Open Data refers to any data that is openly available for anyone to use. It is not hidden behind a paywall, and is licensed in such a way that others are allowed to use it with few (if any) restrictions.
The links below provide access to downloadable data sets and tools for working with open data.
Local Open Data
City of Windsor
The City of Windsor’s open data portal contains dozens of data sets produced by City administration. Baseline data about roads, municipal political boundaries and city services are available here.
County of Essex
The County of Essex maintains a data portal providing information about countywide services and infrastructure.
Windsor Police Service
Windsor Police Service provides basic crime statistics in PDF format on their open data page.
Windsor-Essex County Health Unit
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit provides public-health data, mostly in dashboard or tabular form.
National Open Data
Statistics Canada offers a wide variety of data sets focused on Canada’s population. You’ll find information on demographics, economic activity, and baseline geographic data for mapping.
The Open Government Portal provides access to information that is disclosed as part of the federal government’s commitment to enhance accountability and transparency.
Open Data Tools
The QGIS Project provides a free, open source tool for working with ESRI ShapeFiles, a standard file format for geospatial information.
The Python programming language is a standard tool for open data enthusiasts. Pandas and PETL are two popular tools for data transformation.
The Observable Project is a free and powerful tool for sharing data visualizations on the web.
Open Data Editor is an open-source no-code application available for all operating systems. It allows users to explore and publish all kinds of data, including datasets, tables, charts, maps, and stories.
Open Data at Hackforge
Hackforge’s Border City Data interest group is focused on open data in general, and the OpenStreetMap interest group supports a major public open data project.
The video below is a recording from a Border City Data event held in 2022, and uses an open data set on Ontario water quality.