A nationwide dataset was introduced into each individual census boundary product in this release. This dataset is located in the cn subdirectory of the product data file (e.g., DA_CAN_202512_XTAB.zip/data/cn/). The file naming convention for files in this directory is <data_layer><census_year>_cn.<ext>. In this convention, <data_layer> represents a two-letter abbreviation for one of the following data layers:
- ad – Aggregate Dissemination Area
- cd – Census Division
- cm – Census Metropolitan Area
- cs – Census Subdivision
- ct – Census Tract
- da – Dissemination Area
- pr – Province/Territory
<census_year> represents the two-digit year of the census from which data was compiled. For example, 21 indicates data from the 2021 census.
<ext> represents the file extension.
Example:
DA_CAN_202512_XTAB.zip/data/cn/da21_cn.map is the full file structure containing the new nationwide dataset containing Census 2021 Dissemination Areas in the December 2025 release.