The Proximity Measures Database provide a wealth of information at the dissemination block level about the distance and amount of access to essential services and amenities in a given neighbourhood. The measures are released as a normalized index value ranging from 0 to 1, where 0 indicates the lowest proximity and 1 the highest proximity in Canada.

The key updates to the Proximity Measures Database, 2021 include the usage of 2021 Census geographies, 2021 OpenStreetMap road network, and an update of all input data sets for amenities such as the Business Register, Generalized Transit Feeds Specification (GTFS) data, and data from authoritative open data providers. Proximity to public transit is now calculated based on the distance to the dissemination block (DB) that contains the public transit stop and not the stop itself. Lastly, the representative point of dissemination blocks is determined using building footprint (polygon) data rather than the centroid of the DB.

The Proximity Measures Database contains 10 measures of proximity and a composite indicator that combines some of the proximity measures:

• Proximity to employment: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a source of employment within a driving distance of 10 km. This measure is derived from the employment counts of all businesses -- that is, all North American Industry Classification (NAICS) codes in the Business Register.
• Proximity to grocery stores: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a grocery store within a walking distance of 1 km. This measure is derived from the total revenue of all NAICS 4451 businesses in the Business Register.
• Proximity to pharmacies: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a pharmacy or a drug store within a walking distance of 1 km. This measure is derived from the presence of all NAICS 446110 businesses in the Business Register.
• Proximity to health care: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a health care facility within a driving distance of 3 km. This measure is derived from the employment counts of all NAICS 6211, 6212, 6213, 621494, and 622 businesses in the Business Register and supplemented with the Open Database of Healthcare Facilities (ODHF).
• Proximity to child care: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a child care facility within a walking distance of 1.5 km. This measure is derived from the presence of all NAICS 624410 businesses in the Business Register.
• Proximity to primary education: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a primary school within a walking distance of 1.5 km. Primary schools are classified as education facilities with an International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) level of 1. The data source is a conglomeration of the Open Database of Educational Facilities and other sources of education facilities.
• Proximity to secondary education: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a secondary school within a walking distance of 1.5 km. The data source is a conglomeration of the Open Database of Educational Facilities and other sources of education facilities where secondary schools are classified as ISCED2 and/or ISCED3.
• Proximity to public transit: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any source of public transportation within a 1 km walking distance. This measure is derived from the number of all trips between 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. from a conglomeration of General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data sources.
• Proximity to neighborhood parks: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a neighborhood park within a 1 km walking distance. This measure is derived from the presence of all parks from a conglomeration of authoritative open data sources and OpenStreetMap.
• Proximity to libraries: Measures the closeness of a dissemination block to any dissemination block with a library within a 1.5 km walking distance. This measure is derived from the presence of all libraries from a conglomeration of open and publicly available data sources and OpenStreetMap.

An aggregate measure was created to indicate neighbourhoods that have access to basic needs for a family with minors. A dissemination block with access to a grocery store, pharmacy, health care facility, child care facility, primary school, library, public transit stop, and source of employment is referred to as an amenity dense neighbourhood.Note2 A high amenity density neighbourhood is defined as an amenity dense neighbourhood that has proximity measure values in the top third of the distribution for each of the eight proximity measures.