LibGuides: Geospatial Data: Canada

Open Maps - Government of Canada

This is the main open data portal for geospatial data produced by the Government of Canada. Open Maps provides access to the Government of Canada’s geospatial information. You can combine, visualize, and analyze geospatial data and collaborate with other Canadians. You can search for a specific data and browse/search by government organization, keywords, subject, data formats.

Access Open Maps Catalogue

Canada Geospatial Data

Canada's Ecosystem in Maps - Ecodistrict
Suite of geospatial data sets and analysis application.
Canada Land Inventory
Canadian Digital Elevation Data
GeoBase.
Canadian Soil Information System (CanSIS)
Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Canadian Wind Energy Atlas
CanImage
Natural Resources Canada, Geogratis.
CanMap Parks & Recreation
DMTI. Access via the Geoportal.
CanMap Rail
DMTI. Access via the Geoportal.
CanMap Route Logistics & Streetfiles: Canada
DMTI. Access via the Geoportal.
CanMap Water
DMTI. Access via the Geoportal.
CanVec
CanVec is the most current (up-to-date) topographic map data product produced by Natural Resources Canada. It contains more than 60 topographic features classes organized into 8 themes: Transport Features, Administrative Features, Hydro Features, Land Features, Human made Features, Elevation Features, Resource Management Features and Toponymic Features. Data are available at the scales of 1:50,000, 1:250,000, 1:1 million, 1:5 million, and 1:25 million. Data available in shapefile (SHP) , and FGDB formats.
Census Boundary Files, 1981-2021
Census of Population Boundary Files from Statistics Canada
Digital Topographic Raster Maps, 1944-2012
This resource contains georeferenced digital topographic raster maps that are created from existing print National Topographic Map System map products published between 1944 and 2012 at the scales of 1:25,000, 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scales. Georeferenced maps can be used as a base layer in a Geographic Information System software and applications. Two different map products are available from this resource, CanMatrix and CanTopo. It is recommended to use the Canadian Geographic Names Database or the topographic map index KML Format to determine the NTS (National Topographic System) number that correspond to your area of interest.
Downloadable Climate Data
Government of Canada.
Enhanced Points of Interest: Canada
DMTI. Access via Scholars Geoportal. Most recent files are from 2015 to 2021..
Geography Network Canada
Online resource for finding and sharing geographic content, including maps and data, from many of Canada's leading providers
Government of Canada Open Data
Geospatial data and socio-economic data produced by the federal government, available for download
Health Regions Digital Boundary Files
Statistics Canada. Access via StatsCan
Municipal Boundaries
Access via the Geoportal.
National Climate Data and Information Archive
Climate data for many Canadian cities.
National Topographic Database (NTDB)
Legacy topographic map data from the Natural Resources Canada. Access via the Open Government Portal
Natural Resources Canada - Open Government Portal
This website has the following data available for download: (1) Aboriginal Lands of Canada Legislative Boundaries (2) Canadian Digital Elevation Model (3) Canadian Digital Surface Model (4) Canadian Geographical Names (5) Digital topographic raster maps (6) Land Cover for Agricultural Regions of Canada, Circa 2000 (7) Orthoimages of Canada 1999-2013, 2005-2010 (8) National Hydro Network (9) National Land Cover, Circa 2000 -Vector (10) National Railway Network (11) National Road Network
This data is considered to be open data and is available to everyone for download.
Platinum Postal Suite - Forward Sortation Area (FSA): Canada
DMTI. Access via the Geoportal.
Platinum Postal Suite - Local Delivery Unit (LDU): Canada
DMTI. Access via our Scholars Geoportal.
Platinum Postal Suite - Multiple Enhanced Postal Codes (MEP): Canada
DMTI. Access via Scholars Geoportal.
Satellite Streetview: Canadian Cities and Regions
DMTI Satellite Streetview contains orthorectified and pansharperned QuickBird Satellite imagery, 60 cm resolution, of cities across Canada. Imagery can be viewed and downloaded via Scholars Geoportal by searching the keywords "Satellite StreetView".
Surficial Geology pf Camada
Geological Survey of Canada. Access via the Open Government Portal.
Topographic Maps: Geospatial Applications and Tools
This webpage provides a list of different products that researchers can use to extract, use, and interpret National Topographic System data and maps produced by the federal government,.

Quick Links

Here are a few quick links to commonly-used sources of geospatial data (note that some may require a York login to access).

Scholars Geoportal The Scholars Geoportal provides access to large scale geospatial data sets, as well as sophisticated search, discovery and analysis tools to make the data readily available to Ontario University researchers. Resources include data licensed by Ontario academic libraries, such as land-based vector data (water, cultural features, etc.), census geography, and orthophotography.
Open Data Search: Geospatial Data This links to the open data search portal produced by the Government of Canada. You can use this portal to search for geospatial data.
SimplyAnalytics Create and download thematic maps, tables, reports and geospatial data using Canadian and American demographic, business, and marketing variables. It is only available to members of the York University community.Canadian data sources include: Adjusted Census Data, Demographic Estimates, Household Spending, PRIZM, and COVID-19 Outbreak data. American data sources include: U.S. Census Bureau Data, Community Demographic Estimates, Consumer Expenditure Estimates, Uniform Crime Reporting and NOAA Climate Divisional Database.
Lunaris (FRDR) Use Lunaris to find open geospatial datasets produced by academic researchers in Canada, as well as select government agencies.
ArcGIS and ESRI Products @ YorkU