The following table contains a defintion and the update methodology used for each of the layers of data available on our hard-copy and interactive map products. Use the Links on the left side to navigate to your specific area of interest. 

Base Map
Civic Addresses	Point representing a civic address and includes civic number, street name and community name. Updated daily by the HRM Civic Addressing section.
Highway Exit	Point representing a Nova Scotia 100 series highway exit number. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Streets	Single line representation of streets with associated names and types, address block face ranges, and community names. Updated daily by the HRM Civic Addressing section.
Railroads	Single line representation of railway lines. Created by the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre from aerial photography flown in 1997.
Community (GSA)	Area representation of communities. Updated as required by the HRM Civic Addressing section.
Property Boundaries	Area representation of property parcels. Updated bi-weekly from the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre.
Buildings Footprints	Area representation of footprints and eaveprints of buildings. Updated as required by the HRM Civic Addressing section.
Building Points	Point locations of buildings too small to be depicted as polygons. Updated as required by the HRM Civic Addressing section.
Airport	Area representation of Stanfield and Shearwater airport runways. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Government Owned Property	Area representation of property parcels owned by provincial or federal governments. Updated bi-weekly from the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre.
HRM Owned Land	Area representation of property parcels owned by HRM, or of interest to the HRM. Updated as required by the HRM Data Management section.
Planning/Zoning
Zoning	Area representation of land use zone applied to a particular area of land within a land use by-law (LUB) area.  Zoning designations differ between LUB areas, so each zone must be interpreted within the context of the LUB area in which it is applied. Updated as required by the HRM Planning Services section.
Bylaw Areas	Area representation of different land use by-law areas. Updated as required by the HRM Planning Services section.
Viewplanes	Area representation of protected view planes. Updated as required by the HRM Planning Services section.
Height Precincts	Area representation of defined areas in the Halifax Peninsula with specific regulations applied to them regarding the height of the structures. Updated as required by the HRM Planning Services section.
Administrative Boundaries
Polling District	Area representation of the 2004 polling districts as approved by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. Created by the HRM Planning Services section.
Capital District	Area representation of the Capital District service delivery area. Updated as required by the HRM Planning Services section.
Community Council	Area representation of the municipal community council areas. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Surrounding Counties       (Maritimes)	Area representation of the Nova Scotia counties surrounding the HRM. Created by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Natural Features
Wetlands	Wetlands (Fresh & Salt Water) – Area representation of the Nova Scotia wetlands and coastal habitats inventory (2000). All dominant wetlands and coastal habitat features greater than 2000 square metres including bogs, fens, deep and shallow marshes, seasonally flooded flats, meadows, shrub and wooded swamps, lakeshore wetlands, salt marsh, saline ponds, dune, beach, cliff, and estuarine and marine flats. Created by Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Renewable Resources branch.
Wetlands Saltwater	Wetlands (Fresh & Salt Water) – Area representation of the Nova Scotia wetlands and coastal habitats inventory (2000). All dominant wetlands and coastal habitat features greater than 2000 square metres including bogs, fens, deep and shallow marshes, seasonally flooded flats, meadows, shrub and wooded swamps, lakeshore wetlands, salt marsh, saline ponds, dune, beach, cliff, and estuarine and marine flats. Created by Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, Renewable Resources branch.
Lakes	Area representation of the lakes, large ponds and rivers (two sided flowing bodies). Created by the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre from aerial photography flown in 1997. Some edits performed by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section as required.
Streams	Single line representation of streams and rivers. If a watercourse is wide enough for the scale of the mapping, it may be found in the Lakes as a double-line river. Created by the Nova Scotia Geomatics Centre from aerial photography flown in 1997.
Primary Watersheds	Area representation of major watersheds as delineated by Nova Scotia Department of Environment.
Municipal Services
Fire Stations	Point representation of the location of all fire stations - paid and volunteer. Updated as required by the HRM Fire Services.
Police Stations	Point representation of the location of all HRM Police and RCMP stations. Updated as required by the HRM Police Services.
Metro Transit Bus Stops	Point representation of Metro Transit terminals and Park & Ride locations. Updated as required by HRM Metro Transit.
Ferry Route	Single line representation of the ferry routes between Halifax and Dartmouth. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Collections Day	Area representation of municipal waste collection service day boundaries (garbage, green cart and recyclables).  Updated as required by the HRM Solid Waste Resources section.
Other Services
Hospitals	Point representation of hospitals as provided by the NS Department of Health. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Universities	Area representation of properties outlines of university and college campuses. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Schools	Point representation of public schools within Halifax Regional Municipality containing contact information as given by the Halifax Regional School Board. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Recreation & Tourism
Places of Interest	Point representation of places of interest as identified by HRM Visitor Information Services. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section.
Recreation Facilities	Point representation of public or private recreation facilities. Updated as required by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section
Recreation Fields	Point representation of baseball diamonds or sports fields as identified by HRM facility scheduling. Updated as required by the HRM Data Management section.
Recreation Land Use	Point representation of HRM owned or maintained recreation related data excluding sports fields and baseball diamonds. Updated as required by the HRM Data Management section.
HRM Parking Lot	Point representation of HRM owned or maintained parking lots. Updated as required by the HRM Data Management section.
Trails	Single line representation of HRM verified trails. Updated by the HRM Geographic Information Systems & Services section as requested by Halifax Regional Trails.  Data collected by the following groups/agencies: Halifax Northwest Trails Association Dartmouth Harbourfront Trail Association Portland Estates Residents Association Porters Lake/Myra Road Wilderness Heritage Association (Crowbar Trail ) Cole Harbour Park and Trails Association Musquodoboit Trailways Association Atlantic View Trail Association Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Trail Association St. Margaret's Bay Rails to Trails Association Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization - WRWEO ( Bluff Trail) Sackville Rivers Association Shubenacadie Canal Commission
HRM Parks	HRM owned park data. Contains parks that HRM owns, and has an interest in, e.g. maintained, leased, etc. Updated as required by the HRM Data Management section.
Provincial Parks	Area representation of properties classified as provincial parks by Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources.