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A Complete Guide to Waze in Canada

Welcome to Waze map editing in Canada and to the editing community!

Since the USA and Canada share the same Waze server, many of the policies and best practices that have been developed for the US also apply to Canada. This page contains information that is unique to Canada. Because some of it is still being developed, please follow the guidance for the US where it is not in conflict with the information here.

This page is always in development and will soon be available in French.

Getting Started

Please see the article Getting Started.

Another great resource for new map editors is the Welcome to WME page.

Help Improve Waze

Please see the article Help Improve Waze.

Forums

Please check out the Canada-specific forums here: Canada Forum

Feel free to post questions and ask for advice in your editing. Our region is very different in a number of ways from the United States, so the generic editing guidelines don't always apply.

Social Media

Area/Country Managers

List of Senior Editors

Please note that the notifications system for the Waze forums and private messages does not currently function, so your message and posts may go unnoticed. Communicating via the Waze Canada Discord server is a better option for the moment.

Username	Primary Areas Managed	Comments	Forum PM
manoeuvre	Ontario	Country Coordinator Waze Global Champ Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
alexs001	Okanagan Valley, BC Newfoundland and Labrador	Assistant Country Coordinator Waze Global Champ Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
Kayos_On_The_Road	British Columbia	Country Coordinator Waze Global Champ Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
hmarian	Ontario	Waze Global Champ Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
Webs101	Quebec	Waze Local Champ (Canada) Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
SkiDooGuy	Saskatchewan	Waze Local Champ (Canada) Waze Local Champ (US) Rank 6 CM for Canada and US	PM
MushyMedic	Manitoba	Waze Local Champ (Canada) Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
restless_in_nb	Atlantic Canada and Gaspe Peninsula	Waze Local Champ (Canada) Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
phil-mtl	Quebec	Waze Local Champ (Canada) Rank 6 CM for Canada	PM
Taxy57	Quebec	Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
Got2BeKD	Manitoba & Saskatchewan	Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
Dry_B0nes	Alberta	Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
mtylerb	AB, SK and BC's Eastern "Boot"	Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
EECGeek	Ontario / Quebec, Canada	Rank 5 PM for Ontario	PM
de_denis	Quebec	Rank 5 PM for Quebec	PM
PsstDizel	York Region	Rank 5 PM for Ontario	PM
Harmonious4	British Columbia	Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
kkarkid	Ontario	Rank 4 PM for Ontario	PM
IamtheLexx	Ontario	Rank 4 PM for Ontario	PM
Aztek985	Ontario	Rank 4 PM for Ontario	PM
e-sarge	Durham Region	Rank 4 PM for Ontario	PM
amoyer1974	Hamilton, ON	Rank 4 PM for Ontario and Yukon	PM
GregVA3MGR	Ontario, Canada	Rank 4 PM for Ontario	PM
PeterMuir	Ontario, Canada	Rank 4 PM for Ontario	PM
BryceCampbell	Canada-Wide Closures Western Canada	Waze Closures (Canada) Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
Trexer0	South Coast & Kootenay, BC	Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
ryanaye	Nova Scotia	Rank 3 AM for Atlantic Canada	PM

Area/Country Manager Requests

To request Area Manager or Country Manager access, please fill out this form.

Unlock/Update Requests

Canada has its own forum area for unlock/update requests. Please make your requests here. The instructions for posting are in this sticky post.

Turn Instructions and Road Shields

Waze has introduce the ability to modify turn instructions independent from the names of segments. These instructions can also incorporate road shields. The creation and use of road shields is currently limited to editors of rank 4 and higher.

Please look at this page for guidance. There is a lot of work to be done.

Closures

Please report future planned road closures by following the instructions here: https://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=358&t=311475

The closure system allows for complete (or directional, i.e. A->B only) closures to be reported. Partial closures (e.g. one of two lanes in a direction) should not be reported.

If you have a need for an immediate closure (aka emergency), whether due to a traffic incident or major road that had a missing closure, you can reach out through our Discord emergency-closures channel here.

This method is preferred over adding restrictions -- it is nearly immediate, and does not rely on a tile rebuild. The closure will also be visible in the app and on the livemap, in addition to avoiding routing through the segment.

Map Editing in Quebec

The province of Quebec has distinct issues to take into account when editing the map. The Montreal Area has unique issues of its own.

U-Turns

Waze only allows U-turns at junction nodes or over a series of segments. U-turns at junction nodes are often barely possible if at all and drivers generally dislike them. The standard in Canada is to never enable the U-turn at nodes. Unlike in the US, this rule also applies to parking-lot roads in Canada.

But Waze also has a mechanism for recognizing U-turns at H or # style intersections on divided and parallel roads, like these:

Waze will recognize such a turn when all three of these conditions are met:

1. Three segments - The U-turn is a reversal of driving direction through three segments: an incoming segment (A), a single median/crossing segment (B), and an outgoing segment (C).
2. Short median - The median segment (B) is less than 15.0 metres long. Note that the WME rounds decimal places to the closest integer. A segment that is 14.8 metres long and a segment that is 15.4 metres long will both appear to be 15 metres long in the WME although they will behave differently in U-turn recognition. Always adjust such median segments to 14 metres and less or 16 metres and more to trigger the U-turn behaviour you desire.
3. Parallel segments in and out - The in and out segments (A and C) are  within ±5° of parallel to each other. The sum of the angles through the U-turn must measure between 175º and 185º .

It is possible for this method to fail to recognize a U-turn when it is the first segment of a route or it immediately follows a reroute.

The default condition in Canada is to have the Waze routing algorithm prevent U-turns through such geometries.

How to prevent U-turns

The best way to prevent a U-turn through a junction that would permit it by geometry is with a junction box (an editor rank of 5 or above is required to install a junction box).

If your junction turn restrictions permit it, you can use those to prevent a U-turn. This situation is most commonly found at three-way intersections.

The only other way to prevent U-turn routing through a geometry that would permit it is to artificially narrow the median segments to less than 15 metres. This used to be the preferred method but is now obsolete.

How to enable U-turns

Sometimes you have a geometry that by default would not allow a U-turn in Waze but it is important to allow one for user navigation. One example is a destination on the other side of a divided road that would otherwise require an excessive detour to get to.

Again, the easiest way to enable a U-turn through a geometry that would prevent it is with a junction box. Junction boxes overrule all default conditions inside them.

The other way to enable a U-turn through a median segment that measures less than 15 metres is to create a node on it, but we do not recommend this.

Where to enable U-turns

Every province maintains its own road code. In Quebec, you can make a U-turn at any intersection unless it is forbidden by a sign or you must cross a solid lane marker line to do so.

Despite provincial regulations, we generally discourage U-turns because they provide a poor experience for the Waze user. But divided roads often benefit from them. Use your discretion in accordance with local regulations.

Here are the provincial regulations we have found:

British Columbia Statute: Motor Vehicle Act of British Columbia

Alberta Guidelines: A Driver's Guide to Operation, Safety and Licensing: Cars and Light Trucks and Use of HIghway and Rules of the Road Regulation Sections 28-31

Manitoba Statute: C.C.S.M. c. H60 The Highway Traffic Act: Section 191

Ontario Statute: R.S.O. 1990, c. H.8, s. 143. Highway Traffic Act

Quebec Statute: Highway Safety Code [1]. U-turns are allowed unless expressly forbidden by signs, but should still only be enabled after careful consideration of a particular location.

Newfoundland and Labrador Statute: RSNL1990 Chapter H-3: Highway Traffic Act, s116

Parking Lot Naming

U.S. guidance recommends that all parking lots be given names. The U.S. guidance breaks it down into four descriptor categories.

1. Completely Generic
2. Purpose Descriptive
3. Location Descriptive
4. Named

In Canada, we do not use the first category of completely generic parking descriptors such as  “Parking - Starbucks”, “Parking - Costco”, etc.

The map clutter associated with generic parking names on the client is unacceptable to us. Until the client can suppress parking lot names from being displayed in the client, guidance for parking lots in Canada is to not include it.

Purpose Descriptive lots may be used when there is a lot restricted to non-visitors (e.g. an employee-only parking lot) that is separate from one for visitors.  In this case, both may be named.

Location Descriptive lots are acceptable for large indoor malls (e.g. West Edmonton Mall) where different lots will lead to different entrances nearby certain amenities.

We also do not use the 🅿 [P] parking emoji anywhere in the naming of parking lot areas. Do not use, for example “ [P] lot”, “Red [P] Lot 24”, etc.

City Naming

To save space, only enter the name of the city. For example, "Toronto" not "City of Toronto", or for smaller places use "Springfield" not "Town of Springfield", "Village of Springfield", "Springville Township", "Regional Municipality of Springfield".

NEVER include the province in the City field. For example don't put in "Springfield, Qc" or "Springfield, On".

If you find a city that can't save without the province name (perhaps it changes when you save it, or generates other save error), please post a message in the applicable province's forum.

This applies to both primary names and alternate names -- the alternate city is assumed to be in the primary province and country.

Road Naming

Highways

Freeways, Minor Highways, and Major Highways should be named in this format:

Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta,British Columbia & Territories

Hwy # (H is capitalized, the 'wy' in lower case, followed by a number), e.g. Hwy 16

Not 'Highway #' or 'HWY # (all caps)'.

Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and PEI

Rte # (R is capitalized, the 'te' in lower case, followed by a number), e.g. Rte 16

Not 'Route #' or 'RTE # (all caps)'.

Autoroute is abbreviated to Aut, e.g. Aut 15.

For ALL of Canada

Where the signage indicates the highway based on a name ("Lougheed Hwy" or "Sooke Rd"), the name should be used.  If, however, the signage refers to it by number primarily, that is to be the primary name, regardless of the local knowledge (e.g. the Sea-to-Sky Highway is signed as Hwy 99 and Wheeler Blvd. is signed as Rte 15). If a numbered highway has local named signage as above e.g. "Lougheed Hwy" or "Sooke Rd", the Hwy number must be used as an alternative name.

Big Green Signs

Segment naming for ramps and wayfinders should follow the Big Green Sign (BGS) text with the following rules.

Segment name should generally follow signage as read, i.e. left to right, top to bottom, except all numbered highways, should be shown first, followed by destination, followed by icons if applicable.  All should be separated by a forward slash (“ / “), with a space before and after the slash.  Most BGS layout follows this standard.

Acceptable icons to use are “✈️” for Airport and “⛴️” for Ferry.  You must copy and paste these exact icons as these are the only ones that work correctly with TTS.  Only use icons if they are used on the BGS, i.e. do not use the icon to replace a spelled out destination such as “Toronto Pearson International Airport” or “Powell River Ferry”.  

For more general information on BGS segment naming, please refer to the USA Wazeopedia sections for wayfinders and entry/exit ramps.

Abbreviations

Please follow the Canada Post street type abbreviation at all times even if it differs from in-real-life road signs.

See Canada Post for full details in English and French.

Check to make sure that the Canada Post Abbreviation has a working TTS. If it does not, then please check the list of abbreviations below. Note that while Canada Post does not abbreviate "Place" in French, Waze does abbreviate it as "Pl", just like Canada Post does in English.

Please do not shorten names when they are integral to understanding the street name:

 e.g. Bad: N St, S St, Ave Rd
 e.g. Good: North St, South St, Avenue Rd

It is recommended to use the Custom Canadian WME Validator Script. It will highlight all the incorrectly abbreviated street names.

Street Name Abbreviations

Approved Abbreviation	Pronunciation	Do Not Use
Alley	Alley	Aly
Aut	Autoroute	Autoroute
Av	Avenue (French)	Avenue, Ave
Ave	Avenue (English)	Avenue, Av
Bend	Bend	Bnd
Blvd	Boulevard	Boulevard
Boul	Boulevard (French)	Boulevard, Blvd
Brg	Bridge	Bridge
Bypass	Bypass	By-pass
Carref	Carrefour	Carrefour
Ctr	Centre	Centre, Center
Ch	Chemin	Chemin
Cir	Circle	Circle
Circt	Circuit	Circuit, Cct
Close	Close	Cl
Common	Common	Com, Cmn
Conc	Concession	Concession
Crnrs	Corners	Corners,Cors
Crt	Court	Court, Ct
Cove	Cove	Cv
Cres	Crescent	Crescent, Cr
Crois	Croissant	Croissant, Croiss
Crossing	Crossing	Cross, Xing
Cds	Cul-de-sac	Cul-de-sac
Divers	Diversion	Diversion
Dr	Drive	Drive
Éch	Échangeur	Échangeur
Espl	Esplanade	Esplanade
Estate	Estates	Estates, Est
Expy	Expressway	Expressway, Expwy
Exten	Extension	Extension,Ext
Field	Field	Fld
Gate	Gate	Gt
Gdns	Gardens	Gardens
Glen	Glen	Gln
Green	Green	Grn
Grnds	Grounds	Grounds
Grove	Grove	Grv
Harbr	Harbour	Harbour, Harbor, Hbr
Hts	Heights	Heights
Hwy	Highway	Highway
Hghlds	Highlands	Highlands
Hill	Hill	Hl
Hollow	Hollow	Holw
Imp	Impasse	Impasse
Inlet	Inlet	Inlt
Island	Island	Is
Knoll	Knoll	Knl
Landng	Landing	Landing,Lndg
Lane	Lane	Ln
Lmts	Limits	Limits
Lkout	Lookout	Lookout
Manor	Manor	Mnr
Meadow	Meadow	Mdw
Montée	Montée	Mtée
Mount	Mount	Mt
Mtn	Mountain	Mountain
Orch	Orchard	Orchard
Parade	Parade	Pde, Pr
Pk	Park	Park
Pky	Parkway	Parkway, Pkwy
Passage	Passage	Psge,Pass
Ptway	Pathway	Pathway
Pines	Pines	Pnes
Pl	Place	Place
Plat	Plateau	Plateau
Plaza	Plaza	Plz
Pt	Point	Point
Port	Port	Prt
Pvt	Private	Private
Prom	Promenade	Promenade
Rg	Range	Rge
Ridge	Ridge	Rdge
Rd	Road	Road
Rdpt	Rond-point	Rond-point
Rte	Route	Route
Rle	Ruelle	Ruelle
Sent	Sentier	Sentier
Sq	Square	Square
Subdiv	Subdivision	Subdivision
St	Street	Street
Terr	Terrace	Terrace, Ter, Tce
Tsse	Terrasse (French)	Terrasse, Terr
Thick	Thicket	Thicket
Tline	Townline	Townline
Trail	Trail	Tr, Trl
Trnabt	Turnabout	Turnabout
Villge	Village	Village, Vlg

Dividing and un-dividing roadways

When to divide a two-way road (and when not to)

Generally, a road should be un-divided unless it meets any of the requirements for dividing a road. When initially reviewing whether to divide or "un-divide" (merge back together) a roadway, consider these points first:

1. Consult the Local / Global Champ for your area of the country before dividing/un-dividing.
2. The default representation for any roadway is a single 2-way segment, even if the physical roadway is divided. Dividing a roadway carries with it the burden of proof that the change will improve the usability and/ or simplicity of the Waze map.
3. If a road is currently working with no problem reports, consider leaving it as is.
4. Try to avoid switching roads back and forth between being divided and 2-way. For example, if most of the road is clearly divided and only parts would be considered a single two-way road, consider leaving it all divided. If only a small portion seems better off divided, consider keeping it all 2-way.

A road may be divided when any of the following conditions are met:

• It is an Interstate Highway (USA) or other Limited Access Highway using the "Freeway" road type,
• GPS tracks show a clearly definable and continuous gap (blank area) between the color-by-azimuth arrows at the 100m/500ft zoom level,
• multiple houses or businesses with no off-street parking are located directly on the street but are not accessible from the opposite direction of travel due to lengthy median, obstruction, or traffic control signage, or
• U-turns are required to properly make turns from public drivable road types that are blocked by a median.

A road should not be divided when:

• There is a curb or non-drivable median less than 5m wide between lanes of travel (see exceptions above).
• The non-drivable median is interrupted by a cross segment at most intersections.
• There is a center turn lane (any width) between directions of travel. Dividing this type of road creates problems when people turn from the middle lane because there is no road for the navigation to follow.
• It is possible and legal to make a driver side turn/u-turn everywhere along the road
• The objective is solely for visual appearance or to make the road match another visual source like Google Maps.

Remember that dividing and un-dividing roads each comes with its own set of problems. Each situation is unique and some issues may be more manageable with a single two-way road, and some may work fine with a divided road. Consider every aspect of routing, and carefully examine each junction before dividing or un-dividing. Regardless of whether you're dividing or un-dividing, remember that you might cause more problems than you solve and you might have to put it back the way it was before. Also remember that dividing and un-dividing each cause loss of some traffic data, which can result in poor Waze routing.

How to un-divide two one-way roads

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to merge two one-way roads back into a two-way road--which is why you should always give a lot of thought before dividing a road in the first place. And then think some more.

When you come across a road in your area that has been divided but shouldn't have been, you have some major map surgery ahead of you. Because of this high complexity in this process, it is recommended NOT to merge the two one-way roads UNLESS there are Update Requests related to the road caused by it being divided.

The process to un-divide a road (convert from two one-way roads to one two-way road) written below has been specifically designed to preserve the underlying address information embedded in the street segments. It is very important that you do not simply delete one of the two roads because that deletes the house address data on that part of the road. They would have to be looked up and manually added back to the new road.

The steps below show how to properly merge two one-way roads and preserve the underlying house numbers.

This is our example road segment. For the entire length of the road you need to:

1. Select the two segments to be merged and set them both to two-way.

2. Disconnect both segments from one side of the section being un-divided. It is best to disconnect alternate ends of each segment as shown.

3. Bring the two disconnected ends together in the middle (and realign the roads as necessary, removing the unnecessary segments as shown). You can remove the junction point you just created by selecting it and clicking the trash can icon or using the Delete key (Fn + Delete on Mac). Please note that the 2 aligned sections must have matching road information (name, type, direction, speed limit, elevation, and lock) or the junction point will not allow removal!

The following video was recorded by an editor merging two one-way roads so the addresses were preserved. This video follows the described steps above but may help seeing it happening in real time. Press the "enlarge button in the lower right corner to see it full screen.

Un-Dividing Roads and Preserve HN - Video Reference
Un-Dividing Roads WME 2018 - Video Reference

After BOTH sides are merged into one, you need to re-align house number to the street so that it lines up with driveway/entrance of the building the bubble is over.

1. With the street/road selected, click ‘Edit house numbers’.
2. From the house number editing view, you need to select each house number one-by-one.
3. With the house number selected, you see the dashed line is attached to a circle on the street.
4. Select the circle and move it along the road closest to the entrance of the driveway to the building.

Also be sure to check the following:

1. Remove all "orphaned" junctions.
2. Change the direction of the preserved segments to two-way.
3. Check/fix the connectivity of all the roads already connect to the side you kept.
4. Connect (and set connectivity) of all the roads that used to be connected to the other side.
5. Make sure all the new two-way segments are connected.
6. Adjust the geometry to move the two-way road segments to the middle of the road.

Now repeat the entire process for the remaining segments matching the two opposite from each other.

It isn't difficult once you have gone through the process a couple of times.

Caveat: If you decide to be clever and edit the road properties of multiple segments at a time, first familiarize yourself with the known problems with mass-editing. It can be done -- but if you're not careful, you'll find that all the road segments have reverted to Streets...in Alabama...and any alternate road names are lost.

Road Types

The USA has a standardized Functional Classification system which was adopted by Waze Champs as part of the method for classifying roads in Waze. Overall, this resulted in use of the highway types for arterial roads in urban areas, with the Primary Street type being available for collector-type roads.

Unfortunately, Canada does not have equivalent standardized government-published maps, but we can consider many of the same principles. This was first looked at in Edmonton, and seems to have been met with great success. With that in mind, we'd like to consider the following criteria for use within metropolitan areas and any city with a population exceeding ~40,000. In the event that the infrastructure of a smaller city has been designed with arterial routes, this may be adopted there, but will typically be less obvious.

Most local governments publish road classification maps, although there is little standardization between them so each municipality must be treated separately. Lists of existing conversions to Waze road types may be found on the province-specific wiki pages:

• British Columbia
• Alberta
• Saskatchewan
• Manitoba
• Ontario
• Quebec

Trans-Canada Highway

   

Road type: Freeway
Primary name: Hwy ## (e.g. Hwy 1)
Alternate: Trans-Canada Hwy

There are parts of the TCH that travel through National/Provincial parks with frequent stops, reduced speed and undivided portions. These segments should be reduced to a Major Highway with Freeway routing until the speed increases, stops are minimized or the highway is divided again.

Roads in Cities

As a highway enters a city/town, it often becomes a named street, and sometimes would no longer fit the usual criteria for a "highway".

Due to a number of reasons, including long-distance routing issues, as well as appearance, the highway should remain as the same type it entered the city/town (except if it's a Freeway -- if it no longer fits the Freeway criteria, it may be downgraded to Major Highway with Freeway routing until it is again a Freeway).

The road type designation should follow the entire numbered route.

Freeways

   

In general, Freeways will have:

• Multi-Lane, divided road
• No cross traffic
• No stop lights (except for ramp meters)
• No stop signs
• No parking
• No stopping (except for toll booths, freeway access metering, movable bridges, and traffic congestion)
• Highest speed limits (relative to region)
• Some have minimum speed limits
• Limited access:
  • Access restrictions vary by region but some typical restrictions are:
    • No pedestrians
    • No bicycles
    • No mopeds
    • No Animal-Drawn Vehicles
  • Entrance ramps are typically designed with an acceleration zone so that cars can accelerate up to freeway speeds before merging into freeway traffic
  • Exit ramps are typically designed with a deceleration zone so that traffic can exit the freeway at freeway speeds without obstructing traffic, then have sufficient distance to slow down before any turns

When considering the road type, use the above noted Freeway classification as a guideline, with the idea that a Canadian "Freeway" may lack one of the criteria (e.g. Whitemud Freeway in Edmonton is 80 km/h, but meets all other criteria; Hwy 16 west of Edmonton doesn't have ramps for every junction, but meets all other criteria)

Major Highway

   

Use for major arterial roads. Often these have 2-3 lanes (or more) in each direction, and may be structured to be turned into freeways eventually. Usually this means relatively few intersections, higher speed limit, and higher capacity.

Additionally, if a road enters an area as a Freeway, but then loses its limited-access situation, it will generally continue on as a Major Highway.

If only one type of arterial is used by the municipality on their maps, the decision between a "major" and a "minor" will be that of relative importance and capacity. Generally, a "major" will have 2+ lanes, whereas a minor may only have one. Local knowledge is also especially useful in determining this.

Minor Highway

   

Use for arterial roads. They are more direct than using collector roads and sometimes have slightly increased speed limits.

Primary Street

   

Suitable for collector roads through neighbourhoods and thoroughfares that aren't arterial.

Alleys and Laneways

Alleys and laneways should never be added to the map without approval from a Canadian Champ. In some cases (e.g. Toronto area), we have left the ones in place, but in most cases they should be removed.

This is particularly relevant to basemapped areas that included them -- e.g. Saskatchewan -- small towns should certainly have the alleyways removed.

In places where they are retained, they should have their city name set and the "None" box checked for Street Name. They should also be changed to Parking Lot street type. Do not use the Narrow Street type.

In considering whether one should be mapped, the primary question is "would it be appropriate for a stranger (e.g. pizza delivery guy) to park there and enter the residence from that side" - if the answer is "no", then they should definitely not be mapped.

Parking Lot Roads

Please read the Best Map Editing guidelines on parking lot roads. As of October 2018, North America has new guidelines: all parking aisles are to be mapped. US champs recommend enabling U-turns at the end of aisles, but this should not be done in Canada.

Locking Standard

Canada has active "Traffic Locks", these locks are based on usage from users. They are limited to a max rank of 4, but can be any rank below.

Segments that have restricted turns must be locked to a minimum Level 3.

If the current lock or traffic lock is higher than the minimum standards listed below, please don't lower the lock.

Minimum Road Locking Rank Standard

Segment Type	Minimum locks
Freeway	4
Ramp	highest rank of connected segment
	3
Major Highway	4
Minor Highway	3
Primary Street	2
Street	1
:|:|:|:|:Railroad:|:|:|:|:	4

Place Editing

PUR should be reviewed for accuracy, once approved all relevant information pertaining to the place should be entered. Please use each company's website to gather all the information you can. Once a place is complete please lock to rank 3.

This practice will help prevent users and editors from making incorrect changes to places we know are right.

Following are general standards for place locking in Canada:

Place Minimum Locking Rank Standard

Place Type	Minimum locks
Airports	4
Hospitals	4
Major Tourist Attractions/Landmarks	4
Police/Fire Stations	3
Gas Stations	3

Telephone Number Format for Waze Places

+1-NPA-NXX-XXXX

• NPA is the Area Code
• NXX is the prefix
• XXXX is the 4 digit block

This number format allows mobile phones, regardless of their home network, to dial a number without having to modify the number first.

Place Naming

Place Naming in Canada should adhere to the following guidelines. Following the government agency naming guide is a list of businesses which are chains or franchises. Please use these name spellings when creating or updating a place.

Hospitals & Other Medical Services

Hospitals with Emergency Rooms are the only place type permitted to use the Hospital category. All other day clinics, surgical centres, doctors etc must use the Doctor / Clinic category. Other non core medical services services such as Naturopaths, physio-therapists, chiroprators, etc should use the Office category. Emergency Rooms must have a separate Waze Point Place with "ER/Urgence" prefixed in the primary name, for example:

ER - Brampton Civic Hospital

ER - St. Michael's Hospital

Urgence - Hôpital de Verdun

Government Agencies

Police Stations: City, Agency followed by division name, for example:

Toronto Police 12 Division

Peel Police 22 Division

OPP Collingwood Detachment

Fire Stations: City, Agency followed by station number, for example:

Brampton Fire Station 221

Toronto Fire Station 347

Nested Places

If a secondary business within another business location has a different category, contact numbers and opening times, it may be added to the map as a new (second) point place with the new primary category and relevant contact details and opening times. Typical examples of this type of nesting would be pharmacies or post offices within supermarkets or superstores.

Place Name Harmonization

If you don't find the business you're looking for, please use this form to submit the missing information.

A script is available to assist with Place Harmonization and has been localized for use in Canada.

View this list full-screen in Google Sheets

Fuel Retailers

For modification of fuel retailers in Canada, please use the Gas Stations Brands form.

When to Use Area or Point in Canada

We follow American guidance for places, including when deciding whether to use an area or point for a place. As a very rough guide, public buildings (hospitals, schools, police, fire, etc.) and gas stations should be areas and businesses should be points — but consult the rules to make sure.

But we also have specifically Canadian guidance on selecting area or point for places in the Waze Map Editor, as indicated in the Place Name Harmonization table.

Optional Area shall only be used after consulting local area managers on regional guidelines. The place must be a significant landmark with navigational value in the community. For example: a Tim Hortons in Hepburn, SK (population 500) is of significance. However, the same sized Tim Hortons is of zero significance in the Greater Toronto Area.

We do not want to impose hard & fast rules for the Optional Area category. Please use some judgement, we do not want to see wall-to-wall areas for every single building structure on the map.

Optional Area shall be landmarked to just the building structure only, do not include the parking lot area.

Fence-line Areas shall be landmarked from fence line to fence line to include all parking lots, roads, and anything associated with the property. Parking lot roads (PLRs), parking lots, and gas stations all serve the same purpose.

The Primary Category for a Place is used to determine whether to use a Point or Area.

Parent	Category	Type	Comments
Car Services	Car Wash	Point
Car Services	Charging Station	Point
Car Services	Garage / Automotive Shop	Point
Car Services	Gas Station	Fence-line Area	Many gas stations also have convenience stores and ATMs. Remember to use "Gas Station" as the primary category and the add any others which are relevant. Please see the Places/Gas Station article.
Car Services	Parking Lot	Both	There are very few parking lots which should be mapped at all. Please see the Places/Parking lot article.
Transportation	Airport	Fence-line Area	Special-handling
Transportation	Bridge	Area	Should only be use for bridges with significance: Peace Bridge, Golden-gate Bridge
Transportation	Bus Station	Point
Transportation	Ferry Pier	Point
Transportation	Junction / Interchange	Area	Will not be used in Canada.
Transportation	Seaport / Marina / Harbor	Area	Size-dependent.
Transportation	Subway Station	Point
Transportation	Taxi Station	Point
Transportation	Train Station	Point
Transportation	Tunnel	Area
Professional and public	Cemetery	Fence-line Area
Professional and public	City Hall	Point
Professional and public	College / University	Area
Professional and public	Conventions / Event Centre	Area	Size-dependent
Professional and public	Courthouse	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Professional and public	Doctor / Clinic	Point
Professional and public	Embassy / Consulate	Area
Professional and public	Factory / Industrial	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Professional and public	Fire Department	Area
Professional and public	Government	Optional Area
Professional and public	Hospital / Urgent Care	Area	ONLY Hospitals, Emergency Rooms, and places offering Urgent Medical Care should use this category. ERs encompassed in a hospital Place Area should be Points. Clinics, and Medical offices which do not offer urgent medical care for Walk-Ins should use the Doctor / Clinic or Office, (and any other appropriate) category as discussed above regarding Hospitals.
Professional and public	Information Point	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Professional and public	Kindergarten	Point
Professional and public	Library	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Professional and public	Military	Area
Professional and public	Offices	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Professional and public	Organization or Association	Point
Professional and public	Police Station	Area
Professional and public	Prison / Correctional Facility	Area
Professional and public	Post Office	Point
Professional and public	Religious Centre	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Professional and public	School	Fence-line Area
Shopping and services	Arts & Crafts	Point
Shopping and services	ATM	Point
Shopping and services	Bank / Financial	Point
Shopping and services	Bookstore	Point
Shopping and services	Car Dealership	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Car Rental	Point
Shopping and services	Convenience Store	Point
Shopping and services	Currency Exchange	Point
Shopping and services	Department Store	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Electronics	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Fashion and Clothing	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Flowers	Point
Shopping and services	Furniture / Home Store	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Gifts	Point
Shopping and services	Gym / Fitness	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Hardware Store	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Jewelery	Point
Shopping and services	Laundry / Dry Cleaning	Point
Shopping and services	Market	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Music Store	Point
Shopping and services	Personal Care	Point
Shopping and services	Pet Store / Veterinarian	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Pharmacy	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Photography	Point
Shopping and services	Shopping Centre	Area
Shopping and services	Sporting Goods	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Supermarket / Grocery	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above. Must be a Point if it is part of larger shopping mall/center.
Shopping and services	Swimming Pool	Point
Shopping and services	Toy Store	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Travel Agency	Point
Food and drink	Bakery	Point
Food and drink	Bar	Point
Food and drink	Coffee shop	Point
Food and drink	Dessert	Point
Food and drink	Fast Food	Point
Food and drink	Food Court	Point
Food and drink	Ice Cream	Point
Food and drink	Restaurant	Point
Culture & entertainment	Art Gallery	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Casino	Area	Large hotel-casinos perhaps could be Area Places.
Culture & entertainment	Club	Point
Culture & entertainment	Game Club	Point
Culture & entertainment	Movie Theater	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Museum	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Music Venue	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Performing Arts Venue	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Racing Track	Area
Culture & entertainment	Stadium / Arena	Area
Culture & entertainment	Theme Park	Area
Culture & entertainment	Theater	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Tourist Attraction / Historic Site	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Culture & entertainment	Zoo / Aquarium	Area	Size-dependent
Other	Construction Site	Area	Do not map in Canada.
Lodging	Bed & Breakfast	Point
Lodging	Camping / Trailer Park	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Lodging	Cottage / Cabin	Point
Lodging	Hostel	Point
Lodging	Hotel	Point
Outdoors	Beach	Area	Do not map without a name.
Outdoors	Golf Course	Area
Outdoors	Park	Area	Do not map without a name.
Outdoors	Playground	Area	Do not map without a name.
Outdoors	Plaza	Point	Unsure about mapping these at all
Outdoors	Promenade	Point	Unsure about mapping these at all
Outdoors	Scenic Lookout / Viewpoint	Point
Outdoors	Ski Area	Area
Outdoors	Sports Court	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Natural features	Farm	Area	Do not map without a name.
Natural features	Forest / Grove	Area	Only map official provincial/national forests, not every stand of trees.
Natural features	Island	Area
Natural features	River / Stream	Area	Use only if water itself is visually obvious to drivers on nearby roads. Do not remap features already present in the built-in Waze water layer unless that layer is incomplete or inaccurate. Map only the typical extent of visible water, not adjacent open space, greenbelt, culvert, meadows, or flood plain. If the river/stream is too narrow to map conveniently with an Area Place, it should not be mapped at all.
Natural features	Sea / Lake / Pond	Area	Use only if water itself is visually obvious to drivers on nearby roads. Do not remap features already present in the built-in Waze water layer unless that layer is incomplete or inaccurate. Map only the typical extent of visible water, not adjacent beaches or land. If the feature is too small to map conveniently with an Area Place, it should not be mapped at all.

Speed Limits

Please refer to the USA Speed Limit guidelines.

Temporary Construction Speed Limits

Do not change the speed limit due to temporary construction; exceptionː a local editor who takes the route on a daily commute and assumes full responsibility of updating the speed limit.

Ramp Speed Limits

For ramps with only advisory speed limit signs, use the highest speed limit of the in or out segment.

Emergency Vehicle Roads

Emergency.jpg

"Emergency and Authorized Vehicles Only" are to be treated as Non-drivable roads. These are found primarily through the median of divided highways to connect opposite direction lanes.

• Recommended not to map them in Canada.

Ferries

The ferry road type is now working in Waze. If a ferry segment is misbehaving, adjust it slightly and save to force a tile rebuild. Canada will adopt US guidelines with respect to ferries.

• If the ferry has a toll, mark it as a toll road.

Update Requests

Where appropriate, reply to users with the standard replies provided by the URC-E script. If 4 days pass without a reply from the user, send the reminder message. Close the UR if a further 4 days pass without a reply from the user. We always try to get a response from the reporter to try to fix the issue whenever possible.

Technical Information

Please see the article Technical Information.