Soil Maps and Reports

Clay soil or sandy soil? Want to know more about the distribution of soils in your area and the characteristics of the ‘native’ soil in your yard?

Soil maps and accompanying reports are available for many regions across Canada for free via the web, or printed maps and reports may be available at a small cost.

Soils maps will provide information about the distribution of ‘native’ soil types in the area. The map legend will typically include a short description of each soil type in the area including the name of each soil group, the type of soil, its texture and drainage characteristics,

Soils reports provide in-depth information about the physical properties of each soil type, include detailed descriptions of the soil types and physical characteristics (such as percentage of coarse fragments, sand and clay) and chemical characteristics (cation exchange capacity, % organic carbon, nitrogen, exchangeable cations, phosphorous, and others). Reports also typically include a discussion of geology and surficial materials that underlay the soil horizons, and climate and its influence on soil development.

Note that the soil maps and reports are not equivalent to having a soil analysis completed for your garden soil, and they may not be accurate in urban areas as they cannot account for disturbance by urban development, residential construction practices, or soil amendment by you or previous gardeners.

Here is a small piece of a soil map, and below that an example of a legend, to pique your interest:

Soils of Victoria, BC
(excerpt from report BC6-see below for url)

Cut-out of the Legend accompanying the above map

The examples above are excerpts from ‘Soils of Southern Vancouver Island – Report BC6’. This report is downloadable from: http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/bc/bc6/intro.html

To view interactive maps showing what soils surveys have been conducted in your area of interest, across Canada and BC, see ‘Maps’ on: http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/intro.html. This site will identify maps and reports available as .pdf files for free download, and maps available as GIS files in .e00 format.

Soil Reports are available via:
http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/index.html.

British Columbia Soils maps

For British Columbia, soil maps and reports in a variety of digital formats are available via the flowing websites:
http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/soils/index.html
http://www.em.gov.bc.ca/Mining/Geolsurv/Terrain&Soils/frbcguid.htm
http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/publications/bc/bc6/intro.html
http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/intro.html

Published reports and (color) soil maps may be purchased from the Pacific Regional Society of Soil Science:
http://www.bcia.com/pacificregionalsocietyofsoilscienceprsss/#soillandinventorymapsreports

In addition to the reports and maps available via the above websites, printed soils maps (often at more detailed scales) are available for much of BC. (Most areas of BC which have agricultural potential (including lands in the Agricultural Land Reserve) have been mapped. )

Soil and Agricultural Capability maps are available for much of BC. (at 1:20,000, 1:50,000, or less detailed scales)
In addition, the following types of maps (at 1:20,000 scale) are generally available for southeastern Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and the Okanagan regions:
- Potential for Soil erosion
- Areas subject to high water table and/or flooding
- Soil Management Groups
- Soil suitability for septic tank effluent absorption

Print-on-demand reproductions of the above types of soils maps are available for the cost of reproduction ($5 per map) plus shipping and taxes.

Requests for information about the soil maps available for a specific mapsheet and map orders can be sent to: soilterrain@victoria1.gov.bc.ca.

(Note: The MapPlace (www.mapplace.ca) is one source of information for determining the mapsheet(s) of interest. For example 092F.071 is a 1:20,000 scale map covering an area near Duncan on Vancouver Island, and 092F/12 is a 1:50,000 scale map covering a similar, but larger area. (Both maps are approximately 2’ x 3’ printed size).

Contributed by Maija Finvers, P. Geo., B.C. Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management