Canadian Data
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GEO.ca – Canadian Federal Geospatial Portal

GEO.ca – Canadian Federal Geospatial Portal

Geospatial data underpins a vast array of every day decisions, from climate resilience and emergency management to urban planning and public policy. Canada’s authoritative digital platform for open geospatial information, developed through a collaborative effort among federal, provincial, and territorial stakeholders (& led by Natural Resources Canada) has a new home; GEO.ca.

Times have changed, Governments know the value of geospatial information and they want to get it into the hands of Canadians, enabling transparency, innovation, and evidence-based decision-making. The portal is designed to coordinate, curate, and facilitate the sharing of geospatial data across all levels of government, providing a simpler solution for data discovery and dissemination. It helps foster collaboration, community engagement, and innovation by providing tools for visualization, analysis, and sharing of geospatial insights. The platform is continually evolving, with ongoing updates and new features designed to meet changing needs of a diverse user base.

It is a key component of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), which encompasses data, standards, policies, applications, and governance mechanisms to support the access, use, and integration of spatial data nationwide. It also helps fulfill Canada’s ongoing commitments to an Open Government, ensuring that publicly funded geospatial data is made freely available to all users with minimal restrictions.

Target Audiences

The site is designed to serve a broad range of user types, including: working with the Canadian Federal Geospatial Portal

Geospatial Professionals: GIS analysts, cartographers, remote sensing specialists, and data scientists who require authoritative, high-quality spatial data for research, analysis, and application development

Policy Makers and Planners: Federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal officials who use spatial data for policy formulation, infrastructure planning, emergency management, and resource allocation

Academia, Researchers and Students: University faculty, students, and research institutions leveraging geospatial data for scientific studies, environmental monitoring, and socio-economic analysis. Learners at all levels who use geospatial data for educational purposes, curriculum development, and classroom projects

Industry / Private Sector: Companies in sectors such as natural resources, environmental consulting, urban development, and insurance, which depend on accurate geospatial information for operational and strategic decisions

General Public: Basically anyone interested in exploring maps, understanding their environment, or engaging with communities

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Key Features and Tools

GEO.ca distinguishes itself through a suite of features and tools that help facilitate data discovery, visualization, and analysis. Some of these include:

Geospatial Search and Discovery Engine

At the heart of GEO.ca is geoCore, a next-generation search engine that transforms traditional metadata into a flexible, high-performance “metadata lake.” This enables rapid, semantic, and context-aware searches across the platform’s extensive data holdings. It supports multiple metadata standards, ensuring interoperability with a wide range of data sources and user requirements.

It’s capabilities are further enhanced by machine learning-powered semantic search and a Similarity Engine, which recommends related datasets based on user queries and metadata relationships. This approach streamlines the discovery process, making it easier for users to find relevant data even when they are unfamiliar with specific dataset titles or terminologies.

Interactive Map Viewer

The interactive map viewer, geoView built on open-source OpenLayers library and react framework. It allows users to visualize, explore, and overlay multiple datasets without requiring advanced mapping expertise. It is highly configurable, supports custom plugins, and is designed for accessibility and bilingual use. It features fast load times, keyboard support, and ongoing improvements to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

The viewer leverages the authoritative Canada Basemap, which integrates official place names, administrative boundaries, and topographic data from both CanVec and GeoBase, supplemented by OpenStreetMap data where necessary. The basemap is available in both Canada Atlas Lambert and Pseudo-Mercator projections, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of mapping applications.

AI-Powered Search and Recommendations

The portal incorporates artificial intelligence to enhance search relevance and user experience. Its semantic search engine is trained on the meanings and relationships of words, enabling it to deliver more accurate and contextually appropriate results. The Similarity Engine provides recommendations for the top 10 most similar datasets, helping users discover related resources efficiently.

Map Gallery and Custom Map Creation

The Map Gallery showcases a curated selection of thematic maps, including flood mapping, hydrospatial networks, elevation models, and commemorative maps.

Users can reuse existing maps, draw inspiration for their own projects, or create and share custom maps by combining datasets of interest. The platform supports exporting maps for offline use and sharing them with collaborators.

Data and Dataset Catalogue

One of GEO.ca’s defining strengths is the breadth and depth of its dataset inventory. The platform hosts over 101,000 datasets contributed by 40 plus organizations, encompassing federal, provincial, and territorial data providers.

Data is organized into thematic categories, including:

Foundation Data: Core geospatial layers such as administrative boundaries, elevation, hydrography, infrastructure, and geodetic control networks
Imagery: Satellite and aerial imagery, including historical air photos and high-resolution digital elevation models.
Environment: Data on land cover, vegetation, water resources, climate, and environmental monitoring
Economy and Administration: Socio-economic indicators, land use, resource management and administrative boundaries
Emergency and Legal: Datasets supporting emergency management, disaster response, and legal boundaries
Science and Society: Research datasets, demographic information, and thematic collections relevant to public health, education, and social sciences

The platform’s GeoBase Initiative is particularly noteworthy, providing high-quality foundational data layers that are collected once and used many times, with a focus on consistency, accuracy, and open licensing.

Data Products

High Resolution Digital Elevation Model Mosaic (HRDEM Mosaic): A continuous, high-resolution elevation dataset derived from airborne LiDAR and satellite imagery, supporting applications in flood risk assessment, infrastructure planning, and environmental modeling.
Canadian Hydrospatial Network: A new, higher-resolution hydrographic network enabling advanced analyses of surface water flow and hydrological modeling.
GeoAI Data Series: Time-enabled geospatial features created using artificial intelligence, supporting innovative analyses and applications.
Canadian Geographical Names Database: An authoritative repository of official and Indigenous place names across Canada.

Data Quality, Currency, and Coverage

GEO.ca emphasizes data quality, currency, and comprehensive coverage. Foundational datasets are maintained and updated regularly through collaborative efforts among federal, provincial, and territorial partners. The platform’s open data policy ensures that all datasets are freely available for use, with minimal restrictions and clear licensing terms.

The HRDEM Mosaic, for example, is updated as new LiDAR and satellite data become available, ensuring that users have access to the most current elevation information. The platform also provides detailed metadata for each dataset, including information on data sources, acquisition dates, and update frequencies.

Open Data Licensing

All datasets are released under the Open Government Licence – Canada, which permits unrestricted use, modification, and sharing, provided that source attribution is maintained. This approach removes barriers to data access and encourages innovation across sectors.

The platform’s dataset inventory spans a wide range of themes, with notable concentrations in imagery, environment, science, and infrastructure. Contributor engagement and dataset updates are tracked and reported regularly, supporting transparency and continuous improvement.

GEO.ca – Canadian Federal Geospatial Portal

The portal is quickly becoming a cornerstone of Canada’s open geospatial ecosystem, offering an accessible entry point to more than 100,000 federal datasets and applications. It stands as a cornerstone of Canada’s geospatial data infrastructure, offering unparalleled access to authoritative, open, and interoperable spatial data. Its advanced search and visualization tools, commitment to open data and accessibility, and collaborative governance model position it as a leader among national geospatial portals.

Designed for everyone, from GIS professionals to anyone interested in GIS, cartography, and public policy, GEO.ca provides the data, tools, and community needed to drive innovation, inform decision-making, and foster collaboration across sectors. As the platform continues to grow and adapt, it will play an increasingly vital role in shaping Canada’s digital future and supporting the responsible stewardship of the nation’s spatial data resources. Its growing initiatives, such as national flood mapping and emerging GeoAI datasets, highlight its value for evidence‑based decision‑making. For anyone working with location‑based information in Canada, GEO.ca is a resource worth exploring.

We highly suggest that you check out and start using it as one of your Canadian geographic information resources …

Click here to go to GEO.ca - Canadian Federal Geospatial Portal

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