New Lidar Data Released about Huge Area of Canada

Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) has released new high-resolution Lidar-derived data covering more than 100,000 km² of the country on Open Maps, including data from numerous government organizations across Canada.

More than 100,000km² (10 million hectares) of new high-resolution digital elevation models (HRDEMs) have been added to the HRDEM and HRDEM Mosaic products. The new data relates to the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories. The total coverage of Lidar-derived HRDEM and HRDEM Mosaic data is now nearly 600,000km² and includes 84 of the 100 largest Canadian cities.

In addition, a new visualization tool for the HRDEM Mosaic product is now available. Providing quick and easy access to the HRDEM Mosaic and all of its derived products, it is a new and efficient way to view the most accurate elevation data in Canada.

For more information on the HRDEM product, consult the product specifications or the download procedure. The HRDEM Mosaic product specifications are available here.

Building footprints

More than one million new building footprints have also been integrated into the Automatically Extracted Buildings product. These footprints are automatically extracted from building classifications in the Lidar data. They contain information such as elevation and minimum and maximum building heights. The data is available either by download or through a Web Map Service.

The additions are located in the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador.

All of this highly detailed 3D information provides essential foundational geospatial data for many government projects and priorities, such as flood mapping, forest inventories, climate change monitoring and urban management.

Canada’s National Elevation Data Strategy

The National Elevation Data Strategy aims to increase high-resolution elevation data coverage for Canada and improve product accessibility. Collaboration with various partners is a key factor in the success of the strategy, both to release existing data and to acquire new Lidar data across the country. The HRDEM and HRDEM Mosaic products are part of the CanElevation Series created in support of the National Elevation Data Strategy.