Data Reference Standard on Canadian Provinces and Territories

1. Preamble

• 1.1. This data reference standard provides Government of Canada departments with a consistent way to present Canadian provinces and territories in their systems and datasets.
• 1.2. This data reference standard provides a standard code called the “alpha code” to describe Canada’s 13 major political units. It also shows the relationship between the alpha code and other common codes.
• 1.3. Not included in this data reference standard are previous names, abbreviations and codes for provinces and territories.
• 1.4. The alpha code exactly matches the set of codes created and managed by Canada Post. If Canada Post changes its codes, the Government of Canada will review and separately approve any changes to this data reference standard.
• 1.5. The steward of this data reference standard will review the reference data in Appendix A as required to ensure it remains current.
  • 1.5.1. Data reference standard stewards:
    • Statistics Canada
    • Natural Resources Canada, Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observations, Geographical Names Board of Canada Secretariat
  • 1.5.2. Data reference standard custodian: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Office of the Chief Information Officer of Canada

2. Effective date

• 2.1 This data reference standard takes effect on October 2, 2023.

3. Requirements

• 3.1 This data reference standard provides details on the requirements set out in subsection 4.4 of the Directive on Service and Digital.
• 3.2 Service owners, data practitioners and other individuals who interact with data must:
  • 3.2.1 Apply the reference data linked in Appendix A by using the codes in the table column called “Alpha code” when storing, sharing and publishing data on Canadian provinces and territories.
  • 3.2.2 Apply the reference data linked in Appendix A by using the codes in the table column called “Numeric code” when a numerical code is required in a system or dataset.

4. Application

• 4.1 This data reference standard applies to the departments described in Section 6 of the Directive on Service and Digital.
• 4.2 This data reference standard applies to datasets and systems developed after the effective date of this data reference standard.

5. References

• 5.1 This data reference standard should be read in conjunction with the following:

Policy instruments

• Policy on Service and Digital
• Directive on Service and Digital
• Standard for Managing Metadata
• Data and metadata reference standards

6. Enquiries

• 6.1 For interpretation of any aspect of this reference standard, contact ServiceDigital-ServicesNumerique@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Appendix A: Reference data

The reference data for this data reference standard is available in machine-readable formats.

Visit the Open Government Portal page on reference data for Canadian provinces and territories (with data dictionary) for more information and related resources.

CSV format

• Reference data on Canadian provinces and territories

JSON format

• Reference data on Canadian provinces and territories