Methodology:

The line data is based on Canada's National Road Network (NRN) open data sets, was imported into ArcGIS Pro and modified using satellite imagery, provincial, municipal, and federal information. Using Esri Imagery Basemap and Planet Labs, Inc. daily images only from the 2022-2023 winter, the data was verified for a single season. Where current right-of-ways varied greatly from the NRN data, the routes were newly digitised from satellite imagery, and the original lines were extracted to a separate layer named 'inactive' (included for comparison). Separate shape files exist for each respective province/territory since most winter roads fall under provincial jurisdiction. The NRN attribute tables were kept for compatibility with the original dataset, extended by a field for the winter road length in km. For NRN attribute details, please see https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/92-500-g/92-500-g2022001-eng.htm, which are largely based on ISO 14825.

All current winter road lines were split into their over-land and over-ice segments. Ice crossings that connect permanent infrastructure and are relevant to remote First Nations were extracted into separate shape files. Point locations of remote First Nations communities were extracted by province/territory from the open dataset available from Indigenous Services Canada.

Data collection:

ArcGIS 2.9.5, NRN provincial datasets downloaded in July 2022 from https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/3d282116-e556-400c-9306-ca1a3cada77f , First Nations point locations downloaded in August 2022 from https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/b6567c5c-8339-4055-99fa-63f92114d9e4

Data quality:

Accuracy based on the original NRN and Indigenous Services Canada datasets, manual tracing on Esri Imagery Basemaps if dated 2020 or more recent, and selected Planet Labs, Inc. daily imagery from January through September 2023 (access granted under their Education and Research Program).