TechnicalGIS

Aerial and satellite imagery data for Canada

Partial open imagery Open orthophotos or high-resolution imagery exist, but only for limited areas such as regions or cities.

There is no national open orthophoto programme; open aerial imagery is published by provinces and municipalities (for example New Brunswick 1 m colour orthophotos and North Cowichan 10 cm orthoimagery), and the National Air Photo Library archives historical photography.

Best open GSD
0.1 m
Latest capture
2024
Datasets
4 · 4 open · 4 free
Region
North America
Last reviewed

By state, province or region

Imagery status by subnational area in Canada
Area Status Summary Datasets
British Columbia Partial open imagery LidarBC releases provincial lidar point clouds and derived DEMs under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. North Cowichan Ortho-Imagery, LiDAR, Contours
New Brunswick National open imagery GeoNB’s lidar portal could not be checked (bot protection); colour 1 m orthophotos from 1996–2002 are published under the Open Government Licence – New Brunswick. SNB Orthophotos (1996–2002)
Saskatchewan Partial open imagery Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada publishes 20 cm flood-mapping orthophotos for selected areas. AAFC Infrastructure Flood Mapping in Saskatchewan 20 cm colour orthophotos

Datasets 4

Free is not the same as open. Cost is what you pay to get the data; the licence says what you may do with it. How cost and licence are defined

  • North Cowichan Ortho-Imagery, LiDAR, Contours (opens in a new tab)

    Municipality of North Cowichan

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Orthophoto
    • Point cloud
    GSD
    0.1 m
    Bands
    –
    Acquired
    2017, 2019, 2022, 2024
    Coverage
    Municipality of North Cowichan, British Columbia; 10 cm orthoimagery and 12–15 points/m² lidar
    Licence
    Open Government Licence – Municipality of North Cowichan
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    –
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • SNB Orthophotos (1996–2002) (opens in a new tab)

    Service New Brunswick

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Orthophoto
    GSD
    1 m
    Bands
    RGB
    Acquired
    1996–2002
    Coverage
    New Brunswick, colour digital orthophotos
    Licence
    Open Government Licence – New Brunswick
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    –
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

  • Collection of Temporal Series of the National Air Photo Library (NAPL) (opens in a new tab)

    Natural Resources Canada

    Cost Free Licence Open
    • Historical aerial
    • Orthophoto
    GSD
    –
    Bands
    –
    Acquired
    –
    Coverage
    Time series of orthophoto mosaics over selected Canadian places from an archive of over six million aerial photographs dating back to the 1920s
    Licence
    Open Government Licence – Canada
    Access
    Direct download
    Formats
    –
    Link check
    Link OK (HTTP 200),

Elsewhere in North America