Who say's there's no free spatial data available in Canada??

The Canada Land Inventory (CLI) is a comprehensive multi-disciplinary land inventory of rural Canada, covering over 2.5 million square kilometers of land and water . Land capability for agriculture, forestry, wildlife, recreation, wildlife ( ungulates and waterfowl) was mapped. Over 1000 mapsheets at the 1:250,000 scale are available on this site for on-line map making and download of desktop publishing, or GIS formats.

The CLI used to be solely for the use of government agencies, consultants, and academics, however, the entire inventory is now available on-line. THE CLI is credited with spining off several significant products, including the Canadian Geographic Information System, the first fully operational GIS in the World, the Wetland Classification of Canada and the Federal Wetlands Policy, The Federal Policy on Land Use.

The Canada Land Inventory (CLI) is a comprehensive survey of land capability and use designed to provide a basis for resource and land use planning. It includes assessments of land capability for agriculture , forestry, recreation, wildlife, and land use planning projects in each province.

The inventory covers the settled portions of rural Canada and adjoining areas which affect the income and employment opportunities of rural residents. Thus it covers the area of Canada where questions of alternative use of land have s strong bearing on sustainable rural development. The CLI was designed primarily for planning rather than for management. It is of a reconnaissance type, it provides information essential to land development planning at the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government.

Lands are classified according to: their physical capability for use in agriculture, forestry, recreation, and wildlife; and their present use. In addition to maps, general descriptions of select Areas in Canada and their surrounding land resource are available on the website. Details are provided for the following:

• CLIMATE
  
• SOILS
  
• SETTLEMENT AND LAND USE
  
• ECOLOGY
  
• LAND CLASSIFICATION FOR UNGULATES
  
• LAND CLASSIFICATION FOR WATERFOWL
  
• LAND CLASSIFICATION FOR RECREATION
  
• FOREST ECOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIPS
  

CLI data can be downloaded for free. Simply follow the "Free Download" Link. Data are categorized by 1:250k NTS sheet and are available in ARC E00 format.

You can find the CLI at geogratis.cgdi.gc.ca/CLI/frames.html

For those of you "datahounds" seeking more data, you might be interested in an Overview of the Ecostratification coverage. Follow this link to find more details, along with free downloads of The 1994 ecostratification boundaries as produced by Agriculture Canada, provincial boundaries, map sheets, and a hydrographic coverage. All in Arc E00 format. Go Here

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