Soil data
Learn how to access our soil database and find out how we’re improving soil mapping in Ontario.
Overview
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) is recognized provincially as the data custodian for soil information and collaborates with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
OMAFRA maintains a geospatial soils database for Ontario called the Soil Survey Complex.
We frequently update the database with soil attribute information to:
- correct inconsistencies as they arise
- correlate soil polygons that cross administrative boundaries
The Soil Survey Complex supports the prime agricultural areas protection provisos of the Provincial Policy Statement.
About the data
The soils data was converted to digital format from soil survey reports and maps that were produced over many decades. All the soil maps have been digitized and electronically stitched together to produce a single digital coverage.
The Soil Survey Complex data is based upon a set of 48 soil reports and their accompanying maps for Southern and parts of Northern Ontario.
Accessible description for map
We continuously improve our approach to mapping soil through the latest developments in GIS, artificial intelligence and the availability of high-resolution data layers.
Attributes
The data contains descriptive attribute information including:
- soil types
- slope class
- Canada Land Inventory (CLI) class
- stoniness
- drainage class
- surface texture
Access the data
You can access the Soil Survey Complex data through:
- Ontario GeoHub
- AgMaps by using the soil survey complex layer labels outline
Original reports and maps
The original soil survey reports and maps are available for free:
- PDF versions from the Canadian Soil Information Service
- in print from Publications Ontario
Use
The Soil Survey Complex data can be used for:
- source water protection
- land use planning
- nutrient management
- soil erosion modelling
- specialty crop mapping
- non-agricultural source material
- environmental farm plan
Learn more
We are developing predictive digital soil mapping workflows to renew soil maps across Ontario.
Our goal is to create higher quality maps with higher accuracy than traditional methods through:
- improvements in data acquisition methods (for example, remote sensing, proximal sensing)
- high-resolution elevation data
- geographic information systems
- machine learning and high-performance computing
Learn more about our work on soil mapping.
Contact us
For information or questions about the Soil Survey Complex project, email ontariosoilsurvey@ontario.ca.
Accessible image descriptions
Maps for Southern and parts of Northern Ontario
This map shows the coverage of upper tier municipalities that have digital format soil surveys completely or partially completed. The completed upper tier municipalities include Essex, Chatham-Kent, Lambton, Elgin, Middlesex, Huron, Perth, Oxford, Norfolk, Haldimand, Brant, Waterloo, Wellington, Hamilton, Niagara, Halton, Bruce, Grey, Dufferin, Peel, Toronto, York, Simcoe, Durham, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Peterborough, Hastings, Prince Edward, Lennox and Addington, Frontenac, Renfrew, Lanark, Leeds and Grenville, Ottawa, Prescott and Russell, Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, and Manitoulin. Partial coverage upper tier municipalities include Parry Sound, Nipissing, Sudbury, Algoma, Timiskaming, Cochrane, Thunder Bay, Kenora and Rainy River. Upper tier municipalities with no coverage are Muskoka and Haliburton.