Apple Maps Team to Cover Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and More This Month

The Apple Maps team is once again hitting the roads and sidewalks this month. Across six major cities, the Apple Maps recon teams will be using specialized equipment to map out the roads and streets in Canada to better refine the app.

Announced via Twitter, Apple states that the Apple Maps team will be “driving across Canada and walking in Toronto, Montreal, Gatineau, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton from May 2023.” The company goes on to say that Canadians should expect to see the company’s “specialized vehicles and backpacks” the team utilizes in their outings.

Periodically throughout the year, Apple sends out its Maps team to survey cities and locations to better update the app’s information. In August of last year, the Maps team ventured across Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton and Ottawa.

In a support post, Apple states that the newly collected data will help improve Apple Maps as well as support the Look Around feature. Apple is also said to conduct surveys using portable systems in select pedestrian areas. For instance, this year, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec will see Apple’s pedestrian teams hitting the streets. These teams use a backpack system to collect data. Other members of the pedestrian team use iPads, iPhones, or other devices.

When it comes to privacy, Apple once against reassures Canadians that it is “committed to protecting your privacy while conducting these surveys.” As such, Apple Maps team members will censor faces and license plates on images that are published in the Look Around feature. More information can be provided. Canadians can also request that a face, license plate, or house be censored by contacting Apple.

The Apple Maps teams are already starting to survey in Ontario and later this month Quebec. Surveys will apparently conclude on September 30th, when the vehicle teams finish collecting data across the country.

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