1986 Census Geography Files
Documentation
Other Census Geography Files
- 2011 Census Geography files
- 2006 Census Geography files
- 2001 Census Geography files
- 2001 Road Network Files, Skeletal Road Network Files and Reference Maps
- 1996 Census Geography files
- 1991 Census Geography files
- 1981 Census Geography files
- 1961 Census of Canada Census Tract Boundary files for City of Toronto
- 1951 Census of Canada Boundary files
Census Maps (paper format)
Format
- ArcInfo Coverage (.e00)
(Converting .e00 files to .shp files) - MapInfo tab (.tab) files
(available upon request).
Click on the level of geography to see available files.
Paper or scanned reference maps may also be available when GIS files are not.
Census Tract (CT)
Small geographic units representing urban or rural neighbourhood-like communities created in census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations (with an urban core population of 50,000 or more at the previous census). There were 3,776 CTs in 1986.
Census Subdivision (CSD)
General term applying to municipalities (as determined by provincial legislation) or their equivalent (for example, Indian reserves, Indian settlements and unorganized territories). There were 6,009 CSDs in 1986.
Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) / Census Agglomerations (CA)
A census metropolitan area (CMA) or a census agglomeration (CA) is formed by one or more adjacent municipalities centred on a large urban area (known as the urban core). The census population count of the urban core is at least 10,000 to form a census agglomeration and at least 100,000 to form a census metropolitan area. To be included in census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, other adjacent municipalities must have a high degree of integration with the central urban area, as measured by commuting flows derived from census place of work data. There were 25 CMAs and 114 CAs in 1986.
Census Consolidated Subdivision (CCSD)
A grouping of census subdivisions. Generally the smaller, more urban census subdivisions (towns, villages, etc.) are combined with the surrounding, larger, more rural census subdivision, in order to create a geographic level between the census subdivision and the census division. There were 2,628 in 1986.
Census Division (CD)
General term applied to areas established by provincial law which are intermediate geographic areas between the municipality (census subdivision) and the province level. Census divisions represent counties, regional districts, regional municipalities and other types of provincially legislated areas. There were 266 CDs in 1986.
Federal Electoral District (FED)
An area represented by a member of the House of Commons. The federal electoral district boundaries used for the 1986 Census are based on the 1976 Representation Order which had a total of 282 federal electoral districts.
Forward Sortation Area (FSA)
The first three characters of the postal code identify the forward sortation area.
Province and Territory
Boundaries of the 10 provinces and 2 territories.
Population Ecumene (1986)
Ecumene is used by geographers to mean inhabitant land; generally referring to land where people have made their permanent home, and to all work areas that are considered occupied and use for agricultural or any other economic purpose.
Agricultural Ecumene (1986)
Ecumene is used by geographers to mean inhabitant land; generally referring to land where people have made their permanent home, and to all work areas that are considered occupied and use for agricultural or any other economic purpose.
Documentation
Last Updated: 21 November 2014