Overview

Land Information Ontario (LIO) helps public and private organizations and individuals find, access and share geographic data. Land Information Ontario also coordinates the collection of aerial photography for Ontario. Geographic information distributed by Land Information Ontario includes information on Ontario’s:

  • roads, railways and trails
  • lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands
  • elevation
  • official names and boundaries
  • management and classification information

How to find and access data

Find Ontario’s authoritative geospatial data using Ontario GeoHub. Ontario GeoHub provides descriptive information about the characteristics, quality and context of the data. Ontario GeoHub has options to download the data or use a web service in geospatial software.

Search the full catalogue using the Find Data search tool, or browse the available topics. Filter by tags or search for a specific tag. Once you have selected a data product, you can:

  • read the description or view all metadata
  • view geometry and attribute information in the interactive map
  • download the data
  • connect to a web service.

Display the data in table format to view and filter information.

With the interactive map, you can:

  • pan and zoom
  • click on features and view attribute information
  • download a subset of the data.

Sharing data

Who can share data

Public organizations can easily share data with other organizations by becoming a member of the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange. The Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange allows organizations to share geographic data about Ontario through a single agreement administered by Land Information Ontario.

There is no cost associated with joining.

You can join the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange if you are a member of a:

  • municipal, provincial or federal government
  • Indigenous community
  • conservation authority
  • public health unit
  • non-profit organization
  • college or university
  • public utility

Ontario Imagery

Aerial photography of the earth’s surface is known as imagery. Land Information Ontario’s Ontario Imagery Strategy ensures a long-term, affordable approach for public and private sector organizations to capture and maintain high-resolution imagery for Ontario. The imagery captured of Ontario is ortho-rectified, which means the image is georeferenced and its scale is uniform across the whole image, so it can be used in similar ways to a map.

Land Information Ontario coordinates access to Ontario Imagery data by:

  • developing and managing partnerships
  • overseeing imagery acquisition contracts
  • distributing imagery data to partners

Ontario runs several strategic programs that provide access to:

  • leaf-off, high-resolution aerial photography on a five-year cycle for southern Ontario and parts of the near north
  • cloud-free satellite imagery of the Far North and other parts of the province as needed
  • leaf-on aerial photography for the mid-north on a ten-year cycle as part of the Forest Resources Inventory program, managed by the ministry
  • high-resolution elevation data such as lidar Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) acquisitions

Leaf-on and leaf-off aerial photography captures images of leaves on trees and leaves not on trees respectively.

Become a partner

Only organizations that contribute to the Ontario Imagery Strategy are considered partners.

Partners can access high quality, current, geographically referenced imagery data for:

  • mapping
  • asset management
  • land use planning
  • emergency management

To find out more about the Ontario Imagery partnership or purchasing imagery, email imagery@ontario.ca for a detailed information package.

Access to imagery

Current partners can order imagery based on their participant agreement at any time.

Non-partners can access imagery products at a rate of $50/km2.

To order Land Information Ontario imagery email: imageryorders@ontario.ca.

Search for a specific imagery data set metadata at Ontario GeoHub.

Figure 1. LIO Imagery acquisitions for the five year period of 2018-2022.

An illustrative map of Ontario from Lake Nipigon south to the Great Lakes. The map shows the potential boundaries of the Imagery Strategy’s acquisitions for south central Ontario in 2018, southeastern Ontario for 2019, southwestern Ontario for 2020, near north central Ontario in 2021, and near north Ontario in 2022.

Current imagery project

North-west Ontario Orthophotography 2022 project

The North-west Ontario Orthophotography Project will acquire imagery that is:

  • 20 cm resolution
  • leaf-off
  • multi-spectral
  • accurate to approximately 60 cm "on the ground"
  • from the spring of 2022

Partners will have access to all products, including:

  • orthophotography
  • stereo data
  • digital surface models

Information delivery is expected for early 2023.

Email imagery@ontario.ca for information.

Figure 2. General project target area for North-west Ontario Orthophotography 2022, to be refined

acquisition covers the area of North-west Ontario
Enlarge Figure 2. General project target area for North-west Ontario Orthophotography 2022

Contact

If you need help, contact Land Information Ontario for support by email at lio@ontario.ca.

For telephone, you can contact 705-772-5891.

You can also mail Land Information Ontario support at:

LIO Support
Land Information Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
2nd Floor, North Tower
300 Water St
PO Box 7000
Peterborough, ON K9J 8M5