Official release of the 2006 Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) and 2006 Boundary Files

Official release of the 2006 Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) and 2006 Boundary Files - October 18, 2006

The 2006 Standard Geographical Classification and the 2006 Boundary Files for selected geographies are released today. Both products are available free of charge in electronic format only:
http://www.statcan.ca/start.html.

The final version of the 2006 SGC Volume I and the print version of the 2006 SGC Volume II will be released on January 16, 2007. Boundary files for the remaining geographic units (except urban area and designated place UA/DPL) will be released on February 14, 2007.

2006 Standard Geographical Classification (SGC):

The Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) is a classification of geographical areas used to collect and disseminate statistics. The 2006 edition replaces the 2001 edition as the official classification for geographical areas for the 2006 Census and other Statistics Canada surveys.

The classification is organized in two volumes: Volume I (Preliminary) The Classification and Volume II Reference Maps.

Volume I (preliminary) released today, contains tables of the names and codes of standard geographical classification units, organized by province and territory and by metropolitan area. Designed as a reference and coding tool, Volume I (preliminary) is available in PDF (12-571-PIE) and HTML (12-571-PWE) formats. The final version of Volume I, to be released on January 16, 2007, will contain additional tables as well as concordances between SGC 2001 and SGC 2006.

Volume I can be accessed at:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Standard/sgc/2006/2006-sgc-index.htm

Volume II (12-572-XWE) contains reference maps showing boundaries, names, codes and locations of the geographical areas in the classification. The reference maps show census subdivisions, census divisions, census metropolitan areas, census agglomerations, and economic regions. The maps can be downloaded for free in PDF format. On January 16, 2007, Volume II will also be released in print version.

Volume II can be accessed at:
http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Standard/sgc/2006/2006-sgc-index2.htm
The maps can also be accessed directly at:
http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss2006/Maps/SGC2006_e.jsp

A summary reference guide explaining the methodology behind the creation of these maps is also available (in PDF (92-149-GIE) or HTML (92-149-GWE) format):
http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss2006/Reference/Freepub/92-149-GWE/92-149-GWE2006001.htm
Please note that the summary reference guide released today will be undergoing improvements and enhancements in order to expand content. Subsequent versions of the reference guides will accompany the upcoming reference map releases in January and March 2007.

2006 Boundary Files:

The 2006 Boundary Files (92-160-XWE) portray the geographical limits used for census dissemination and provide a framework for mapping and spatial analysis. The geographical areas covered are those of the 2006 Standard Geographical Classification. There are two types of boundary files: digital and cartographic. Digital files depict the full extent of the geographical areas, including the coastal water area. Cartographic files depict the geographical areas using only the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. The files are available in three formats: ArcInfo® (.shp), MapInfo® (.tab) and Geography Markup Language (.gml).

Boundary Files are available for the following geographic units:

* Province/Territory
* Economic region
* Census division
* Census metropolitan area/Census agglomeration
* Census consolidated subdivisions
* Census subdivisions

Three supplementary hydrography layers are also available as a reference layer for the Cartographic Boundary Files (CBF). The following three hydrography layers have been released:

* Lakes and rivers (polygon)
* Rivers (line)
* Coastal waters (polygon)

The 2006 boundary files (3 formats) can be downloaded for free from the following link and are only available for download at the national level:
http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss2006/DataProducts/BoundaryFiles_e.jsp

A summary reference guide is also available (in PDF or HTML format):
http://geodepot.statcan.ca/Diss2006/Reference/Freepub/92-160-GWE/92-160-GWE2006001.htm
Please note that the summary reference guide released today will be undergoing improvements and enhancements in order to expand content and will be reissued in November. Subsequent versions of the reference guides will accompany the upcoming boundary file releases in February and March 2007.

Please note:

1) Users of Netscape and Firefox Internet browsers may have experienced difficulties with the download of the 2006 Road Network File. This technical issue has now been resolved on all download pages, however if users continue to experience difficulties please contact GEO-Help at 1-613-951-3889 to obtain a copy of the data on CD-R.

2) MapInfo users with versions that pre-date MapInfo version 8.0 may experience difficulties opening the Province/Territory and Economic Region cartographic boundary files. This is due to earlier versions of MapInfo having lower restrictions on the number of nodes per object and/or a multi-polygon object limit per record.

3) Any boundary challenges proposed as a result of this release will be dealt with on a case by case basis. For more information please contact GEO-Help at 1-613-951-3889.

Upcoming releases:

January 16, 2007: Reference maps - CSD/DA (without UA/DPL), C(M)A/CT (without UA/DPL), CT/DA, Non-tracted CA/DA (without UA/DPL)

February 14, 2007: Reference products (Illustrated Glossary, Geography Catalogue, Census Dictionary), Boundary files (CT, DA, DB (Dissemination Block), FED2003), Ranked Road Network File (RRNF), Correspondence Files, and Geographic Attribute File (GAF) and GeoSearch (without population and dwelling counts).

March 13, 2007: Population and dwelling counts - highlight tables, Thematic release maps - population and dwelling counts, Geography catalogue (2nd edition), Reference maps - CSD/DA (with UA/DPL), C(M)A/CT (with UA/DPL), Non-tracted CA/DA (with UA/DPL), Boundary Files (UA & DPL), GeoSuite, and Geographic Attribute File (GAF) and GeoSearch (with population and dwelling counts).