GIS Mapping and Publication Design for Community Plan Services

The vendor is required to provide consultants with progressive experience in geographic information systems (GIS) and cartography, graphic design, and publication layout in support of municipal land use planning projects.
- Consultant will support the city’s ongoing community plan comprehensive update project by designing and producing customized GIS-based maps, infographics, visuals and overall publication ready layout of the updated community plan.
- Phase 1: project initiation (q2-q3 2025)
1. Consultant responsibilities:
• Attend project kickoff meeting(s) with city planners and GIS staff.
• Review current city GIS layer availability, existing maps, and relevant graphic materials. 
• Coordinate with the city’s GIS team to define technical parameters for custom and composite mapping using city and GNWT data. 
• Prepare a mapping and graphic style guide that includes standardized symbology, color palettes, fonts, map elements (e.g., legends, scale bars), and file formats for consistent use across all deliverables. 
• Coordinate regularly with city planning and GIS staff to update mapping content in response to policy refinements. 
• Confirm preferred tools, file-sharing methods, and delivery schedules for subsequent project phases. 
• Develop infographics, maps, visuals and publication of chapters 1, 2 and 3 of the community plan once a report of phase-1 is completed by end of September 2025.
- Phase 2: mapping and visualization for policy development (q3 2025 – q1 2026)
1. Consultant responsibilities:
• Sept 1 – Nov 30, 2025
2. Land use designation
• Develop customized mapping products to demonstrate proposed land use designations, intensification areas, targets in alignment with revised policy directions. 
• Integrate both GNWT datasets and city GIS layers to produce detailed and contextually accurate visualizations. 
• Apply standardized formatting developed in phase 1, ensuring visual consistency across all outputs.
3. Housing 
• Develop customized mapping products for housing that reflect intensification targets, redevelopment areas, location criteria, and infrastructure or servicing.
4. Work camps
• Develop customized mapping products that support policies regarding work camp location, including buffer zones, compatibility with surrounding users, and service infrastructure.
5. Climate and environment 
• Develop customized mapping products that support climate change adaptation/mitigation. 
• Develop customized mapping products related to environmental policy areas, including areas of ecological sensitivity, heat vulnerability, flood-prone zones, and wildfire risk using available GIS data. 
• Visualize conservation areas, archaeological sites, natural assets, green space networks, and proposed environmental buffers or development setbacks using available GIS data. 
• Incorporate GNWT climate-related datasets and local environmental information (e.g., hydrology, permafrost, vegetation cover) to inform spatial policy considerations using available GIS data. 
• Coordinate closely with planning and GIS staff to ensure that climate and environmental themes are integrated with land use and infrastructure mapping where relevant.
6. Transportation and infrastructure 
• Develop customized mapping products that visualize city multimodal transportation networks, including roadways, transit routes, cycling, trail network and pedestrian corridors using existing GIS data and updating missing links. 
• Illustrate municipal infrastructure systems (e.g., water, sewer, stormwater) and proposed future expansions or upgrades using existing GIS data and updating missing links.
7. Economic development and tourism
• Develop customized mapping products that demonstrate economic development and tourism policy areas, including employment districts, commercial corridors, industrial areas, cultural landmarks, and visitor amenities. 
• Visualize areas of economic opportunity and growth, informed by land availability, servicing, and market positioning.
- Final design and publication
• Finalize the full layout of the community plan, incorporating all maps, infographics, and city-provided written content into a cohesive, user-friendly document. 
• Design and integrate thematic illustrations, diagrams, infographics and iconography that complement the plan’s structure and improve public readability. 
• Ensure all thematic maps maintain a consistent visual style, layout design to maintain compatibility across all map series as defined in phase 1. 
• Ensure all document elements meet the city’s accessibility standards and visual branding guidelines. 
• Deliver the final community plan in both web-optimized and print-ready formats (e.g., pdf, packaged InDesign). 
• Provide editable source files (e.g., InDesign, illustrator, ArcGIS) and all supporting visual assets for future use by city staff. 
• Provide final versions of ArcGIS pro projects as project packages (file extension. PPKX) for archiving purposes to the city’s GIS division.
- Contract Period/Term: 1 year
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: July 21, 2025