About "Mapping"

Creative and accurate cartography that illustrates Canada’s landscapes and geology, wildlife routes, communities, history, changing boundaries and more.

Halifax Harbour after explosion of December 6, 1917

A view across the devastated neighbourhood of Richmond in Halifax, Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion, looking toward the Dartmouth side of the harbour. The SS Imo, one of the ships involved in the collision that triggered the explosion, can be seen aground on the far side of the harbour. (Photo: Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management)

Photo: Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management
The disaster that reshaped a city
100 years after the Halifax Explosion, the city retains traces of its pre-war life

George Dawson's map of the canoe journey he made from Lake of the Woods, Ont., to Dufferin, Man., in 1873. (Map credit: Sketch Map showing Indian Canoe route explored by Mr. G.M. Dawson Geologist H.M.N.A.B.C., 1873, G.M. Dawson, Library and Archives Canada, e011161386-v8)

Beyond the boundary
How George Dawson’s seminal work for the British North American Boundary Commission did far more than simply mark the 49th parallel
Colleen Cardinal Cree Indigenous rights activist 60s Scoop survivor

Colleen Cardinal at her mother's gravesite at Saddle Lake First Nation in Alberta. (Photo: Shannon Houle)

Photo: Shannon Houle
Interview: Mapping the displacement of 60s Scoop adoptees
Indigenous rights activist and 60s Scoop survivor Colleen Cardinal discusses her project to map the Indigenous adoptee diaspora
Métis, Indigenous, Alberta, West, settlement

Five of Alberta’s eight Métis settlements. (Map: Chris Brackley/Canadian Geographic)

Map: Chris Brackley/Can Geo
Exploring Alberta’s eight Métis settlements
These eight communities are the only recognized Métis land base in Canada
Ed O’Loughlin author photo Minds of Winter

Canadian-born author Ed O’Loughlin’s third novel, Minds of Winter, is shortlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize. (Images courtesy Quercus Books)

Images courtesy Quercus Books
Ed O’Loughlin’s winter mind
The Canadian-born author and newly-minted Fellow of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society on his Giller Prize-nominated third novel and the allure of maps
Interactive map: The Paralympics in Pyeongchang
Explore the venues and nearby attractions of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea
Cover of New Views by Alastair Bonnett

In New Views: The World Mapped Like Never Before (inset), social geographer Alastair Bonnett delivers on the title's promise: new ways of seeing our world, like this map of undersea cables. (Images courtesy Aurum Press)

Images courtesy Aurum Press
Six new ways to map the world
In his new book, social geographer Alastair Bonnett promises 50 maps unlike any you've ever seen. Here's a look at six of our favourites.
Portion of Paolo Forlani's 1560 map of the world showing "Canada" for the first time

Can you see Canada? This 1560 map of the world by Italian engraver Paolo Forlani is the first known instance of the name "Canada" appearing on a printed map. (Map: Paolo Forlani, Paulus de Furlanis Veronensis opus hoc ex.mi cosmographi d[omi]ni Iacobi Gastaldi pedemontani instauravit, et dicavit ex.ti iur. vt doct[iss] et aurato aequiti d[omi]no Paulo Michaeli Vincentino, 1560, Library and Archives Canada e006581135)

Map: Paolo Forlani, courtesy Library and Archives Canada
The Renaissance-era map that introduced Canada to the world
In 1560, Italian map engraver Paolo Forlani became the first to include "Canada" on a printed map
Adam Shoalts A history of Canada in 10 maps

Explorer Adam Shoalts' latest book, A History of Canada in 10 Maps, is a deep-dive into the incredible stories behind the maps that helped shape a nation. (Illustration: Robert Carter; cover image courtesy Allen Lane publishers)

Illustration: Robert Carter; cover image courtesy Allen Lane
10 maps that made Canada
In A History of Canada in 10 Maps: Epic Stories of Charting a Mysterious Land, Adam Shoalts delves into the fascinating stories behind the people and maps that helped shape a nation  

Portions of Samuel de Champlain's first detailed map of New France, published in 1613, were created with the help of First Nations people. (Map: Samuel de Champlain, Carte geographique de la Nouvelle Franse faictte par le sieur de Champlain Saint Tongois cappitaine ordinaire pour le Roy en la Marine. Faict len 1612, 1612, Library and Archives Canada, e010764733) 

Samuel de Champlain’s cartographic debt
Although often unheralded in accounts of Champlain's accomplishments, Indigenous Peoples played an important role in helping the famous explorer map New France
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