Esri Canada Centre of Excellence (ECCE) in GIS

Through a partnership with Esri Canada, a Canadian-owned company that uses ArcGIS software products to provide enterprise Geographic Information Systems (GIS) solutions, Dalhousie University hosts an Esri Canada Centre of Excellence in GIS. Dalhousie has earned this designation because we promote teaching excellence in GIS, encourage GIS innovation and facilitate increased collaboration between faculty and students. The ECCE designation is held by only ten other institutions in Canada: UNB, NSCC Centre of Geographic Sciences, Carleton, Waterloo, McMaster, York, Western, Calgary, Simon Fraser, and Toronto.

Our ECCE Director is Dr. Chris Greene, from the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department. Up to six of our students can become ECCE associates, which entitles them to attend conferences and development workshops. They form a network with other GIS-minded students across Canada.

App Challenge

The ECCE App Challenge is a coding or storymap app competition held by Esri Canada to help promote innovation and creativity within the Centres of Excellence. Go to the App Challenge website for the Challenge Guidelines.  

Scholarship

The Esri Canada GIS Scholarship program enables each university to reward an undergraduate or graduate student who has conducted a research project using Esri technology, on an annual basis. The prize package includes software, training, books and $2000. Dal application packages are due by Thursday, April 10, 2025. Interested students should go to the Guidelines for Posters and Guidelines for Reports - and follow the Scholarship description. We also encourage you to view previous winning posters.

ECCE Blog

Read the ECCE blog to see what new and exciting things are happening in the geospatial and academic communities across Canada.

GIS Centre

The GIS Centre is located on the 5th floor of the Killam Library. To find it, go through Special Collections and proceed toward the northwest corner of the Killam Library.