GIS: Canada

Open Government Data

Statistics Canada Geographic Products
Spatial products and GIS data from Statistics Canada. Includes maps, boundary files, and reference documents.
NRCAN Geospatial Applications and Tools
Maps and geospatial data from Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN). Elevation, topography, hydrography, land inventory, satellite imagery, Atlas of Canada, and more.
Open Government Portal
An open data portal containing a wide variety of data from Canada's federal agencies.
Search tips:
Under "Collection Type", select "Geospatial"; Under "Format", select a spatial format such as .shp

DMTI Spatial

The University Library provides access to CanMap products from DMTI Spatial, including:

CanMap Content Suite
- Topographic, utility, transportation, government, boundary, and point-of-interest data
CanMap Postal Code Suite
- Three-digit (FSA) and six-digit (LDU) postal code polygons, letter carrier walk boundaries, and address data
CanMap Address Points
- Comprehensive address database
CanMap Streetfiles and Route Logistics
- Detailed street mapping data

Access note: to access DMTI data please contact the GIS Librarian

CanMap Content Suite Data Dictionary

Postal Code Data

Postal code data products allow researchers to link 6-digit postal codes used by Canada Post to Census geographies used by Statistics Canada, health regions, and other data of interest.

Postal Code Conversion File (PCCF) from Statistics Canada
- Links 6-digit postal codes to census geographic areas (census divisions, census tracts, etc.)
Postal Code Conversion File Plus (PCCF+) from Statistics Canada
- Links 6-digit postal codes to census geographic areas, health region boundaries, and other identifiers
Postal Codes by Federal Ridings File (PCFRF) from Statistics Canada
- Links 6-digit postal codes to federal electoral districts
CanMap Postal Code Suite
- Three-digit (FSA) and six-digit (LDU) postal code polygons, letter carrier walk boundaries, and address data

Access note: To access postal code data please contact the GIS Librarian

PCCF Overview
A guide to the PCCF and PCCF+ from Queen's University Library
PCCF Tutorial
A step-by-step PCCF tutorial from University of Toronto Libraries
PCCF+ Tutorial
A step-by-step PCCF+ tutorial from University of Toronto Libraries

Geospatial Data Cheat Sheet (Canada)
A quick overview of some major sources of Canadian geospatial data, and how to access them.

Featured Database

SimplyAnalytics
A web-based mapping, analytics and data visualization program providing demographic information including census data (2006-2016), household spending data on hundreds of goods and services, and over 1.3 million Canadian business profiles from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). Data is available at the following geographies (Province/Territories, Census Metro Areas, Census Divisions, Forward Sortation Areas, Census Subdivisions, Census Tracts and Dissemination Areas). Users can export maps, data, and shapefiles. This resource was previously known as SimplyMap Canada. Access Note: Click on "Sign in as a guest" to access without creating an account.
Access is restricted to current students, faculty, and staff of the University of Saskatchewan, and walk-in users, for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. Systematic copying or downloading of electronic resource content is not permitted by Canadian and international copyright law.