2006 Census: Geospatial data and maps

Documentation - geography products

• Hierarchy of standard geographic units for dissemination (Statistics Canada website)
• Geographic units by province and territory, 2006 census (PDF)
• List of suppressed Dissemination Areas (DAs), Census Tracts (CTs) and Census Subdivisions (CSDs) (Statistics Canada website)
• Overview of the census - census geography (Statistics Canada website)

Geospatial data

• Cartographic boundary files
• Digital boundary files 
• Road network files 

These files are also available directly from the Statistics Canada website. 

Which kind of boundary file do I need? Cartographic boundary files portray the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands (i.e. the boundaries hug the coastlines). Digital boundary files portray the full extent of the geographic areas, including the coastal water area.

Maps

All Statistics Canada digital maps for 2006 are avaialble on the Statistics Canada website.

• Census divisions and subdivisions (national and by province): Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) reference maps (Statistics Canada), reference guide.
• Census metropolitan area (CMA) and census agglomerations (CA) (national maps): Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) reference maps (Statistics Canada)  
• Census tracts (by CMA/CA): digital reference maps (Statistics Canada), reference guide.
• Dissemination areas
  • By census tracts, for census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations
  • By non-tracted census agglomerations
  • By census subdivisions, for areas outside census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations
• Map & Data Library holds an archived complete set of 2006 reference maps on CD-ROM: #394.

Geographic reference products

Geosuite

• GeoSuite is a software tool for data retrieval, query, and tabular output. GeoSuite allows users to explore the links between all standard levels of geography and to determine geographic codes, names, and population and dwelling counts. GeoSuite includes a dissemination area (DA) reference map listing that facilitates the identification of appropriate DA reference maps.
  • Download and install software (Statistics Canada)
  • Reference guide (PDF)
  • Variable list (html)
  • MDL also holds a backup copy on CD-ROM: #398.

Correspondence Files

• Census tracts (CT), 2001-2006. Provides a correlation table between 2001 census tracts and those delineated for 2006, including a flag indicating whether each area is wholy or partially contained in the 2006 area. 
  • Documentation (.doc)
  • Data (.xls)
• Dissemination area (DA)/Dissemination block (DB), 2001-2006. Provides a correlation table between 2001 census DAs and DBs and those delineated for 2006, including a flag indicating whether each area is wholy or partially contained in the 2006 area. 
  • User guide (PDF)
  • Data via SDA data portal
  • Alternative: download full dataset for DA or DB (zip package includes ASCII text file, SPSS syntax file, and PDF documentation)
• Dissemination area (DA) and Land Area, 2001-2006. Describes the percentage of the 2006 DA's land area within the boundaries of the 2001 DA.
  • Documentation (Statistics Canada website)
  • Data (Statistics Canada website)

Land Area File

• FSA land area file. Contains Forward Sortation Area (FSA) codes and size in square km. Derived from the FSA cartographic boundary file by G. Romme, 2008/04/17.
  • Data (.csv)

Geographic Attribute File

• Contains all census geographic codes for each census block. 92-151-XBB
  • User guide (PDF)
  • Data via SDA data portal
  • Alternative: download full dataset (zip package includes ASCII text file, SPSS syntax file, and PDF documentation)

Additional products

• Changes to Municipal Boundaries, Status & Names
• Postal Code Conversion File
• Defining and Measuring Metropolitan Areas: A comparison between Canada and the United States, Census year 2006 by Henry Puderer; Geography Working Paper Series