A basemap represents layers of geographic data that provide a visual background for a map for reference. Basemaps provide context about places and features like lakes, rivers, roads, city names, boundaries and elevation. A basemap can come in the form of a raster or vector tile web service and are used in web maps and applications.
Basemap products
Canada Basemap of Transportation (CBMT) products
The Canada Basemap – Transportation (CBMT) is a service that provides spatial reference context with an emphasis on transportation networks across Canada. It is designed especially for use as a background layer in a web mapping application or geographic information system (GIS).
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| CBMT World – Vector tile | A vector tile service with full datasets in Canada and partial data in other parts of the world including boundaries, country names, and major cities. |
| CBMT Canada – Vector tile | A vector tile service covering the entire geographic area of Canada and some major transportation routes and cities in the northern States of the United States. |
| CBMT – Raster tile | Raster tile services of the CBMT with multiple options including the Canada and World versions. |
All other basemap products
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
| Simple Grey | A simple grey and white service used as a background in applications or geomatics projects. |
| Provinces | A basemap service with provincial boundary polygons to use as a background at small, medium and large scales. |
| Elevation (CBME) | A simple light hillshade for use as a background for mapping applications. The Canada Atlas Lambert (EPSG:3978) projection is used and only covers the extent of Canada. |
| Grids – Lat/Long, NTS, UTM | Three web services of reference grids are available: latitude and longitude lines across Canada, the National Topographic System (NTS) and the civilian Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid. |
Canada's basemaps are unique
- Use official Canadian place names: The basemaps use up-to-date official place names of Canada as provided by the Geographical Names Board of Canada.
- Support for both official languages: All basemaps are available in both official languages, French and English, and follow the naming conventions and official names of respective regions.
- Free and open: The basemaps use openly licensed data and are published under the Open Government Licence. They are available for anyone to use.
Contact us
Have questions about basemap products? Contact the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) at geoinfo@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca.