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1996 CENSUS SPATIAL DATA FILES:
FILES AVAILABLE IN ARCINFO FORMAT
To decide which files met your needs, assess the purpose of your research and read over Census geography concepts and definitions. Then select the All Canada download files, the Provincial download files, or the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) download files.
Statistics Canada builds on geographical boundaries used in the collection of Census information to organize its data. For the purposes of understanding the files available for downloading, two "streams" of geographic building blocks, the National hierarchy, and the Municipal hierarchy, show the relationships between the building blocks.
The National Hierarchy is composed of the following building blocks:
Spatial files may be available as "digital boundary files" (.dbf files) which reflect administrative boundaries or "digital cartographic files" (.dcf files) which provide a more accurate geographical representation. Note that for some geographies, a water layer is also available.
All-Canada Spatial Files
These are large files; you may wish to select from the Provincial level files.
| Level of Geography | .DBF Files | .DCF Boundary Files | .DCF Water Files |
| Provincial boundaries | provincial boundary | provincial .dcf file | water layer |
| Federal Electoral Districts | FED boundaries | FED .dcf file | Not available |
| Urban Areas | Urban Areas | UA .dcf file | UA water layer |
| Census Divisions | Census Divisions | CD .dcf file | Not available |
| Census Consolidated Subdivision | CCS | CCS .dcf file | Not available |
| Forward Sortation Areas | Not available | FSA .dcf file | Not available |
| Census Subdivisions | CSDs | CSD .dcf file | Not available |
| Designated Places | DPLs | DPL .dcf file | DPL water layer |
| Census Metropolitan Areas | CMAs & CAs | CMA .dcf file | CMA water layer |
| Census Tracts | CTs | CT .dcf file | CT water layer |
| Enumeration Areas | EAs | EA .dcf file | Not available |
Provincial Level Geo-Spatial Files
The files are presented by province, with the .DBF files and .DCF files as separate choices.
| Province | CCS Files | CSD Files | CT Files | EA Files | Water files |
| Newfoundland | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Prince Edward Island | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | N/A | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Nova Scotia | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| New Brunswick | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Quebec | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Ontario | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Manitoba | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Saskatchewan | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Alberta | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| British Columbia | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | water | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Yukon Territory | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | N/A | .dbf | .dcf | water |
| Northwest Territories | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | .dcf | .dbf | N/A | .dbf | .dcf | water |
Document maintained by:
Government Documents, Data and Maps Department
E-mail address: Hamilton@unb.ca
Last update: 03/01/26
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