The Open Database of Buildings (ODB) is a collection of open data on buildings made available under the Open Government License - Canada. The ODB brings together 530 datasets originating from 107 government sources of open data. The database aims to enhance access to a harmonized collection of building features across Canada.

Data sources and methodology

The inputs for the ODB are datasets provided by municipal, regional, provincial, and federal sources available through open government portals under various types of open data licenses. The current version of the database (version 3.0) contains approximately 14.4 million records and includes provinces and territories where open building features were found during the collection period (from November 2024 to April 2025).

Individual datasets sourced from their respective open data portals were processed and harmonized into the ODB. Within the original datasets, each data provider attached a different set of variables to their building features, and in some cases provided building details across numerous datasets which were combined into a unified building record. Only variables that could be calculated and standardized for each building feature across all data providers were retained. To see the full list of variables provided by a given data provider, please visit their open data portals which are linked in the metadata document that accompanies the ODB.

The variables included in the ODB are as follows:

• id - Unique building ID
• source_id - Source ID
• source - Data source
• dataset - Dataset name(s)
• csduid - Census subdivision unique identifier
• csdname - Census subdivision name
• prov_terr - Province/Territory abbreviation
• name - Building name
• type - Building type
• address - Building address
• height - Building height
• floors - Building floors
• units - Building units
• sq_ft - Building square footage
• year_built - Year building was constructed

For more information on how the buildings were compiled, see the metadata document that accompanies the ODB.

Downloading the ODB

For ease of download, the ODB and accompanying metadata document is provided by province and territory as zipped GeoPackage files.

• Newfoundland
• Prince Edward Island
• Nova Scotia
• New Brunswick
• Quebec part 1
• Quebec part 2
• Ontario part 1
• Ontario part 2
• Ontario part 3
• Manitoba
• Saskatchewan
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Yukon Territory
• Northwest Territory