Collaboration of VertiGIS and Statistics Canada Update Census Program Data Viewer

 

Overcoming Challenges to Make Complex Data Accessible to All

VertiGIS and Statistics Canada presented the collaborated result of the updated Canada Update Census Program (CPDV) during a GeoIgnite, Winter Geo conference livestream on March 2, 2022. VertiGIS Account Manager, Peter McLaren, and Steve Maddison, also a VertiGIS account manager, took turns discussing this advanced web-based data visualization tool.

McLaren began by introducing VertiGIS, once known as Geocortex, and how the company developed VertiGIS Studio. He further discussed VertiGIS capabilities. Accessibility is at the centre of product development with this company.

Maddison then entered the presentation to give a real-time walk-through of the CPDV. He said Statistics Canada the objective of a census is to tell the story of Canada and its people using data. The census provides a detailed “portrait” of the country and people by using demographic, social, and economical characteristics. The CPDV had many challenges during development.

CPDV is the primary map-based viewer for the agency and is a public application hosted by Statistics Canada. Using CPDV allows a user to easily find any place in Canada on a map, as well as get simple geographic and sociodemographic data for each of those locations. Searching by place name or postal code is available too. A user clicks on a map and zooms in on the desired location. 

 He demonstrated how a person can use the application. There are skip links, a screen reader for those with vision issues, and users can even tab without using 

a mouse. Millions of people use the application, so it has to be easy and

 fast. Maddison spoke about the scalability of the application.

A deep, heartfelt thank you to VertiGIS, a Silver Sponsor for Canada’s National Geospatial Conference, GeoIgnite, Winter Geo.

An interesting Q and A session followed the presentation. You can watch the livestreamed presentation on Youtube below.