Dictionary, Census of Population, 2021
Cartographic Boundary Files (CBFs)

Definition

Cartographic Boundary Files (CBFs) portray the boundaries of standard geographic areas, together with the shoreline around Canada. Selected inland lakes and rivers are available as supplementary layers.

Reported in

2021, 2016, 2011, 2006 and 2001 (Cartographic Boundary Files)

1996 (digital cartographic files)

1991, 1986, 1981 and 1976 (CARTLIBs)

Remarks

The boundaries of the geographic areas reflect those in effect on January 1, 2021 (the geographic reference date for the 2021 Census of Canada).

Cartographic Boundary Files (CBFs) are created by integrating Canada's external shoreline with the selected source boundary layer from the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). The boundaries extending into water bodies are "erased" and replaced by the shoreline and offshore islands. Further adjustments are made, such as feature selection and the ranking of features for scale‑dependent mapping.

CBFs are intended for thematic mapping and analysis purposes. The positional accuracy does not support cadastral, surveying or engineering applications. CBFs can be used in conjunction with the Road Network File (RNF), since both products are derived from the same sources. The roads in the RNF provide additional geographic context when used with CBFs. CBFs can be used with Census of Population, Census of Agriculture or other Statistics Canada data. Geographic codes provide the linkage between the statistical data and geographic areas.

The maps in Figure 1.4 show the differences between cartographic boundary files (CBFs) and digital boundary files (DBFs).

Refer to the related definitions of Digital Boundary Files (DBFs), Road Network File (RNF) and Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) and to Boundary Files, Reference Guide (Catalogue no. 92-160-G).

Changes prior to the current census

Not applicable