Land Information Ontario (LIO) Data Warehouse

Land Information Ontario (LIO) is a data warehouse containing over 250 layers of geographic data.  All datasets listed in this portal are available to McMaster University through the Ontario Geospatial Data Exchange (OGDE) agreement, and can be obtained through the Map Collection.

A complete list of all Datasets available from LIO can be browsed at the LIO Data Warehouse Page.  These datasets are not all immediately available from the Map Collection, but can obtained upon Student/Staff/Faculty request.  This process usually takes a few business days.

Some of the themes associated with these datasets include:

• Aerial Photography,
• Agriculture,
• Aquatic and other Water Management,
• Bedrock Geology,
• Buildings,
• Campsites,
• Conservation,
• Crown Land,
• Digital Elevation Models (DEM),
• Ecoregions,
• Fire Management,
• Fish,
• Forest,
• Great Lakes,
• Hydrography,
• Indian Reserves,
• Invasive Species,
• Iron,
• Kimberlites,
• Land Ownership,
• Mines and Minerals,
• Municipal Boundaries,
• National Parks and Heritage Sites,
• Parcel Mapping Boundaries,
• Petroleum,
• Roads,
• Railways and Trails,
• Soil Surveys,
• Species Observation,
• Tourism,
• Wildlife Management,
• Woods and Wetlands,
• Wind Power.

Many similar datasets are also found in the OGDE Fundamental Data Set, which is available through the Map Collection.

LIO also has a collection of digital datasets which are available to the general public.  Please note that these datasets are not immediately available for download, and must be obtained by contacting LIO (contact info provided at the bottom of the general public data page) or by requesting them through the Library.

Instructions for using the Land Information Ontario search interface are available at http://library.mcmaster.ca/maps/OLID_User_Guide.pdf.

It is also possible to find GIS data available through Land Information Ontario by searching the Internet for a search term plus the phrase in quotes "metadata detail", for example  moose "metadata detail"   Results from the Ministry of Natural Resources are often metadata documents for GIS datasets which can be requested through the Library. Please print or capture the first screen of any metadata document to accompany your request for these files.