Note 1: The examples here use 1996 census of population, as these were the most recent data available at time of writing.

Note 2: Read Mechanda, K. & H. Pudere How Postal Codes Map to Geographic Areas. Ottawa, Ont.: Statistics Canada, Feb. 2007 (STC 92F0138MIE No. 001)

Census data by Forward sortation areas (FSA; 3-digit postal codes):

Since 1986, Statistics Canada has been producing profile files (univariate frequencies) at the Forward Sortation Area (FSA) level, and since, 1996, basic summary tabulations/basic cross tabulations (multi-variate tables) as well. No conversion of these files is required.

Census data for a few (6-digit) postal codes:

There are two major options available if you need census data for a few postal codes:

1. Census tract (CT) level univariate statistics via E-stat profile files:
   1. Go to: <http://estat.statcan.ca/>
   2. Select English or French. [The following presupposes you selected 'English']
   3. Scroll to the bottom of the 'Licence agreement' page, and click on Accept.
   4. In the left menu bar, select Search Census
   5. On the next screen, under Available databases: Census select 1996 Census or 2001 Census from the drop-down menu, and click the Go! button to the right of it.
   6. On the next screen, select the (43 Large Urban Centres, Census Tract (neighbourhood)) option on the drop-down menu and click the Go! button to the right of it.
   7. On the next screen, select an appropriate subject area from the drop-down menu box, or select ALL TABLES and click the Go! button to the right of it.
   8. All of the screens that follow have a Selection by postal code as the second option for selecting a geographic area. Enter the postal code(s) (per the instructions, upper or lower case, with or without embedded blanks), select at least one of the 1699 (1996 census) characteristics. Click on the icon for an appropriate output format to activate the request.

2. Enumeration/dissemination area (EA/DA) level univariate statistics:
   1. Note that: in 1996 census data, the smallest geographic area is the enumeration area (EA). Enumeration areas are only unique with federal electoral districts, and therefore require a province code (2 digits) + federal electoral district code (3 digits) + enumeration area code (3 digits) for identification. In 2001, the smallest geographic area for which data are released is the dissemination area (DA), which is only unique within a census division. Dissmination areas require a province code (2 digits) + census division code (2 digits) + dissemination area code (4 digits) for identification.
   2. To determine which enumeration/dissemination area(s) best approximate your postal code(s), go to the CHASS interface to the PCCF with 1996 or 2001 census geography, and select the by user-specified postal code option.
   3. Enter your postal codes (with no embedded blanks) per the instructions, in the first dialogue box.
   4. In the menu (selection item 2), select at a minimum:
      • postal code
      • 1996:
        • region and province (1987 representation order for 1996) - 1996 only
        • federal electoral district (1987 or 1996 representation order)
        • enumeration area (1996 versus respectively)
      • 2001 data: dissemination area unique identifier
      • single link indicator
   5. Select an output format, and click on the Submit Query button.
   6. You will receive as output a list showing (for 1996 data) province code (2 digits), federal electoral district (3 digits) and enumeration area (3 digits). If there is more than one enumeration area listed per postal code, use the one with a Single link indicator value of '1'. Your output will look like this (in text format):

      POSTCODE         RP96       FED87        EA87         SLI
      M5S1A5             35         087         251           1
      M5S1A5             35         087         259           0
      M5S1A5             35         087         259           0
      M5S1A6             35         087         251           1
      M5S1A7             35         087         259           1
      M5S1A8             35         087         251           1
      M5S1A8             35         087         251           0
      M5S1A9             35         087         251           1
      

   7. Sort the enumeration areas in ascending order of province code (PRP96) + federal electoral district code (FED87) + enumeration area code (EA87) or dissemination area unique identifier (2001).
   8. Now select the characteristics you require in the 1996 census enumeration area or 2001 dissemination area profile file, available in:

      Format	1996	2001
      Beyond 20/20	Atlantic provinces, Québec, Ontario, Prairie provs, BC & Territories	Atlantic provinces Québec Ontario Prairie provs, BC & Territories
      Web interface	All Canada	All Canada

      
      Lists of Federal electoral district names and corresponding codes are available at: <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/datalib/other/referenc.htm#sgc>.
   9. Alternatively, select appropriate enumeration/dissemination area level tables from the appropriate 1996 or 2001 census basic summary tabulations (in Beyond 20/20 format).

Obtaining census data for many (6-digit) postal codes:

1. Consider using the Health PCCF+ set of SAS routines provided by Health Canada
   Or
2. Enter the postal codes that you need to match with census data into a file, one postal code per line, with no embedded blanks (ie. 'm5s1a5', not 'm5s 1a5'). Use either upper or lower case.
3. The basic procedure is to:
   • Obtain, from an appropriate edition of the Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) the corresponding geographic area codes that best matches each postal code in your list: 1996 or 2001 census geography,
   • Extract, from census aggregate data the descriptive statistics you need for the appropriate level of geography that now identifies your postal codes. Univariate frequencies are available in the profile files:

     Enumeration areas	1996	2001
     Web interface	All Canada	All Canada
     Beyond 20/20	Atlantic provinces, Québec, Ontario, Prairie provs, BC & Territories	Atlantic provinces Québec Ontario Prairie provs, BC & Territories

   • Merge the two files, keeping only those cases that correspond to postal codes on your list.
   • Examples: doing it with: SPSS/Windows, SAS/Windows, SPSS/Unix
4. Note that a similar procedure (but using CMA code and census tract name as the linking variables, rather than province+federal electoral district+enumeration area code) can be used to extract census tract level data for postal codes.

   Census tracts	1996	2001
   Web interface	All Canada	All Canada
   Beyond 20/20	All Canada	All Canada

5. The above procedures can also be used to extract postal code data from the 1996 and 2001 basic cross-tabulations (multivariate distributions) at the enumeration area or census tract levels.