Questions & Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about GIS
Civic GIS is a web-native enterprise spatial platform purpose-built for municipal government — not a desktop GIS ported to the web. Users access full GIS capability from any browser without desktop software installation or per-seat licences. The platform manages the authoritative parcel fabric, address registry, and infrastructure layers as shared spatial services consumed by all departments through WMS/WFS. Unlike desktop GIS where each user works with local data copies, Civic GIS provides a single authoritative source with multi-user concurrent editing, version control, and automated publication. Self-service map applications eliminate the 'GIS request queue' — planners, engineers, and customer service staff query spatial data directly without waiting for a GIS analyst to generate a map.
The platform manages the core municipal spatial data layers: parcel fabric (lot boundaries, PINs, roll numbers, legal descriptions), civic address registry, zoning boundaries, official plan designation, road network, water distribution (mains, valves, hydrants), sanitary sewer network, storm sewer network, streetlights, traffic signals, parks and open spaces, trails, environmental features, flood zones, heritage districts, and aerial imagery (multi-vintage). Additional layers — property assessment contours, development applications, bylaw enforcement locations, and IoT sensor data — integrate through the Civic module connectors. Municipalities can add unlimited custom layers for local needs.
Yes — that's the design philosophy. Staff Map Viewer uses address search (type an address, see the property), layer on/off toggles, and click-for-info popups — the same interactions used in consumer mapping apps. Role-based interfaces show only relevant tools: planners see buffer analysis and zoning tools, engineers see infrastructure layers and network analysis, customer service sees property lookup and service request mapping. Most new users are productive within two days. GIS analysts retain advanced editing and analysis tools through the same interface. The 3-week desktop GIS training requirement is eliminated.
You own both the data AND the platform. Civic GIS includes a full source code licence — you can inspect, modify, and deploy the code independently. All spatial data is stored in PostGIS (open-source spatial database) in standard formats. Export anytime in GeoJSON, Shapefile, GeoPackage, KML, or GML — no proprietary formats, no export fees, no lock-in. If you ever leave the platform, your parcel fabric, address database, infrastructure layers, and all configuration export in open formats. Canadian data centres ensure your data never leaves Canadian jurisdiction.
The Imagery & Base Mapping module manages multi-vintage aerial orthoimagery (20cm resolution typical), oblique imagery, and LiDAR point cloud datasets. Imagery is tile-cached and served via WMS/WMTS for fast web visualization. A time-slider lets users compare imagery across years for change detection. LiDAR point clouds support terrain modelling, building height extraction, tree canopy analysis, and flood plain modelling. AI feature extraction processes imagery to auto-classify building footprints, impervious surfaces, tree canopy, and swimming pools. Supports TIFF, ECW, JPEG2000, Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF, LAS, and LAZ formats.
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