Canadian Lidar Data
Sources of Free
and
Open Data
Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing technology that many people consider to be relatively new (to find out more about Lidar including history, uses and the technology behind it … click here). However the use of Lidar in geomatics dates back to the 1980s when the deployment of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) combined with inertial measurement units (IMU) allowed precise positioning of aircraft, provided the ability for airborne surveying.
So although it’s not actually new technology it has recently become more common in geospatial related projects over the past few years. Canadian Lidar data can be pretty expensive, therefore is often not available in most open data catalogues. However times are changing, thanks to continuous improved technology, combined with increased supply and demand from the geospatial user community, we’re starting to see more and more Lidar data sets made available to the public.
Since starting the Open Data Resources list in 2010, we have received thousands of requests to help people find various Canadian data to use with their geospatial projects. And during that time maintained an unofficial list of places that provided Canadian Lidar Data to use for free. In 2016 we provided the list to everyone in the hopes that more people can use of this data and that the geospatial community might help add more sources to it.
The information on this page is now driven by community support! We continue to update it as we learn about more free Lidar data sources. If anyone knows of other free Lidar that we have missed then let us know so we can make share it with others.
One of the main problems with lists like this is that it’s hard to keep up with Governments and Agencies websites, so please also make sure to report any dead links to us.
[Updated: Sept 2024 – Originally Published in 2016]
The Open Data Areas Alberta (ODAA) data has made several LiDAR data sets (and various geospatial products) available at no-cost under the ODAA Data User License. Below are some of the areas currently available: https://geodiscover.alberta.ca/geoportal/#searchPanel
Beaver Hills, Alberta – https://opendataareas.ca/products/beaver-hills/lidar/
Taber, Alberta – https://opendataareas.ca/products/taber/lidar-5/
Utikuma Lake, Alberta – https://opendataareas.ca/products/utikuma-lake/data-from-airborne-6/
Fox Creek, Alberta – https://opendataareas.ca/products/fox-creek/lidar-4/
RMH-Sylvan, Alberta – https://opendataareas.ca/products/rmh-sylvan/lidar-2/
Fort McMurray, Alberta – Lidar point cloud and derivative products: Classified point cloud, 1m DEM & DSM, Hill shade images https://opendataareas.ca/products/fort-mcmurray/lidar-3/
The Oil Sands Data project included the collection of hyperspectral, lidar and digital image data in five project sites at and near Fort McMurray using a fixed wing aircraft with lidar system and hyperspectral sensor. https://opendataareas.ca/products/fort-mcmurray/oil-sands-data-lidar/
City of St. Albert – downloadable zip files containing LiDAR in .las format for the latest LiDAR flight (2021) in St. Albert. https://data.stalbert.ca/maps/2ef61a04908946dd997c973b28e8d813/explore?location=53.629572%2C-113.658423%2C12.86
County of Grande Prairie – downloadable zip files containing LiDAR in .LAS format. https://opendata.countygp.ab.ca/apps/CoGP::lidar-open-data-county-of-grande-prairie-1/explore
North Cowichan, British Columbia – https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/north-cowichan-ortho-imagery-lidar-contours
Surrey, British Columbia – http://www.surrey.ca/city-services/13893.aspx
Vancouver, British Columbia – LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data collected in 2018 of the City of Vancouver and UBC Endowment Lands with an Area of Interest (AOI) covering a total of 134 square kilometers. https://opendata.vancouver.ca/explore/dataset/lidar-2018/information/
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data collected in 2013 with coverage up to extents of City of Vancouver’s legal jurisdiction. Data products include “bare earth” ground surface and of the upper most surface defined by vegetation cover, buildings and other structures. https://opendata.vancouver.ca/explore/dataset/lidar-2013/information/
Upper Columbia River Basin East – 560 square kilometers from 2006, survey areas cover eastern portions of the Upper Okanogan River https://portal.opentopography.org/datasetMetadata?otCollectionID=OT.032012.26911.1
eastern shore of Columbia Lake, East Kootenays – https://portal.opentopography.org/dataspace/dataset?opentopoID=OTDS.102023.2955.1
LidarBC – LidarBC is an initiative to provide open public access to Light Detection and Ranging data (lidar) and associated datasets collected by the Government of British Columbia. The Province is investing in a six year program to collect lidar elevation data for all of B.C. and make it available to everyone. To find available data got to https://lidar.gov.bc.ca/pages/download-discovery Also the same place to download the data.
Simply zoom into an area and click a tile for details on it as well as a download link. If you run into issues, then there is a how to download from site details https://lidar.gov.bc.ca/pages/how-to
La Salle watershed, Manitoba (southern Manitoba) – http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/5aa09916-130f-4747-847e-23e6728c04e3
Southern Manitoba (Eastern Assiniboine River, Lake St. Martin, Lake Winnipeg, Minnedosa, Portage, Red River Valley, Roseau River Watershed, Seine River and many more areas) – You can also find a mix of LiDAR data products (raster DEMs & LAS files) for several areas of Manitoba by going to https://mli2.gov.mb.ca/dems/index_external_lidar.html
* You can use the Manitoba LiDAR Tracker file to determine spatially where LiDAR coverage (areas mentioned above) exists in Manitoba SHP format or KMZ format
South Tobacco Creek Watershed – https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/5e3e1004-c13e-4bcf-8aaa-05954352e80d
City of Saint John, New Brunswick http://catalogue-saintjohn.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/lidar-2007-1
The Province of New Brunswick has extensive LiDAR coverage covering all of New Brunswick and have made that LiDAR data free for public use (as well as all future LiDAR collected by the Province).
The LiDAR data is available from the GeoNB Data Catalogue and both an online map application and a Google Earth index file have been provided to help find the areas that currently have data available. http://geonb.snb.ca/downloads/lidar_index/geonb_li-idl_kml.zip
Click here for tips and tricks to help downloading New Brunswick lidar data from GeoNB
Note: There is a new NB Lidar down load page – https://geonb.snb.ca/li/index.html
Halifax, Nova Scotia – offers digital elevation model (DEM) & digital surface model (DSM) created from LiDAR data https://www.halifax.ca/home/open-data/open-data-files
Various places in Nova Scotia – (currently includes Antigonish, Eskasoni, Hantsport, Shelburne, New Glasgow, Pictou County, and Lockeport with more areas becoming available soon via a new lidar download tool) https://data.novascotia.ca/browse?q=LIDAR
Data Locator Elevation Explorer helps people locate various LiDAR data sets (from Province wide coverage) that they have made available to the public. https://nsgi.novascotia.ca/datalocator/elevation/
The Ontario Point Cloud (Lidar-Derived) consists of points containing elevation and intensity information derived from returns collected by an airborne topographic lidar sensor. The point cloud has been classified into Unclassified, Ground, Water, High and Low Noise categories and is structured into non-overlapping 1-km by 1-km tiles in LAZ format. https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/maps/mnrf::ontario-classified-point-cloud-lidar-derived/explore?location=45.677287%2C-79.172000%2C7.52
Forest Resources Inventory leaf-on LiDAR – https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/maps/bdba227fb9ef49d1aa787c2ea70aef61/explore?location=47.217224%2C-85.135861%2C5.05
Northern Ontario – (6,836 sq. km area going from Hearst to Cochrane) – More details about this data available in the accompanying user guide
If you are interested in obtaining a copies of any of this data, see the instructions on https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/datasets/mnrf::ontario-classified-point-cloud-lidar-derived
Peterborough, Ontario – (6,836 sq. km area including the County of Peterborough, the County of Northumberland and the Municipality of Clarington) More details about this data available in the accompanying user guide
If you are interested in obtaining a copies of any of this data, see the instructions on https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/datasets/mnrf::ontario-classified-point-cloud-lidar-derived
Southern Ontario (19,345 sq. km area that includes most of Lake Erie watershed) More details about this data available in the accompanying user guide
If you are interested in obtaining a copies of any of this data, see the instructions on https://geohub.lio.gov.on.ca/datasets/mnrf::ontario-classified-point-cloud-lidar-derived
Kingston, Ontario – https://openkingston.cityofkingston.ca/explore/dataset/3d-point-cloud-2009/information/
Toronto, Ontario – http://maps.library.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/datainventory.pl?idnum=1083&display=full&title=Toronto+Lidar+Data+
Abercorn, Quebec – a LiDAR dataset covering the American Missisquoi Watershed in Northern Vermont extends north of the border covering areas around Abercorn, Quebec http://opentopo.sdsc.edu/datasetMetadata?otCollectionID=OT.022013.32145.1
Montreal, Quebec – LiDAR data collected in 2015 that covers the Island of Montreal and surrounding area is available from Montreal’s open data portal https://www.donneesquebec.ca/recherche/fr/dataset/vmtl-lidar-aerien-2015
Forêt ouverte – https://www.foretouverte.gouv.qc.ca
Redberry Lake Biosphere – https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/9979faa9-b96f-41ce-bbd5-e0733e7ad04a
Swift Current, , Saskatchewan – http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/9bdc1a9c-baf7-4eb0-a532-c1057b284b8f
Various places in Saskatchewan – http://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/c495dc2b-6988-4d1f-a6a4-6db4ac14c311
Eastern Denali Fault, Yukon – Drone lidar over seven sections of the Eastern Denali Fault (EDF) were acquired over the course of two surveys, one September 2021 and a second in August 2022 https://portal.opentopography.org/dataspace/dataset?opentopoID=OTDS.102023.32608.1
Lidar data is available for all Yukon communities and highway corridors. It can be viewed and downloaded from the Yukon Lidar collection application. https://maps.mcelhanney.com/Vertisee/YukonGovLidar/
The Open Topography website contains topographic data with several LiDAR data sets all across the United States that can be downloaded free http://opentopo.sdsc.edu/datasets?listAll=true