Spatial Access Measures
Statistics Canada’s Spatial Access Measures (SAM) rate how well each census block reaches eight kinds of destination by walking, cycling and transit. With à portée plus plus · free with sign-in, you can show them on the map as the StatCan SAM view. They come from Statistics Canada, not from à portée’s own routing.
The dataset
Section titled “The dataset”| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Reference year | 2024 |
| Area | Dissemination block, 2021 Census |
| Version | 2024 release, with Statistics Canada’s November 2025 correction for confident cyclists |
Destinations and modes
Section titled “Destinations and modes”| Destination on the map | Measure |
|---|---|
| Grocery (closest, third or fifth closest) | Minutes |
| Childcare | Access score, 0–1 |
| School | Access score, 0–1 |
| College or university | Access score, 0–1 |
| Health care | Access score, 0–1 |
| Jobs | Access score, 0–1 |
| Sports and recreation | Access score, 0–1 |
| Arts and culture | Access score, 0–1 |
Each destination has six modes: walking; cycling on routes for confident cyclists, cautious cyclists, or all ages and abilities (“any rider” on the map); and transit at peak or off-peak.
- Minutes use the same colours as the Minutes view, so the two maps compare directly. Past 30 minutes is grey. SAM times walking and cycling up to 30 minutes and transit up to 40; a block SAM does not time has no colour.
- Access scores are not travel times. A score of 1 is the best-served block in Canada for that destination and mode. The map colours scores on a scale of their own, from lower to higher access, in fixed bands (under 0.001, 0.005, 0.02, 0.05, 0.15, and 0.15 or more).
On the map, cycling starts on routes for cautious cyclists and transit on peak; the other choices are under the row. A mode SAM has no measure for is greyed out.
Limits
Section titled “Limits”- A missing value is not zero, and not proof that a block has no access.
- Coverage differs from mode to mode.
- The data is from 2024, on the 2021 census blocks.
- SAM’s list of grocery stores is not à portée’s, so its minutes can differ from ours.
Source and licence
Section titled “Source and licence”The measures are defined in the record layout of the official download, catalogue no. 27-26-0001. They are distributed under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; cite Statistics Canada, not à portée, for SAM values. The method is under References.