Are you trying to create a Census Map or view Census Boundaries?
Are you looking to view Census data by
Census Tract or by Census Division?
Either way your first step is to download some Census Boundaries.
To locate the boundary files, select the 'Geospatial' link
found at the top of all the 'Data-GIS' pages.
Since we're specifically looking for census data boundaries,
select from the U of T Map and Data Library box,
found on the left side of the 'Geospatial' pages,
'Census of Canada, 2006: spatial data'.
From here we can access all the Canadian Census boundaries
for the 2006 census year.
When you scroll down on this page, you can see all the different
level of boundaries that can be downloaded.
The Cartographic boundary files have been
modified to follow shorelines,
while the Digital boundary files extend beyond the shorelines.
Perhaps we want to view the Toronto boundary; we need to
download data at the Census Subdivision level.
For our purposes we would like the shorelines
and the Toronto islands to be visible so we will
download the Cartographic boundary files.
Beneath the CBF, select on the X beneath the ArcInfo column.
A download pop up window will appear.
Select the 'Save File' radio button and 'OK'.
Please note that you have now downloaded all the
Census Subdivision boundary files for Canada.
To view this spatial data file in ArcGIS
we will have to unzip the boundary file and then open it in ArcMap.
In ArcMap, you can now zoom into the Toronto
area to view your boundary file.
For further instruction in ArcMap, please visit our Video Archives.
