Standard
Digital data sets should be organized in the standard map sheet indexing system which is an extension of the National Topographic Series of maps.
Individual GIS applications may require specialized "windowing" of data sets, however, where possible the data set organization and labeling should follow the pattern set out in the following table.
| Map Scale | Map Label Format | Example Coverage | Latitude Coverage | Longitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:250,000 | DDDL | 012M | 1° | 2° |
| 1:50,000 | DDDLDD | 012B08 | 0° 15′ | 0° 30′ |
| 1:12,500 | DDDLDDRC | 012B0842 | 0° 03′ 45" | 0° 07′ 30" |
| 1:5,000 | DDDLDD5RC | 012B08594 | 0° 01′ 30" | 0° 03′ |
| 1:2,500 | DDDLDDQRC | 012B08236 | 0° 00′ 45" | 0° 01′ 30" |
| 1:1,250 | DDDLDDRCRC | 012B084273 | 0° 00′ 22.5" | 0° 00′ 45" |
¹ Explanation of the map label format
| 1:250,000 | DDDL | DDD=3 digit block numbers covering Canada, Letters A-P for 16 cells |
| 1:50,000 | DDDLDD | 16 cells within 1:250,000 map, DD numbers 1-16 |
| 1:12,500 | DDDLDDRC | 16 cells within 1:50,000 map, Rows 1-4, Columns 1-4 ** |
| 1:5,000 | DDDLDD5RC | 100 cells within 1:50,000 map, 5 always, Rows 0-9, Columns 0-9 ** |
| 1:2,500 | DDDLDDQRC | 400 cells within 1:50,000 map, Quad. 1-4 *, Rows 0-9, Columns 0-9 ** |
| 1:1,250 | DDDLDDRCRC | 100 cells within 1:12,500 map, Rows 0-9, Columns 0-9 ** |
| * Quadrant numbering: | 1 for South-West | ||
| 2 for South-East | 3 | 4 | |
| 3 for North-West | |||
| 4 for North-East | 1 | 2 |
** Rows are numbered from Bottom to Top,
Columns are numbered from Left to Right
Note: Provincial mapping produced prior to 1975 does not follow this numbering system.