Canada relief in 3D

Natural Resources Canada data scientists are working with the provinces and territories to produce and distribute elevation data. This data enables very precise 3D mapping of Canadian relief. This page allows you to access simple tools to observe the relief and other associated data.

Why elevation data?

Elevation data are an important source of information in many areas, including environmental protection, urban planning and natural resource management. This 3D representation of the territory can help many questions such as:

• What are the territory's flood prone areas?
• Can we monitor glacier melt and measure their retreat?
• How much lumber is potentially available to a forestry sector?
• Where is the best place to build a road or a forestry road considering the relief and hydrography?
• What is or will be the environmental impact of a mining project?

Canada’s National Elevation Data Strategy increases high-resolution elevation coverage for the country and makes existing elevation data more accessible.

Several derived products available

There are two main types of elevation data models: digital surface model and digital terrain model. A digital surface model represents the Earth’s surface capturing all objects on it (natural and human-made), including vegetation and buildings. A digital terrain model represents the bare-earth terrain without vegetation and buildings.

Contact us

For more information, please send an email to geoinfo@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.