Canada Postal Code (FSA)

Owned by Diego Cesa de Meira (Unlicensed)
Sept 13, 2019
3 min read

Description

Forward Sortation Area (FSA) Boundary File depicts the boundaries of 1,620 forward sortation areas (identified by the first three characters of the postal code) derived from postal codes.

The FSA Boundary File provides a framework for mapping and spatial analysis. It is available in two types: cartographic and digital. The cartographic boundary file depicts the 2016 FSAs with the shoreline of the major land mass of Canada and its coastal islands. The digital boundary file depicts the full extent of the 2016 FSAs, including the coastal water area.

Originator

  1. Statistic Canada

  2. ESRI Living Atlas

  3. Canada Open Data

  4. Canada Post

NOTE: The currency of data varies with each provider.

Use Cases

  1. As a project officer, I want to be able to pin point approximate location of project proponents, stakeholders and TC clients based on address provided.

Source(s)

Source

Format

Date

Update Frequency

Metadata

Cost

Link

Remarks

Source

Format

Date

Update Frequency

Metadata

Cost

Link

Remarks

StatCan

SHP, GML, TAB

09 MAR 18

n/a

Yes

Nil

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/catalogue/92-179-X

FSA polygons

ESRI Living Atlas

Feature Service (JASON)

2011

n/a

Yes

Nil

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=c57f6d19c7214e5ca3dd11a1d98e6aaf

FSA polygons

Canada Post

ASCII

Most current

n/a

Yes

$$ Subscription

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/business/marketing/audience/license-data.page

FSA + LDU points

Canada Open Data

CSV

2011

n/a

Yes

Nil

https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/3d778e47-d849-4d6d-b562-c399bc512b11

Non-spatial

Remarks

The most appropriate dataset to use for EGIS would be from ESRI or Statistic Canada.
[JB] Statistics Canada is probably more appropriate: it's closer to the data originator (Canada Post) with comprehensive governance documentation and a "complete" metadata record (according to requirements of ISO NA profile).

[JB] The Canada Post file might be appropriate if a user has a specific requirement for more precise and / or current postal code locations. Given that there is an associated cost and the Canada Post requires a licensing agreement, it is not the most appropriate choice at this time.

As ESRI dataset is a web service and does not require periodic updates, currency of the data depends on how responsive the vendor is when new update is available.
[JB] The referenced ArcGIS Online service is listed as deprecated in ArcGIS Online. A more appropriate version is here . Even this item, however, is for the 2011 census, and there is no metadata record.

StatCan data must be downloaded and processed if required, a manual process which must be performed when new update is released. The time required for such operation is estimated at 2-2.5 hours.

Process for EGIS integration:

WFS, SHP, CSV and TAB Files:

  1. WFS, SHP, CSV and TAB Files files can be integrated directly into EGIS.

TC Smart Maps:

  1. Not all GIS applications can consume KML file directly due to its unique data structures such as networklinks, folders, models etc.

  2. Please contact Lawrence Chong, Digital Services Directorate for TC Smart Maps KML dataset and format translation.

  3. TC Smart Maps KML link: \\tc.gc.ca\tcgis\GISData\Google Mashup\PostalCode\PostalCode.kmz

Customization:

  1. Schema transformation: Not critical_

  2. Denormalization: Polygon generalization is highly recommended to improve display performance

  3. Value coding: Not required

  4. Attribute renaming: As required to improve readability

  5. Attribute removal: It is highly recommended as some fields are unnecessary, this will also reduce file size and improve performance

  6. Geoenrichment: Feature symbolization by theme is recommended

  7. Format translation: Not required

  8. Language translation: As required

  9. Update frequency: Every 2-4 years depending on changes in census boundary