Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) 1996

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Nunavut came into being officially as a Territory of Canada on April 1, 1999. The province/territory numeric code for Nunavut is 62 whereas the code for the Northwest Territories remains 61.

While as yet there is no official abbreviation for Nunavut, the standard abbreviation established for use within Statistics Canada is Nvt. in English and Nt in French.

Canada Post has introduced a new alpha code (NU) for Nunavut on December 18, 2000.

What was known as the Northwest Territories until April 1, 1999, is now divided into Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Users should be aware that although there is a significant boundary change for the Northwest Territories, the name and code remain the same.

The five census divisions (CDs) of Northwest Territories listed in the 1996 Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) are divided as follows: Baffin Region (04), Keewatin Region (05) and Kitikmeot Region (08) are part of Nunavut whereas Fort Smith Region (06) and Inuvik Region (07) remain within the Northwest Territories. At the lower level of the SGC (census subdivision - CSD), 37 of 68 CSDs remain within the Northwest Territories and 31 CSDs are included in Nunavut. These changes do not impact population counts at the CSD level.

The following convention was used for coding the geographic units (component parts of codes are preserved as much as possible). For the geographic units of Nunavut, the first two digits of the SGC code have been changed (from 61 to 62) whereas the original CD and CSD codes have been retained. However, the new boundary between Nunavut and Northwest Territories shows a part of Kitikmeot, unorganized, including the hamlet of Hollman, remaining within the Northwest Territories. Consequently, Hollman becomes part of Inuvik Region (CD code changes from 08 to 07). Other changes that do not affect SGC codes are boundary adjustments for the unorganized territories along the new boundary.

Finally, there are two CSD name changes since the release of the 1996 SGC:

CSD name changes since the release of the 1996
Previous code Previous name New code New name
6104010 Broughton Island, HAM 6204010 Qikiqtarjuaq, HAM
6106052 Snare Lake, SET 6106052 Wekweti, SET

For all changes to these two territories see: Northwest Territories and Nunavut

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