This year, on July 1, Canada will celebrate her 150th birthday (aka. Canada’s sesquicentennial birthday) and what better way to re-live the past and take a historic, educational journey spanning 150 years than with maps, data, infographics, data visualizations, and story maps? Luckily, our own marketing guy (@gletham) hails from the Great White North and has dug up some valuable tips from the Esri North crew at Esri Canada. Note, if you have a need for some summer vacation plans, you might consider a trip North for the July 1 celebration this year as it will be big!
For many of you we suspect you likely frequently visit Esri.com, however, if you swap in a .CA instead you’ll have access to a wealth of information, data, resources, educational materials and much more. Now the data being used and presentations shared may indeed be focused on Canada and Canadian topics, however, there really is a wealth of information waiting to be discovered. A tip – be sure to check out the lessons and educational webinars offered by Esri CA as they are quite different than what you may be accustomed to, however, there really is some great learning opportunities that can be enjoyed and used by anyone.
Some of the Canada Day themed resources identified and shared that you can use to get inspired prior to July 1 include:
A Kids Guide to Canada – Elementary students from every corner of the country are encouraged to collaborate and help create the first interactive and multilingual guide to Canada produced by kids and for kids!
Nation Builders – In this story map, you will discover many of the people who played a significant role in uniting the colonies of British North America and other territories to form Canada, including the Fathers of Confederation and other key delegates and organizations.
Canadian Confederation: 1867 to Present Web App – In this web app, students will explore Canada’s territorial growth since Confederation in 1867.
The Underground Railroad – Freedom in Canada – In this story map, you will learn about some of the key people involved in helping refugee slaves settle in Canada, and you will find out where some of the black settlements developed in Ontario.
Take a tour of Haida Gwaii – Managed jointly by the Council of the Haida Nation and the Government of Canada, Haida Gwaii is a collection of over 200 islands located 100 kilometers off the west coast of British Columbia
See Also:
Canada Spatial Data
Open Data Canada – This is a great place to start if you have a need to create your own map or mashup. Here you will find Canada’s gateway to opendata and all things open – The Official data portal for the Government of Canada – more than 260,000 datasets! The heart of the site is the data section which is complemented by the 25 top datasets. Thousands of data products are provided by more than 38 government departments and agencies. Sadly, the site is currently not reachable!! OUCH
Geogratis – Not to be confused with Canada’s open data portal (yes, I know it’s confusing!) Geogratis is the home of data, maps and publications from Natural Resources Canada. The CGDI is an on-line resource that improves the sharing, access and use of geospatial information – information tied to geographic locations in Canada. It helps decision-makers from all levels of government, the private sector, non–government organizations and academia make better decisions on social, economic and environmental priorities. Data are organized according to the country’s major resource sectors: Energy, mines, forests, while other main topic areas include The North and the Environment.
ArcGIS Open Data – A site aimed to help citizens discover organizations sharing open data around the world and provide direct access to thousands of open government datasets. Citizens can search, download, filter, and visualize this data through their web browser or mobile device. Any organization can make its data available through ArcGIS Open Data, and people can now discover this data at opendata.arcgis.com
Do you know of or have you created an awesome Canadian themed map, webmap or app? Please tell us about it @geojobegis
