Digitizing Early Postwar Canadian Census Tract Maps: Sources, Methods and Challenges

Abstract

ABSTRACT At present, Canadian census tract boundaries are available in digital form for 1951 and at 5-year intervals for the 1976–2021 period; the 1956–66 census boundary files have not been digitized and associated data are not readily available for the pre-1971 period. This inhibits the mapping and analysis of neighbourhood change for a period of rapid urban and social transformation. To fill this gap, we digitized 1956–66 census tract boundaries from paper maps for all cities for which such data were disseminated. We adjusted 2006 boundaries to match georeferenced historical maps in concert with ancillary data, including topographic and cadastral maps. All decisions are documented in the files. Finally, printed profile tables for 1951 and 1956 were digitized for joining the boundary files. Researchers may use these datasets to explore, analyse and map geospatial trends in the Canadian population at the neighbourhood scale back to 1951.