The Quebec geographic code files correspond to a set of tabular data presenting the most recent portrait of the municipal boundaries in force (file D001) as well as the history of all territorial transactions that have affected municipalities since the establishment of the geographic code system in 1964 (file D002).
These files bring together all the information available in the [Directory of territorial divisions] (https://statistique.quebec.ca/statistiques/divisions-territoriales/index.html): they include all the transactions listed in the newsletters [Modifications to municipalities] (https://statistique.quebec.ca/statistiques/divisions-territoriales/modifications-municipalites.html), toponyms, codes and other additional information on municipalities as well as all the links belonging to the other territorial divisions provincial and federal.
Earlier versions (up to 1985) of the Quebec geographic code files are available [here] (https://statistique.quebec.ca/statistiques/divisions-territoriales/fichiers_code_geo/code-geographique-quebec.html).
Geographic code files are distributed in two distinct formats: in XML (Extensible Markup Language), which is the recommended format for exploiting data, and in text format. For more details, see the metadata sheet on page 4.