Natural Elements, NRCan's Monthly Newsletter

A New Generation of Topographic Maps for Canada

---

Natural Resources Canada’s Topographic Mapping Initiatives (TMI) Program is currently updating and publishing new editions of the most requested topographical maps of Canada.

Anyone who plans an expedition in the wilderness knows that they can rely on a topographic map to figure out the distances involved, assess the roughness of the terrain and identify ground and water features. Accurate and easy to read, the familiar National Topographic System maps at the scales of 1:50 000 and 1:250 000 have been produced since the early 1950s, and they remain the preferred paper maps for recreational users, land use planners and the military.

Given Canada’s landmass of 10 million square kilometres, more than 12,000 maps at 1:50 000 scale are required to cover the country. Yet the majority of Canadians live in less than 10 percent of this area, which accounts for most of the demand for maps. Accordingly, the TMI program is focused on producing 900 new CanTopo maps of these most requested areas over the next two years.

The program bridges paper map production with the latest digital geospatial databases. While the new maps display content similar to that of previous editions, the sources of data and the methods of production are completely different in several ways. For example, new colours improve readability and conform to international standards; the map surround includes a complete legend; the grid marks make it easier to read the maps and determine location coordinates; and the look and feel of the new series has been improved through cartographic changes. As for the details of the maps’ contents, the contour lines on all maps are metric, and revision dates are given for each type of topographic information.

To generate the new map editions, NRCan is engaging many partnerships to access the best available information. Roads, water features and other layers are being updated from the most recent provincial contributions. And — since text is the most important feature on these maps — special attention is being given to updating all names of places, municipalities, parks, reserves and their demarcation.

To create the new maps, a specialized production system — the Map Generator — uses leading-edge technology in the area of Geographic Information Systems. Through a series of processes, the cartographic work automatically draws the data from a geographic database, symbolizes the features, positions the text and, finally, applies the final map surround. With these and other layers of control, all maps in the new series can be easily and quickly revised to incorporate new data as it becomes available.

The high-quality, updated, CanTopo digital topographic maps are available in various electronic formats free of charge through NRCan’s GeoGratis Web site, and paper copies are available through regional distributors, certified printers and map dealers across Canada. Many other geospatial data products also are available at no cost on the GeoGratis site.