Agricultural Zoning on Google Maps

The Canadian Agriculture Land Commission are using Google Maps to show the location of Agricultural Land Reserve zones. Agricultural Land Reserve zones are areas where agriculture is recognized as the priority use. Farming is encouraged and non-agricultural uses are controlled.

The agricultural zones are shaded green on the map (although anyone who has ever played SimCity can tell you they should be shaded yellow) . It is possible to search the map using a postal address to see if it falls within an Agricultural Land Reserve area. If the location is inside the green area it means it is in the ALR.

Pothole Free Driving Directions

Pothole Season is a Google Maps based pothole reporting system with the added bonus of providing driving directions that returns the route with the least potholes.

Pothole Season is available for the iPhone and also as a desktop application. The app is aimed at Canadian roads but already seems to be gaining users in other countries. So far nearly 4,000 potholes have been reported in Canada alone.

Pothole Season is far from being the first pothole reporting Google Map but the addition of pothole avoiding driving directions should help to give it traction.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny

Class Sizes on Google Maps

Global News has created a Google Map of Class Sizes in British Columbia. The map shows the class sizes in every public school in the province during the 2010-11 school year.

Red and green map markers are used on the map to show classes larger than 30 pupils and classes with fewer than 30. It is also possible to click on a school's map marker and view the average class size at different grade levels and overall for the whole school.

The Calgary Skywalks on Google Maps

The Calgary Plus 15 or +15 Skyway network is an extensive pedestrian skywalk system in Calgary. The system has a total of over 9.9 miles of skywalks and 59 bridges.

The Calgary Plus 15 Map shows the network of skywalks and bridges on a Google Map. Users can click on any part of the network and get the opening hours of that section.

The Calgary Plus 15 Map is also available as a free iPhone map.


The Calgary +15 Map is another Google Map of the skywalk system. This map also allows you to click on any section of the network and view that section's opening hours.

Avoid the Cones - Driving Directions

ZoneCone shows the location of traffic cones (and therefore annoying roadworks) in Montreal Canada. On its own that would be a useful application for drivers but ZoneCone includes driving directions as well - so drivers can now get directions that avoid all those time consuming delays caused by roadworks.

The driving directions work similarly to the normal Google Maps driving directions. However ZoneCone also gives you warnings about all the road obstructions that you are likely to encounter on the route. In addition each warning comes with the starting and end dates of the planned work being carried out.

The suggested route that appears on the map is also editable. Users can therefore drag the route around obstructions and avoid all those annoying road cones.

The Canadian Census on Google Maps

Global News has been busy mapping the 2011 Canadian census for 15 cities. Mapping the Census, Tract by Tract maps the population data captured by the 2011 census down to individual tract level.

Users can click on any of the individual tracts displayed on the Google Map and view the 2005 and 2011 population at that location and the population change in those five years. Individual tracts are also colour-coded on the map so users can tell at a glance which areas in each of the cities mapped are showing population growth or loss.

Ontario Election Results on Google Maps

Global News has created a series of Google Maps to visualise the 2011 Ontario election results.

Ontario Election Maps shows the results of 24,094 polls in six maps: plurality winner by poll, voter turnout and the four parties' results looked at in isolation. Each map shows a heat map of the results and you can click on individual electoral wards to view the results at that location.

The map can be searched by address or postal codes. A number of links, above the map, will take you to 14 regional views.

An Edmonton Property Tax Assessment Map

The Edmonton Property Tax Assessment Map is a great example of using Google Fusions Tables with Google Maps.

The Edmonton Journal created the map to visualise Edmonton's 2012 property assessments. The map allows readers to compare the average assessment of single-family homes by neighbourhood in 2012 and 2011; as well as the percent change from 2010 to 2011, 2011 to 2012 and during the five years from 2007 to 2012.

The map include selectable layers, a dynamic legend (that updates automatically when different layers are selected) and even includes the Edmonton Journal masthead.

If you want to know how to create a dynamic legend with Fusion Tables and Google Maps then you should dive into the code in this Fusion Tables API Example Map.

Share Your Kisses with Google Maps

The Toronto Kiss Map wants to know about your kisses. Whether it's a first kiss, a last kiss, a hot and heavy kiss or just a peck on the check of Aunty Maureen then Toronto Kiss wants to know all about it.

The Toronto Kiss Map is a user contributed map of kisses that took place in Toronto. The map comes from Firefly Creative Writing, so contributors are also encouraged to the tell the story behind their kiss.

To add your own kiss to the map you just need to click on the map to show the location where the tongue fencing took place. You can then share your story about the kiss in 500 characters or less.

Canadian Dogs Go Postal on Google Maps

Global BC has created a Google Map of dog ownership in Vancouver based on dog licence records mapped by postal code.

The heat map shows that there are more dog owners in the districts around the University Endowment Lands. More analysis by Global BC shows where individual breeds of dog are most popular in the city. For example, pit bull owners predominantly live in east Vancouver, "in a line more or less along Nanaimo St".

Global News produced a similar article last month looking at dog ownership in Toronto. The Toronto article includes a nice map with a drop-down menu that allows you to view heat maps of the ownership of different breeds in the city.

Toronto for Rent on Google Maps

Mapitat is a great Google Map's based application for finding properties to rent in Toronto.

Mapitat allows you to search for properties by price range and by number of bedrooms. You can also filter the results to show only properties that meet your requirement of amenities (for example, laundry, A/C, parking etc).

A really nice touch is the 'Add to Favorites' feature. If you add a property to your favorites list then its map marker is changed from green to red. This allows you to bookmark interesting properties as you search the map and helps you easily find them again when you want to go back and check the details on a property.

Fill the Kettle with Google Maps

The Canadian Salvation Army Christmas Fill the Kettle Campaign is a fundraising effort that occurs each year during the Christmas season. Kettles are found in nearly 2000 locations across Canada and are an opportunity for the public to donate whatever funds they can to support the work of The Salvation Army.

This year the Salvation Army have again created a Google Map showing the location of the nearly 2000 Kettle locations across Canada. Using the map you can find the nearest kettle to your location. And, if there isn't a kettle nearby, you can always donate online.

Vancouver's Buses Live on Google Maps

Vancouver's Next Bus has created a live real-time map of the city's bus network.

The Next Bus Google Map shows all the city's bus-stops with blue 'T' markers. If you click on a bus-stop marker you can view the scheduled times of the next bus due at the stop. However, as well as viewing the scheduled times of the next buses due, you can also see where the buses that service that route are in real-time on the map.

Hat-tip: Street View Funny

The Journey of Electricity on Google Maps

Canadian utility company BC Hydro has created an interactive presentation of the journey of clean electricity from generation to the customer's home.

Hydro to Home uses Google Maps satellite views and Flash animations to tell the story of how rain and snow is harnessed as energy, how it is transported and how it powers our lifestyles.

To start the presentation just enter your home address and the story will start with the Google Maps satellite view of your home. The presentation then takes you on a tour of BC's reservoirs, power stations and substations, showing you how clean electricity is generated and distributed to customers' homes.

Armistice Day on Google Maps

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 Germany signed the Armistice agreement marking the end of the First World War.

Remembrance Day ceremonies take place at 11 am across the world today to commemorate those who have died in the line of duty.


Canada Remembers is a Google Maps animation of Toronto Second World War casualties from Global News.

The map shows the homes of Toronto Second World War casualties on a month by month basis. It is possible to pause the animation or to use the time-line below the map to show the casualties for a particular month. The map markers are categorised to show Army, Air Force, Navy and Merchant Marine casualties.

More Cats & Dogs Found on Google Maps

Banff - Pet Connect
In the Town of Banff, Alberta, Canada cats and dogs are required to be licensed. In return for paying a yearly license fee the town provides a pet collar tag and some additional services, like the town's lost pet page.

If someone finds a lost pet that’s wearing a Town of Banff pet tag, they can visit the lost pet page and enter the tag number in the Town of Banff Pet Connect Google Map. If the pet is registered the user will see the pet’s name, description, general location of the pet’s home and the contact number of the owner.

The Pet Connect map also saves the town money by reducing calls to the Town and Bylaw services. It means less time is spent returning pets and of course it reunites lost pets with their grateful owners.

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Cats & Dogs Lost on Google Maps

A couple of years ago we reviewed a great lost pet map on Google Maps Mania called Animal Finders. The map provides an excellent way for people to report lost and found animals in the Oxfordshire area in the UK.

The idea was so good I wondered how long it would be before someone created a lost pet map on a less localised basis. Well the wait is now over.

Lost Pet Atlas is a Google Map that allows anyone to report a lost or found cat or dog in the United States and Canada. As well as providing an overall map of north America Lost Pet Atlas has also created numerous more local maps for cities and towns throughout the U.S. and Canada.

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Vancouver's Ethnicity on Google Maps

The Vancouver Sun has used Google Maps and Fusion Tables to map the ethnic make-up of Metro Vancouver.

In a series of Google Maps the newspaper has mapped the distribution of ethnic groups in the city. In each map the darker the colour on the heat map the more people from that ethnic group are living in the area.

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Putting Vancouver on the Map

The Vancouver Sun has put together a great series of 21 interactive Google Maps looking at all aspects of life in the city based on the 2006 census. Metro Vancouver Mapped uses Google Fusion Tables to create heat maps that explore answers given by residents in the 2006 census.



The maps examine the demographic differences in the city and allow you to see in which areas residents have the best educational attainment, the best commute times and the highest property values etc.



Each map is accompanied by a brief analysis of the census results.



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Meet me Halfway with Google Maps

Yellow Pages in Canada has released a useful application to help two or more people find the best place to meet.

To find a place to meet you need to enter your address and the address of the person you plan to meet. You can then select the type of venue where you wish to meet, for example a restaurant, a bar or a cafe.

Rendezview will then create a Google Map showing you the most convenient venues that you could meet (based on your selected preferences), roughly half-way between the two locations.

Rendezview

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