Canadian Geospatial Digest for May 13th 2024

1. UK and Ontario to share knowledge and technology behind the National Underground Asset Register
2. Fleming College in Peterborough suspends 29 programs in wake of international student cap
3. The OGC Canada Forum is back!
4. Capital Region Extreme Heat Information Regional Heat Map
5. GIS undergraduate students participate in the Canada-wide 2024 AppChallenge competition

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UK and Ontario to share knowledge and technology behind the National Underground Asset Register

UK and Ontario sign a collaboration agreement at the Geospatial Summit to share the knowledge and technology behind the National Underground Asset Register. Viscount Camrose, UK Minister for Intellectual Property, and Kinga Surma, Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure, have signed an MoU to share the technology and knowledge behind the National Underground Asset Register (NUAR). NUAR is a digital map of underground infrastructure that revolutionizes the installation, maintenance, operation, and repair of underground pipes and cables. The Geospatial Commission and Infrastructure Ontario have reached an agreement to collaborate and share best practices and technology from NUAR to improve worker safety, reduce asset strikes and enhance the accuracy of geospatial infrastructure data. This partnership will leverage UK technology and knowledge to support Canadian infrastructure. Over 60 delegates came together at the Geospatial Summit to discuss the role that geospatial technology can and will play in responding to the resilience challenges communities are facing today. Read more here.

Fleming College in Peterborough suspends 29 programs in wake of international student cap

Effective beginning in the Fall of 2024, Fleming College in Peterborough, Ont., is suspending 29 program offerings, including two GIS offerings (GIS Applications & GIS Applications Online, GIS Cartographic). The reduced offering of programs comes in the wake of a significant budget reduction resulting from the recent federal cap on international students coming into Ontario, as well as the elimination of educational and private partnerships. The choices on which programs to suspend were based on laour market demand, regional needs, and demographics. Current students are not impacted by the decision. Read more here.

The OGC Canada Forum in back!

Taking place June 17 & 18, 2024 in Centre Mont-Royal, Montreal the OGC Canada Forum is back! This event can be joined in person or virtually as an opportunity to contribute to the Canadian Geospatial Community. All Canadian organizaations and those operating in Canada are welcome to attend and participate, regardless of OGC membership.

The goal of the Forum is to boost collaboration amongst Canada’s stakeholders to address the nation’s geospatial needs. The focus is on capacity building, innovation, standards and economic growth. The discussion will based on current and future geospatial issues with the potential to impact the community, and planning for ways to overcome them.

For more information, visit the event website here.

Capital Region Extreme Heat Information Regional Heat Map

The Capital Region Extreme Heat Information Regional Heat Map allows residents and guests in the capital region to explore and understand heat vulnerability within the community. You can visit the map here.

The heat map is the result of a collaboration between the Capital Regional District (CRD) and GeoBC with the objective of creating a common spatial database to determine regional vulnerability to extreme heat to support community planning, emergency response, and public outreach. The UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund was utilized for this project, along with grant applicant partnerships between CRD, the City of Langford, the District of Saanich, the Town of Sidney, and the City of Victoria. The mapping tool provides several themes to explore regional heat vulnerability. The following indices are available to explore: Demographic Vulnerability, Building Vulnerability, Heat Exposure, Land Surface Temperature, Air Temperature, and bivariate mapping of Building and Demographic Vulnerability.

The Capital Regional Heat Map is part of a larger ‘Extreme Heat Information Portal’ where more information about heat risk, as well as the different indicators are available via StoryMaps.

Learn more about the CRD Regional Heat Map here.

GIS undergraduate students participate in the Canada-wide 2024 AppChallenge competition

SFU Esri Canada Centre of Excellence (ECCE) in GIS celebrates GIS students Tiana Andjelic (BEnv) and Vincent Liu (CS) for developing a GeoApp for the 2024 Esri Canada AppChallenge competition. Their app ‘Urbantario‘ focuses on Southern Ontario, Canada and showcases the urban growth over the last 50 years. The app allows you to explore protected greenbelt areas within the region, and see which zones may be more or less susceptible to urbanization.

Read more about the students here and the app here by visiting the Urbantario website here.