Walking across Canada has never been so easy. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society showcased its four giant floor maps of Canada in Ottawa on Nov. 18. The event, part of the international Geography Awareness Week celebrations, was also the Society’s way of honouring the partners who make the huge maps possible. Laid out steps from Parliament Hill in the main hall of the Government Conference Centre, the 11-by-8-metre maps were visited by ambassadors, government officials and geographers alike.

Canadian Geographic Education’s maps include The War of 1812, made in partnership with the Department of Canadian Heritage; Parks Canada: Places and Spaces for Everyone, with Parks Canada; Canada’s Energy: Production and Transmission, with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers; and The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, with the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement Secretariat.

“Everything the Society does is dedicated to its mission of educating Canadians about their country, of reinforcing that special bond between Canada, its geography, its people and its values,” says André Préfontaine, the president and publisher of Canadian Geographic. “This is really what geography is all about.”

As Andrew Campbell, vice-president of visitor experience and external relations at Parks Canada, says, the maps will be sure to “create future explorers of this great country of ours.”

The Society makes the giant floor maps available for schools to borrow, free of charge. For more information visit education.canadiangeographic.ca.