News Roundup—February and March 2026
How are planners making open data work for them? How are cities like Austin, Texas successfully making organization-wide shifts from ArcMap to ArcGIS Pro? How is the City of Windsor leveraging GIS technology to say farewell to “death by PowerPoint”? Learn more in the News Roundup for February and March 2026.
Feature Stories
Important Notice: Living Atlas items are moving!
Living Atlas items managed by Esri Canada are moving to a single ArcGIS Online account to help users easily find our curated content. You can find the list of items moving, along with their replacements layers, here. If you are using any of the items listed within your maps, apps or workflows, please transition to the replacement item to ensure you are working with the best available data. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to our Living Atlas team (livingatlascurator@esri.ca).
5 key benefits of a renewed geospatial governance structure
A medium-sized municipality’s geospatial program—once among the highest-performing in the region—has progressively faded away over the years, leaving team members with an inability to take on new projects, a constantly shifting set of roles and responsibilities, and an absence of clear guidance on geo. In this blog post by Esri Canada management consultant Alexandre Guy, discover how the municipality benefits from a renewed geospatial governance to obtain better results.
Making open data work for planners: lessons from inside Ratio.City
Over the past few months, Ratio.City planning intern Jagrat Sandesara has been working closely with Ratio.City’s data team on everything from auditing municipal datasets to testing how information flows through the platform. This post is a reflection on what he learned from working inside a digital planning environment.
Modernizing your GIS: a case study for Canadian organizations
How are municipalities invested in ArcGIS Desktop technology, including ArcMap, managing large-scale migrations to ArcGIS Pro without causing themselves enormous headaches? With ArcMap’s retirement on the horizon for March 2026, Canadian organizations need to start modernizing their GIS environment to minimize their risk. Austin, Texas—a city close in size to Ottawa and Edmonton—had more than 1,000 ArcGIS users across 30 departments when Esri announced ArcMap’s retirement. Discover the three key tactics they used to manage a smooth migration process for all their users.
Top 5 ways a GIS professional can drive a successful CAMA conversion
GIS professionals play a key role in improving data accuracy, aligning parcels and supporting modern workflows during a CAMA conversion. Here are the top five ways their expertise helps assessor offices reduce risk and get more value from their new system.
ArcGIS has GeoAI everywhere to support your science of where
Esri Canada’s National Training Team invites you to amazing instructor-led courses that teach you how to infuse your GIS projects with geospatial artificial intelligence, otherwise known as GeoAI.
Map-based storytelling: City of Windsor’s approach for engaging presentations
The City of Windsor said farewell to “death by PowerPoint” and created an engaging and informative ArcGIS StoryMaps story that was used to deliver a presentation in a unique and captivating way. Beyond a great presentation tool, the story itself continues to serve as a one-stop-shop for residents to learn about all things rights-of-way within the City of Windsor. Read about how the team at the City of Windsor worked together to create their story: Taking Back the Right of Way!
Tips to help small GIS teams get buy-in
Are you part of a small GIS team trying to establish a foundation for growth? It can be challenging to demonstrate your value and build awareness with limited resources at your disposal. But not to worry: there are also some impactful actions you can take that will help you along the road. In this article, Esri Canada management consultant Darren Sutton offers some tips for small GIS teams.
Unlocking the strategic value of GIS in infrastructure construction
As infrastructure projects become more complex and expectations for predictability rise, geographic information systems (GIS) emerge as a critical tool for construction leaders seeking greater control, clarity and efficiency. Through real examples from organizations like PCL Construction and Pomerleau, this blog post illustrates how modern GIS investments streamline workflows, minimize risk and save customers significant time and costs, enabling more predictable, resilient and data-driven infrastructure projects.
Strengthen community resilience with the Wildfire Protection and Planning Solution
Canada’s wildfire seasons are growing longer and more destructive—but for many communities, the real story begins long before the flames arrive, especially in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), where homes and infrastructure meet natural landscapes. In this post, discover how modern geospatial tools are reshaping wildfire preparedness and why this work matters more now than ever before.
Finding density with Ratio.City
To meet density goals, many municipalities are shifting from the traditional model of outward suburban expansion—often referred to as greenfield expansion—to a different model: infill.
How MUCP students helped reimagine long-term care in Toronto’s urban core
Long-term care (LTC) is notoriously difficult to build in dense downtown locations. Traditional LTC facilities usually can’t achieve the height or density required to make these expensive sites viable. As a result, Toronto urgently needs 9,000 new long-term care beds.
Streamlining parcel data integration for municipalities
Northern Rockies Regional Municipality and Clearwater have successfully streamlined how they ingest parcel mapping, assessment and financial data from authoritative sources. Read this blog post to learn how this modernization has given them full control over their parcel mapping data helping ensure their information stays accurate and up to date.
Connecting Northern Ontario: Broadband, GIS and knowledge preservation
Faster broadband, better access to education and preserved infrastructure knowledge are transforming Northern Ontario communities through Blue Sky Net’s GIS initiatives.
Where should project data live? A digital model for infrastructure projects
Today, the greatest risk in infrastructure delivery isn't physical materials, but information: its location, control and reliability. Every big project faces uncertainty about which system provides the real source of truth.
Esri Canada News
Esri Canada releases free GIS playbook for smarter field operations
January 27, 2026
Esri Canada partners with Sea Women Expeditions on Antarctic storytelling
February 19, 2026
Esri News
Esri’s Custom Chart Builder Adopted by the Shom (French Hydrographic and Oceanographic Office) for Nautical Chart Production
January 12, 2026
Esri Recognized for Best User Conference Innovation Award at RainFocus INSIGHT 2026
January 22, 2026
Esri Earns ISO Certification, Reinforcing Commitment to Data Security
January 29, 2026
Esri and Pix4D Launch Real-Time Terrestrial Mapping Workflow
February 17, 2026
Esri Press Most Popular Ebooks Available in the Esri Store
February 26, 2026
Resources
ArcUser: A model for urban resilience – City of Sydney, Australia
Australia’s most populous city faces a worrying outlook: heat-related deaths in Sydney could rise by up to 444 percent under current warming trajectories, according to Australia’s first-ever national climate risk assessment, released in September 2025. The City of Sydney partnered with Western Sydney University to leverage tools like ArcGIS Velocity and ArcGIS Pro to transform temperature and humidity measurements into actionable intelligence for protecting vulnerable communities.
ArcNews: Drone imagery and GIS help recast the story of Easter Island
When Dutch explorers arrived on Easter Island more than 300 years ago, the legendary giant statues known as moai filled them with wonder. The narrative they constructed about Easter Island—known as Rapa Nui to locals—was one of ecological and societal collapse that would endure for generations. This cautionary tale of Rapa Nui is now being challenged by archaeologists who are using remote sensing techniques and GIS to uncover new evidence about the island’s history.
WhereNext Magazine: ICYMI: GIS advice from Google, Trader Joe’s and Crescent Energy
In four minutes, three creative GIS professionals explain how to break through expectations and answer the questions colleagues are really asking.
Video: Escondido: Running a smarter city with Hub technology
See how the City of Escondido, California is using ArcGIS Hub to connect and share information with their community. They are able to engage and collaborate with their residents, local businesses, nonprofits and various stakeholders from around the city, while harnessing the power of volunteerism in their community.
Video: When data moves faster than crime: operationalizing GIS for modern policing
Police operations depend on timely, shared information—yet many teams still rely on fragmented data and delayed reporting. This story shows how one agency began operationalizing GIS to support real-time visibility, compliance monitoring and coordinated response across jurisdictions. The same approach now supports hotspot analysis, deployment planning and safer operations.