Canada

Complete Guide to Waze in Canada

• 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 now in development and available in French.

About Waze

Please see the article About Waze

Getting Started

Please see the article Getting Started.

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

Help Improve Waze

Please see the article Help Improve Waze

Use your language skills

• Waze is strongly committed to supporting the different countries and languages of the world but depends on your help.
• The Waze client app has over 1000 words and phrases to be translated into languages used around the world. Some are nearly finished. Some are halfway done. Some of them haven't even started! If you read and write more than one language, you can help with the translation. Even one phrase helps - you don't have to do it all!
• This Wiki is used by people from countries around the world, speaking different languages. Maybe you'd like to help add and improve pages specific to a country and language

Forums

Please check out the Canada-specific forums here: [1]

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.

Area/Country Managers

If you are an Area Manager that covers part of Canada, or a Country Manager that does a lot of work in Canada, please add yourself to this list. See comments via an "Edit" of this section to add yourself.

Username	Primary Areas Managed	Comments	Forum PM
doctorkb	Western Canada (Alberta & BC)	Waze Global Champ, Rank 6 CM for Canada; AM for Edmonton, Prince George, and various places in between	PM
hmarian	Ontario	Waze Global Champ, Rank 6 CM for Canada; AM for Greater Toronto Area and the surrounding communities	PM
EECGeek	Ontario / Quebec, Canada	Waze Local Champ (Canada), Rank 5 CM for Canada and US; AM for Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec	PM
james8970	Western/Central Canada	Waze Local Champ (Canada), Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
Webs101	Quebec	Waze Local Champ (Canada), Rank 5 CM for Canada	PM
manoeuvre	Ontario	Waze Local Champ (Canada), Rank 5 CM for Canada, AM for Greater Toronto Area	PM
Jay91150	Alberta, Maritimes	Waze Local Champ (Canada), Rank 4 AM	PM
joe01romano	Eastern Canada	Rank 5 CM / AM for Canada and US	PM
SkiDooGuy	Saskatchewan	Rank 5 CM / AM for Saskatchewan	PM
erablian	Alberta	Rank 4 AM for Alberta	PM
invented	Ontario	Rank 4 AM for Ontario	PM

AM / CM Requests

To request Area Manager or Country Manager access, please see this thread: http://www.waze.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=93406

Unlock Requests

Canada has its own forum area for unlock requests. Please make your requests here.

Closures

Please report road closures via this form.

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

Major Events (e.g. Commonwealth Games, Tour d'Alberta, etc.) should still be dealt with using the Waze Major Events form.

This method is preferred over adding restrictions -- it is nearly immediate (processed several times per day by Waze staff), 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.

Problems and Issues

The Montreal Area has unique issues of its own.

U-Turns

Practical application in Waze: restrict all u-turns in Canada unless there is a sign outright permitting them.

British Columbia Statute: Motor Vehicle Act of British Columbia

Alberta Guidelines: A Driver's Guide to Operation, Safety and Licensing: Cars and Light Trucks

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

Quebec Statute: Highway Safety Code [1]

City Naming

Towns, cities villages etc... To save space just put in the name of the city, example "Toronto" not "City of Toronto", or for smaller places use "Springfield" not "Town of Springfield" or "Village 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

Minor/Major Highways should be named in this format:

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

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

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).

Abbreviations

Please follow the Canada Post street type abbreviation to reduce map clutter by not using long road type name.

 e.g. Trinity Crt, Apache Trail, Cowbell Lane, Fargo Close, Hemlock Cres,
French Hts, Kings Pk, Kenwood Psge, Bobcat Terr, Paddock Vlg, Topview Ctr,
Thompson Private
 e.g. SW instead of South-west

See http://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/manual/PGaddress-e.asp#1423617 for full details in English and French.

Check to make sure that the Canada Post Abbreviation has a working TTS in this sheet. If it does not, then default to the Waze TTS List.

Road Types

Within Metropolitan Areas

In the US, the DOT has a Functional Classification system which had been adopted by Waze Champs as the method for classifying different road types. Overall, this has resulted in use of the highway types for arterial roads in the metropolitan areas, with the Primary Street type being available for collector-type roads.

Unfortunately, we don't have the same standardized government-published maps to adopt here, 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.

If the local government has published maps that define arterial and collector routes, please use those to set the street types.

Changing of Types

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 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 W 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.

Outside Metropolitan Areas

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 until the speed increases, stops are minimized or the highway is divided again.

Quebec Roads

Autoroutes, or limited access highways, such as the 20/40/55 or any *40 are considered freeways

The big exception to this rule is Autoroute 50 which is still a freeway, even though some small parts of it are not limited access and some are only two lane with no divider.

The official road map of Quebec should be consulted to determine the status of provincial routes. The map is available in French and English.

Major highways on the map are in depicted in red and should be red in Waze.

Minor highways in yellow-orange on the map should be in yellow.

A very general rule of thumb is that 100-series highways are in red while 200 and 300-series highways are in yellow. This is not completely accurate, however, so please consult the official map.

Ontario Roads

All 400 series highways are in blue as they are limited access freeways. Also other highways, for example the 174 just east of Ottawa, are in blue as they are limited access.

Certain Major highways are two lane but are still in red because they collect the minor highways, and many county roads and we need to distinguish them, examples are the 174 east of Ottawa/Orleans, the 17, the 138, 38 the 7 in eastern Ontario.

County roads may be in yellow if they have higher speed limits than most main roads around them. Not all county roads should be designated "Minor Highway" -- grid roads should be addressed like Alberta's Range / Township Roads.

Alberta Roads

Freeways in Canada need to follow a different standard than in the US.

Currently in Alberta, only ring roads (perimeter roads around a city), Hwy 1 (including the highways Hwy 1 splits into), Hwy 2, Hwy 16, and any highways with limited access (e.g. highways with no traffic lights, and access is exclusive to ramps entrances).

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 W of Edmonton doesn't have ramps for every junction, but meets all other criteria)

Generally highways in the 1–216 series are major highways (except when they are freeways), and highways in the 500–999 series are minor highways. However, a highway with a letter suffix in its number should generally be one type lower than the corresponding highway without the letter suffix. For example Hwy 2A is major highway, one type lower than Hwy 2 (freeway), and Hwy 13A in Camrose is minor highway, one type lower than Hwy 13 (major highway).

Some highways in the 500–999 series are gravel, and this raises a dilemma for Waze editors because Waze lacks a road type for all-weather gravel roads. The consensus is to use "Dirt road / 4X4 Trail" for gravel highways in regions where paved alternative routes are available for many destinations, but to use "Minor Highway" in regions where there are no paved alternatives.

Township and Range Roads

Township and range roads are maintained and signed by the local municipal district (MD). Some MDs have chosen a numbering format with a hyphen before the last digit (e.g. “Township Rd 38-4”) but most have chosen a hyphenless format (e.g. “Range Rd 15”). In WME, the road names should follow the local format as used on the signs. Abbreviate “Rd” but leave “Township” and “Range” unabbreviated.

Township and Range roads are not highways and should be (at highest) Primary Street.

List (incomplete) of MDs that use hyphens: Clearwater County, Lacombe County, Mountain View County, Stettler County

British Columbia Roads

Freeways in Canada need to follow a different standard than in the US.

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 W of Edmonton doesn't have ramps for every junction, but meets all other criteria)

Highways are defined by the provincial numbering scheme.  Any numbered route will be either a Freeway, Major Highway or Minor Highway, regardless of the use of stop lights or the path it takes through a city/town.

Additionally, streets that are named "Highway" (e.g. Barnet Highway in Burnaby) may also receive a highway classification.

Differentiation between a major and minor highway is largely based on its destination and importance of the route.  Also, a highway with a letter suffix in its number should generally be one type lower than the corresponding highway without the letter suffix. For example Hwy 19A in Courtenay is major highway, one type lower than Hwy 19 (freeway), and Hwy 4A in Coombs is minor highway, one type lower than Hwy 4 (major highway).

Alleys

Alleys should not be added to the map. In some cases (e.g. Vancouver and Toronto areas), 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.

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 prevent app trusted users and most IGN editors from making incorrect changes to places we know are right. App trusted users and IGN editors are rarely rank 3.

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 http://www.nanpa.com/area_codes/
• NXX is the prefix
• XXXX is the last 4 digits

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

Hospitals with Emergency Rooms must have a separate Waze 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

O.P.P. Collingwood Detachment

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

Brampton Fire Station 221

Toronto Fire Station 347

Place Name Harmonization

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

When to use Area or Point in Canada

Here is the Canadian guidance on selecting Area or Point for Places in the Waze Map Editor.

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 Canadian Tire in Hepburn, SK (population 500) is of significance. However, the same sized Canadian Tire 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
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	Point
Professional and public	Hospital / Medical 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 Office, (and any other appropriate) category instead.
Professional and public	Information Point	Point
Professional and public	Kindergarten	Point
Professional and public	Library	Point
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
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
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
Shopping and services	Hardware Store	Point	Can be Optional Area see notes above.
Shopping and services	Jewellery	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
Shopping and services	Pharmacy	Point
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
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
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
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	Point	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
Natural features	Farm	Area	Do not map without a name.
Natural features	Forest / Grove	Area	Only map official state/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.

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

Please do not use the ferry road type, it's not yet functional in Waze. Canada will adopt U.S. guidelines with respect to ferries.

• Use the FC/RC classification of the road leading to the ferry crossing.
• If the ferry has a toll, mark it as a toll road.

Technical information

Please see the article Technical Information.