familiarize themselves with the information provided in this section.
Content
The PCFRF contains a total of 828,978 postal codes. The number of postal codes by FED, and whether those postal codes are linked to other FEDs, is provided in Appendix B.
Each record of the file contains the following:
- six-character postal code
- federal electoral district code – 2003 Representation Order
- federal electoral district name – English
- federal electoral district name – French
- unique link – an indicator of whether the postal code is linked to more than one electoral district
- weight – for use in proportional allocation
Please see section 5, Technical Specifications for the data descriptions and definitions.
Comparison with other products
Linkage of postal codes to more detailed geographic areas, such as dissemination area or dissemination block, is available in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF).
