Watercourses are line features - natural or manmade - that represent the location of flowing surface water. This product requires the use of geographic information system (GIS) software.

Hydro Features is composed of the network of Canadian surface waters. Hydro Features entities are: Watercourse, Water Linear Flow, Hydro Obstacle (falls, rapids\...), Waterbody (lake, watercourse\...), Permanent Snow and Ice, Water Well, and Spring. CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

This theme includes the drainage areas of various watercourse monitoring stations (physicochemical and bacteriological, benthic organisms, diatoms, pesticides, etc.) carried out by the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks (MELCCFP) as well as lake catchments (MELCCFP) as well as lake catchments including the majority of lakes in the Voluntary Lake Monitoring Network (RSVL).The drainage area and the watershed represent the territory whose water flows to the sampling station or to the outlet of the lake. Boundaries are generated using a geographic information system (GIS) from topographic maps, numerical elevation models and flow models, and watershed boundaries produced by the Main Directorate of Water Expertise (DPEH).The drainage area and watershed are used to calculate the area drained upstream of the sampling station or lake, to characterize the drained territory (for example, to determine land use), and to meet specific mapping needs. The linked tables also provide compilations of land use according to three classifications to contextualize the various monitoring carried out at the stations. Note that the use of land outside Quebec, drainage areas and transboundary watersheds is not calculated and that the percentages in each category correspond to the Quebec area only.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

Hydro Features is composed of the network of Canadian surface waters. Hydro Features entities are: Watercourse, Water Linear Flow, Hydro Obstacle (falls, rapids\...), Waterbody (lake, watercourse\...), Permanent Snow and Ice, Water Well, and Spring. CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

Hydro Features is composed of the network of Canadian surface waters. Hydro Features entities are: Watercourse, Water Linear Flow, Hydro Obstacle (falls, rapids\...), Waterbody (lake, watercourse\...), Permanent Snow and Ice, Water Well, and Spring. CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

The mapping of flow beds during periods of low water or in a retention basin in the City of Laval can only be used for information purposes. Any drainage bed present on a site must be analyzed, as part of an environmental study carried out by the applicant for a permit or authorization certificate, in order to confirm whether it is a ditch or a watercourse. The map can be modified at any time by the City of Laval to reflect the most up-to-date data it has.**This third party metadata element was translated using an automated translation tool (Amazon Translate).**

Hydro Features is composed of the network of Canadian surface waters. Hydro Features entities are: Watercourse, Water Linear Flow, Hydro Obstacle (falls, rapids\...), Waterbody (lake, watercourse\...), Permanent Snow and Ice, Water Well, and Spring. CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

Hydro Features is composed of the network of Canadian surface waters. Hydro Features entities are: Watercourse, Water Linear Flow, Hydro Obstacle (falls, rapids\...), Waterbody (lake, watercourse\...), Permanent Snow and Ice, Water Well, and Spring. CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps) . Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon's digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

Hydro Features is composed of the network of Canadian surface waters. Hydro Features entities are: Watercourse, Water Linear Flow, Hydro Obstacle (falls, rapids…), Waterbody (lake, watercourse…), Permanent Snow and Ice, Water Well, and Spring. CanVec is a digital cartographic reference product of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). It originates from the best available data sources covering Canadian territory, offers quality topographical information in vector format, and complies with international geomatics standards. CanVec is a multi-source product coming mainly from the National Topographic Data Base (NTDB), the Mapping the North process conducted by the Canada Center for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO), the Atlas of Canada data, the GeoBase initiative, and the data update using satellite imagery coverage (e.g. Landsat 7, Spot, Radarsat, etc.).Distributed from [GeoYukon](https://yukon.ca/geoyukon) by the [Government of Yukon](https://yukon.ca/maps). Discover more digital map data and interactive maps from Yukon’s digital map data collection.For more information: [geomatics.help@yukon.ca](mailto:geomatics.help@yukon.ca)

Ontario Integrated Hydrology (OIH) data is used to generate watersheds and support provincial-scale hydrology applications including: * watershed generation * hydrologic modelling * watercourse network analysis Four key datasets are represented in each data package: * stream network (Enhanced Watercourse) * hydrology-enforced digital elevation model [DEM ] (Enforced DEM) * flow direction grid (Enhanced Flow Direction - EFDIR) * raster representation of the stream network (StreamGrid) __Technical information__ For the first time, OIH data is complete for the entire province making it possible to create a watershed for any location in Ontario. This includes areas flowing in from neighbouring provinces and Minnesota with the following exceptions: * points on the international border that drain to Lake Superior, south of Pigeon River * points on the international border that drain the Great Lakes connecting channels and St. Lawrence River stateside * points along the Ottawa River that drain from Quebec __Special note: North West package__ The North West package contains hydrography data for the entire Rainy River Basin, an area which straddles the international border between Canada and the United States. The data stateside originates from the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD) as of February/March 2014. This data has been harmonized with the Ontario Hydro Network (OHN) to create the Enhanced Watercourse and Integrated Waterbody layers found within the North West package. For more information on when the data was initially extracted and incorporated, refer to these fields stored in the attribute table of each vector layer in the geodatabase: * Effective Date (EFF_DATE) * Geometry Update Date (GEO_UPD_DT) The data stateside is a static snapshot of NHD intended to support regional modeling. Please refer to the [United States Geological Survey (USGS)](https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/ngp/national-hydrography) website for the most current version of NHD. Data is updated after the completion of major updates to source data (such as OHN and/or the Provincial DEM).