Maps

“He unrolled his map at a board meeting and it was a revelation to see so much fabulous work. It was a great manuscript. The Surveyor-General saw it and said: ‘My God, we’ve got to publish it.‘”- Michael Smart, formerly of the Ontario Geographical… Read more.

We are delighted to share a guest blog post by Jeff Allen, Senior Research Associate; Lead, Maps & Data Visualization, School of Cities, University of Toronto.
By looking at places from above, we can uncover the layered history of our… Read more.

Imagine you’re a Mediterranean sailor in the late thirteenth century. You’re setting out from Genoa with little more than experience, the wind, and a hefty dose of bravery. But in your cabin lies a new kind of map, not a mystical mappa mundi dotted… Read more.

Update December 10, 2025: many thanks to an attentive reader who noted we initially used the wrong image at the bottom of the blog post. It has now been corrected.
As we bundle ourselves up here in Toronto, let's take a moment to appreciate the… Read more.

The Map & Data Library's collection of fire insurance plans and atlases provides a wealth of information about the history of Toronto's built environment. These maps go back as far as 1880 and show details such as streets & railroads,… Read more.

Celebrating GIS Day: Mapping for Everyone
Every November, we celebrate GIS Day - a global event that highlights the power of spatial thinking. Since 1999, it's been a day to share maps, tell stories, and invite others to explore the layers of… Read more.

Researchers working with spatial data increasingly rely on authoritative basemaps, curated thematic layers and accessible climate information. Three Esri-affiliated resources—the Community Map of Canada, the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, and the… Read more.

Did you really want to attend a Map & Data Library workshop, but it conflicted with your schedule? 
Did you attend a workshop, but wish you could go back and review one section? 
Are you someone who prefers to work through workshop… Read more.

Long before GPS told us where to turn, John George Bartholomew was showing the world where to go. Known as “the Prince of Cartography,” this Edinburgh-born mapmaker (1860–1920) transformed not only how we see the world but how we understand it. His… Read more.

It's National Forest Week and National Tree Day! To celebrate, we're highlighting a geospatial dataset representing Southern Ontario's historic (pre-European settlement) forest landcover. 
Our featured dataset (depicted above) was created by… Read more.