The Canadian Ecumene (CanEcumene) 3.0 GIS Database

The Canadian Ecumene (CanEcumene) 3.0 GIS Database is an open dataset from Natural Resources Canada with 11 files (ESRI REST, MXD, PDF, WMS, FGDB/GDB); catalogue record updated 2024-06-17. On CanQuery you can follow the original downloads. Files are available in English and French.

“Ecumene” is a term used by geographers, meaning “inhabited lands.” Populated places in the ecumene database are referenced using natural boundaries, as opposed to administrative or census boundaries, and provide a more suitable means for integrating socio-economic data with ecological and environmental data in a region. The Canadian Ecumene GeoDatabase 3.0 includes the custom boundaries for more than 3,000 populated areas across Canada, many of which were derived from remote-sensing “night-lights” imagery. Each ecumene place has a corresponding set of attributes pertaining to place name, province, ecozone, indigenous communities, and other descriptive information, as well as an initial custom set of demographic variables derived from Statistics Canada Census and National Household Survey data for 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016. A number of additional layers are also included that map the extents of Canada's ecumene in alternate ways, using transportation and utility networks, nightlights imagery, and population density. (NOTE: In the list below, the V2 Shape, KML, and TIFF files have not changed for the CanEcumene 3.0) Provided layer: The Canadian Ecumene (CanEcumene) 3.0 GIS…

Publisher

Natural Resources Canada

Resources

11

Catalogue metadata updated

2024-06-17