POSTAL CODE/FEDERAL RIDING FILE

Description - Datasets - Example - back to Geographic Census Data Index

Description:

The Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) is a digital file which provides a link between the six-character postal code and Canada's federal electoral districts (which are also known as federal ridings). The current version of the PCFRF links 822,852 active postal code records, existing as of September 2007, to the 308 federal electoral districts.

Elections Canada defines a federal electoral district as any place or territorial area entitled to return a Member of Parliament (MP) to serve in the House of Commons. Federal electoral district (FED) legal limits and descriptions are the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer, and are usually revised every 10 years after the results of the decennial census. There are 308 FEDs in the 2003 Representation Order, the most recent revision of the federal electoral districts limits. The FEDs are based on the 2001 Census population data.

The geographic reference date is a date determined by Statistics Canada to finalize the geographic framework for which the census data are collected, tabulated and reported. The geographic reference date for the 2006 Census is January 1, 2006.

What's new for 2006?

• The postal code reference date for this update is September 2007. This is the same as for the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF). The Postal Code by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) refers to the federal electoral districts (FED) based on the 2003 Representation Order.

• The 'unique link' variable indicates if the postal code is linked to one or more FEDs.

• The PCFRF now includes the variable 'weight'. The 'weight' estimates the proportion of the population of a postal code that resides within each FED.

• The names of 38 Federal Electoral Districts were changed through legislation on September 1, 2004. These changes are reflected in the Federal electoral district names file – 2003 Representation Order (FED03_CEF03.dat).

• Since the last release of the PCFRF, the names of two federal electoral districts were changed (back to their original names in the 2003 Representation Order) through legislation on February 24, 2005. These changes are also reflected in the Federal electoral district names file – 2003 Representation Order (FED03_CEF03.dat).

• The boundaries between the Federal Electoral District of Miramichi (13006) and the Federal Electoral District of Acadie-Bathurst (13001) in New Brunswick were changed through legislation passed on February 24, 2005. The following three CSDs which belonged to Miramichi are now part of Acadie-Bathurst: 1315006 (Allardville, P), 1315008 (Bathurst, P), and 1315010 (Pabineau 11, IRI).

(Source: User Guide 2007)

For detailed description of files see Users' Guides:

Datasets:

The Data is available in ASCII format.

1996 files updated to May 2002.
2001 files are updated to October, 2005.
The 2006 files are updated to March, 2008

In the TDR the following products are stored:

Example:

Example for the 1996 Ontario file: