The Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), in partnership with the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG)
April 25, 2025
Disclaimer
Neither Natural Resources Canada nor any of its employees makes any express or implied warranty or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of the contents of this report. Reference in the report to any specific commercial product, process, service or organization does not necessarily constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation or favouring by Natural Resources Canada. The views and opinions of round table participants expressed in this report do not necessarily state or reflect those of Natural Resources Canada.
This document was prepared or accomplished by TDV Global in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this summary do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Natural Resources Canada.
Table of Contents
Executive summary
Purpose
The Round Table on Public Safety convened on March 6, 2025 as part of a collaborative initiative co-led by the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) and the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG) to seek views from partners and stakeholders on how to modernize and strengthen Canada’s Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). Hosted virtually, this round table invited geospatial stakeholders and partners to provide their perspectives on key barriers and opportunities for effective coordination and use of geospatial data and technologies across Canada’s public safety systems. The goal was to support collaborative governance and strategic alignment across government levels, Indigenous organizations, industry, and academia. The session concentrated on two critical topics: Empowering Collaboration and Capacity, and Harnessing Data and Technology
This round table was one of eight round tables that also explored topics of geospatial governance, technologies, people, infrastructure, and strengthening Indigenous participation.
Key insights
Round table participants identified the following strengths, areas for improvement, and recommendations:
1. Empowering collaboration and capacity
- Roles and responsibilities across jurisdictions are unclear, resulting in fragmented data ownership and inconsistent sharing practices.
- Municipalities and Indigenous communities often lack the resources to contribute and manage geospatial data effectively.
- Concerns about data quality, licensing, and metadata prevent open sharing.
- Without foundational agreements and adequate literacy, emergency geospatial coordination remains limited.
2. Harnessing data and technology
- Reliance on foreign data platforms highlights the need for Canadian-owned cloud infrastructure and greater use of open-source geospatial solutions.
- Consistent formats, authoritative national datasets, and pre-processed data are essential for faster, coordinated emergency responses.
- Public safety tools must be intuitive and accessible to first responders and local officials without requiring specialized expertise.
- Greater support is needed to commercialize public safety R&D, ensuring successful innovations are visible, accessible, and rapidly deployable.
Recommended actions
- Focus on federal-provincial-territorial-municipal mechanisms to streamline access during emergencies.
- Investigate feasibility and stakeholder interest in a Canadian cloud/data system.
- Reinvest in foundational datasets, such as buildings, flood zones, and road networks.
- Assess demand and pathways for certifying geospatial public safety professionals.
- Increase the visibility of effective use cases and innovations in the public safety geospatial field.
Conclusion
Participants in the Round Table on Public Safety highlighted the importance of enhancing Canada’s geospatial infrastructure to improve emergency preparedness and resilience. They emphasized the value of building on existing strengths by advancing national coordination, expanding collaboration with all partners, and investing in data and technology. Strengthening inclusive partnerships, particularly with municipalities and Indigenous communities, will help ensure that geospatial information continues to support effective public safety outcomes across Canada.
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Acknowledgements
This report would not have been possible without the contributions of individuals and organizations who took the time to participate in the round table. We extend our gratitude to the participants from industry, academia, Indigenous organizations, NGOs, and federal, provincial, and municipal governments for their valuable insights into Canada's geospatial infrastructure.
Introduction
CCMEO and CCOG are using the global best practice model of the UN-IGIF as a framework for assessing the current state and planning for the future evolution of Canada’s geospatial data ecosystem - the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). The CGDI is the collection of geospatial data, and the standards, policies, applications, and governance that facilitate its access, use, integration, and preservation in Canada.
Phase 1 entailed a stock-take exercise using three data collection methods: 1) individual/small group interviews with provincial/territorial and federal geospatial data producers and users; 2) a written inventory/survey to collect more detailed information from interviewee organizations; 3) a research-based desk study undertaken by a third party.
Phase 2 shifted from assessing the CGDI to gathering diverse perspectives to help shape the modernization and evolution of how Canada manages and uses spatial data. Using a round table approach, key stakeholders and partners were invited to share their perspectives to help guide Canada’s geospatial future to make it more responsive, innovative, and effective for all Canadians. The results for each round table will be considered by the Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG) in the development of a collaborative geospatial strategy.
The Round Table on Public Safety convened on March 6, 2025. Hosted virtually, this round table invited stakeholders and partners to provide their perspectives on key barriers and opportunities for effective coordination and use of geospatial data and technologies in Canada’s public safety systems. The goal was to support collaborative governance and strategic alignment across government levels, Indigenous organizations, industry, and academia.
The event focused on two topics:
- Empowering collaboration and capacity: Strengthening collaboration and capacity ensures real-time data access, unified emergency response, infrastructure resilience, informed decisions, and proactive risk management for safer, more resilient communities.
- Harnessing data and technology: Harnessing modern geospatial data, AI, and interoperable platforms strengthens emergency response, improves risk forecasting, and enhances decision-making for disaster resilience across all levels of government.
Participants identified systemic challenges and highlighted tangible opportunities for strengthening the role of geospatial data in emergency preparedness, risk mitigation, and coordinated public safety response efforts. The following sections provide details on the challenges, solutions, opportunities, and thoughts of round table participants on each of the topics.
Results
Topic 1: Empowering collaboration and capacity
Key challenges identified
- Fragmented responsibilities: Lack of clarity over who owns and maintains data across governments, particularly between municipalities and federal authorities.
- Limited data sharing agreements: Absence of pre-arranged legal and operational mechanisms for sharing data during emergencies.
- Inconsistent standards and licenses: Multiple organizations use different standards, formats, and licenses, creating technical and legal incompatibilities.
- Resource gaps: Smaller jurisdictions and Indigenous communities often lack funding and staffing capacity to manage and share geospatial data.
- Low data confidence: Concerns about the quality or usability of data discourage data custodians from sharing it broadly.
Solutions and opportunities
- Pre-arranged data sharing agreements: Develop legal and operational frameworks between federal/provincial/territorial/municipal partners before emergencies occur.
- Shared platforms: Establish a centralized, standards-compliant platform (e.g., an enhanced Geo.ca) for real-time, multi-jurisdictional data sharing.
- Simplified metadata standards: Create tiered metadata standards that are easier to apply and support rapid integration of emergency data.
- Invest in literacy and capacity: Build national training programs in geospatial literacy and data stewardship, especially for local governments and Indigenous communities.
- Promote use cases and success stories: Share outcomes from initiatives like NG911 and local hazard response dashboards to promote adoption and visibility.
Participant voices
- Academia participant: “We don’t seem to have data, there is no ‘just in case’ data. We need infrastructure in place to help feed into the AI technologies… with programmatic ways and interoperability.”
- Academia participant: “Communities don’t need data for the sake of data. What they need is knowledge products and real-time data… Matching data with land use planning; making existing datasets into stories or tools that communities can use.”
- Federal Government participant: “There are many use cases for buildings data to support energy technologies, green house gas reductions, and at a community scale. There is an important overlap with public safety.”
- Not-for-profit participant: “CGDI was created 20 years ago. I am disappointed to see that government is still beating it. The world has moved on… SDIs are dated as a concept.”
Topic 2: Harnessing data and technology
Key challenges identified
- Infrastructure dependence: Heavy reliance on foreign cloud and software solutions raises concerns around sovereignty and resilience.
- Interoperability barriers: Existing geospatial data lacks consistent formats or integration frameworks, limiting reuse during emergencies.
- Data gaps: Lack of standardized, authoritative national datasets (e.g., buildings, address layers, etc.) hinders timely response.
- Overabundance in crisis, scarcity in readiness: Data floods organizations during emergencies, but usable, pre-processed data is lacking during preparedness stages.
- Low public safety tool usability: Tools often require expert knowledge, limiting uptake by first responders and local officials.
Solutions and opportunities
- Canadian geospatial cloud infrastructure: Explore development of sovereign cloud systems for emergency data hosting and sharing.
- Open-source alternatives: Promote the use of open-source geospatial software, citing international examples like France’s approach.
- Invest in authoritative data layers: Prioritize building and maintaining national datasets on infrastructure, hazard zones, and vulnerable populations.
- Time-to-hello-world metric: Create geospatial products that are intuitive enough to be usable within minutes by non-experts.
- Commercialization support: Develop funding programs to bridge the gap between public safety R&D and market-ready products.
Participant voices
- Industry participant: “A new flood simulation analysis template has been created and is available for simulations for cities, municipalities, etc.”
- Not-for-profit participant: “Instead of investing in cloud services, should we try to make something Canadian sovereign?... France only uses Open Source… without using licensed software.”
- Industry participant: “We should annotate and enhance [datasets] and come up with mapping tools… A mechanism that could be successful: whatever we produce, we should have a ‘time to hello world.’”
- Industry participant: “In public safety, there have been many successes – but there is no visibility of these.”
Cross-cutting themes
Governance and capacity building
- Leadership and coordination: A national entity is needed to lead coordination of geospatial public safety infrastructure, with clear roles and responsibilities.
- Indigenous inclusion: Indigenous organizations require data sovereignty, sustained funding for capacity-building, and accessible knowledge products rather than just raw datasets.
- Training and accreditation: New academic programs, certifications, and applied training are essential to equip municipal and Indigenous users with public safety geospatial skills.
Data confidence and accessibility
- Metadata and standards: Streamlined, practical metadata guidance is preferred over creating new standards that add complexity.
- Data openness and tiered access: Baseline geospatial layers should be open by default, with tiered access protections for sensitive or security-related data.
- Licensing and quality assurance: Greater clarity is needed on licensing terms and processes to validate geospatial data quality across systems.
Next steps
Suggested actions
- Develop pre-arranged data sharing agreements: Focus on federal-provincial-territorial-municipal mechanisms to streamline access during emergencies.
- Explore sovereign infrastructure models: Investigate feasibility and stakeholder interest in a Canadian cloud/data system.
- Revitalize national data layers: Reinvest in foundational datasets, such as buildings, flood zones, and road networks.
- Support public safety accreditation: Assess demand and pathways for certifying geospatial public safety professionals.
- Publish success stories: Increase the visibility of effective use cases and innovations in the public safety geospatial field.
Open questions raised by roundtable participants
- Who is responsible for coordinating national public safety geospatial governance?
- What licensing and metadata model would support rapid data sharing while protecting privacy?
- How can small municipalities and Indigenous communities be better resourced to contribute data?
- What models from international (e.g., European, Asian) standards and governance are best suited to Canada?
Conclusion
Participants in the Round Table on Public Safety reaffirmed a shared commitment to strengthening Canada’s geospatial infrastructure to better support emergency preparedness and community resilience. They recognized the strong foundation that exists and identified opportunities to enhance national coordination, maximize the value of available data, and foster collaboration across jurisdictions. Participants concluded that continued leadership, sustained investment, and inclusive partnerships, particularly with municipalities and Indigenous communities, will be important to advancing a modern, federated spatial data infrastructure that supports public safety outcomes for all Canadians.
For continued engagement, visit: Let's Talk Natural Resources.