Postal Codes Shape File

Question:

Hello DLI,

A researcher has asked me if there are postal code shapefiles available. We initially looked at the shapefiles for FSA boundaries from StatsCan, but those areas are too big for the researchers needs. Any advice? Thanks!

Have a lovely day! 

Answer:

DMTI has shapefiles of FSAs and LDUs in their CanMap Postal Suite product.

What do you mean “too big”? If the extent is too large, you can clip the files to a geographic region using a GIS application. If the FSAs are too big (ie, too large an area), then the LDUs (six digit postal codes) may be sufficient.

PCCF and FSA comparison

Question

A researcher is trying to identify FSAs by provincial health authorities--the first thing I thought of was the PCCF. Is this a good use of the PCCF / PCCF flavour? Is there an alternative?

Answer

I have a suggestion, which might work for your question, and doesn’t require using the PCCF!

Statistics Canada freely provides boundary files for census geography in popular formats such as ArcGIS, GML and MapInfo. The list of downloadable geographies does include Forward Sortation Areas.

Stat Can also provides Health region boundary files. In the user guide, they explain that the health regions are “defined by provincial ministries of health” and will change as the provinces draw up new lines. The files I’ve linked you to are from 2014, but it’s possible to go back in time if working with older data.

So you could download these boundary files in a format compatible with your favorite (?!) GIS software. Then, if you have the knowledge yourself or know a friendly GIS person at your institution that can help, it’s possible to do all kinds of magic – including generating a list of FSAs by health regions. If there’s no GIS people where you are, let us know… several people on this list have experience with GIS software and might be willing to help.

While looking at the boundary files in the software, it will be easier to see if there are problems integrating FSAs and health regions – my understanding is that the country is divided in FSAs by Canada Post for their own needs and the provinces are divided in health regions by the provinces for their own needs – they might not fit exactly with each other.

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Following up on the suggestion about comparing boundary files:

I have experience comparing these in Ontario and can confirm that they don't necessarily overlap. In some cases you can make educated guesses about the health unit in which you'd find the bulk of the population for a given FSA, but for other cases this may be quite difficult. Also, the case may be different in BC.

2006 FSA Boundary Files

Question

Are the 2006 FSA boundary files included in the dbf files on the DLI web site, or are they somewhere else?

Answer

DLI geography files are not available on the DLI website but you can download them from the DLI FTP site (stcftp.statcan.ca).

To access the 2006 FSA boundary files:

1) Access the DLI FTP site and go to /Geography-Géographie/2006/spatial-info_dinfo-spatiale/

2) Select ArcInfo or MapInfo depending on your user's preference

3) Select dbf (Digital Boundary File) or cbf (Cartographic Boundary File) depending on your user's preference. For a brief description of the two types, see http://www.statcan.gc.ca/dli-ild/guide-trousse/guide-trousse/toc-tdm/3000277-eng.htm#geo.

4) Select National

5) Select FSA-RTA. There will be two files in this directory, one English "_e.zip" and one French "_f.zip"

If you have any problems connecting to the FTP site or downloading the files, please do not hesitate to contact me.