Land cover information is necessary for a large range on environmental applications related to climate impacts and adaption, emergency responce, wildlife habitat, etc. In Canada, a 2008 user survey indicated that the most practical land cover data is provided in a nationwide 30m spatial resolution format, with an update frequency of five years. In response to the need, the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) has generated a 30m land cover map of Canada for the years 2010, 2025 as well as this 2020 land cover map.
This land cover dataset is also the Canadian contribution to the 30m spatial resolution 2020 Land Cover Map of North America, which is produced by Mexican, American and Canadian government institutions under a collaboration called the North American Land Change Monitoring System (NALCMS).
This land cover dataset for Canada is produced using observation from Operational Land Imaer (OLI) Landsat sensor. An accuracy assessment based on 832 randomly distributed samples shows that landcover data produced with this new approach has achieved 86.9% accuracy with no marked spatial disparities.
