Economic Regions

Question
We would like to request descriptions please for the Economic Regions in the Postal Code Conversion File, if available. For your information, please find below* background geography documentation on Economic Regions.

If there are no descriptions per se for the (18) Economic Regions, are there are characteristics that distinguish the 18 Economic Regions from each other at the provincial level and at the national level, e.g., do the 13,592 Economic Regions designated as “10” in Nfld/Labrador resemble each other and the other 198,216 in the rest of Canada, and if so, how?

*background documentation from STC:

The PCCF reference guide (p.20) indicates:
Economic Regions: This identifies an economic region within a province/territory. This field must be combined with the province/territory code to uniquely identify an economic region.

From the Census Dictionary: An economic region (ER) is a grouping of complete census divisions (CDs) (with one exception in Ontario) created as a standard geographic unit for analysis of regional economic activity.

Within the province of Quebec, economic regions (régions administratives) are designated by law. In all other provinces and territories, economic regions are created by agreement between Statistics Canada and the province/territory concerned. Prince Edward Island and the three territories each consist of one economic region. In Ontario, there is one exception where the economic region boundary does not respect census division boundaries: the census division of Halton is split between the ER of Hamilton - Niagara Peninsula and the ER of Toronto.

Answer
Our geography contacts have provided us with the following information in response to your questions about the Economic Region codes in the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF):

Question:
We would like to request descriptions please for the Economic Regions in the Postal Code Conversion File, if available.

Answer:
"Economic region code

An economic region (ER) is a grouping of complete census divisions (CDs) (with one exception in Ontario) created as a standard geographic unit for analysis of regional economic activity.
Source: December 2009 Postal codes Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF), Reference Guide p. 28)

Each economic region is assigned a two-digit code. In order to uniquely identify each economic region in Canada, the two-digit province/territory code must precede the ER code.
Source: 2006 Census Dictionary http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2006/ref/dict/geo022a-eng.cfm

An Economic Region is a standard unit created in response to the requirement for a geographical unit suitable for the presentation and analysis of regional economic activity. Such a unit is small enough to permit regional analysis, yet large enough to include enough respondents that, after data are screened for confidentiality, a broad range of statistics can still be released.

The regions are based upon work by Camu, Weeks and Sametz in the 1950s. At the outset, boundaries of regions were drawn in such a way that similarities of socio-economic features within regions were maximized while those among regions were minimized. Later, the regions were modified to consist of counties which define the zone of influence of a major urban centre or metropolitan area. Finally, the regions were adjusted to accommodate changes in CD boundaries and to satisfy provincial needs.
Source: Standard geographical classification, 2006 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/standard-norme/sgc-cgt/2006/2006-intro-fin-eng.htm"

Question:
If there are no descriptions per se for the (18) Economic Regions, are there are characteristics that distinguish the 18 Economic Regions from each other at the provincial level and at the national level, e.g., do the 13,592 Economic Regions designated as "10" in Nfld/Labrador resemble each other and the other 198,216 in the rest of Canada, and if so, how?

Answer:
"No, there are no characteristics that distinguish one ERcode from another ERcode.

An ER is a geographical unit, smaller than a province, except in the case of Prince Edward Island and the Territories. The ER is made up by grouping whole census divisions, except for one case in Ontario, where the city of Burlington, a component of Halton (CD 35 24), is excluded from the ER of Toronto and is included in the Hamilton–Niagara Peninsula ER, which encompasses the entire CMA of Hamilton.
There were 76 ERs in 2006.
Source: Standard geographical classification, 2006 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/standard-norme/sgc-cgt/2006/2006-intro-fin-eng.htm"

Question:
Do provinces and territories all assign these numbers independently of each other?

Answer:
"ERs may be economic, administrative or development regions. Within the province of Quebec, economic regions are designated by law ("les régions administratives"). In all other provinces, economic regions are created by agreement between Statistics Canada and the provinces concerned.
Source: Standard geographical classification, 2006 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/subjects-sujets/standard-norme/sgc-cgt/2006/2006-intro-fin-eng.htm"

Question:
Is there any kind of common reason why the provinces and territories use "10" and in decreasing numbers "20", "30", etc.? Does 3510 (Ontario) have any relation to 2410 (Québec) or "3590" and "2490"?

Answer:
"No, there is no methodological reason why the provinces and territories use the numbers that they do, there is no relation between 3510 (Ontario) and 2410 (Québec) or 3590 and 2490. They are simply sequential numbers, no relationship between numbers and provinces."