Canada’s Ministry of Natural Resources unveiled a deal to provide public access to satellite imagery of the country via the Internet, the ministry announced June 23.

The five-year deal, valued at 2.4 million Canadian dollars ($2.1 million), will make the images, used for mapping and monitoring Canadian wetlands as well as managing natural resources, available to all Canadians via the Geobase Web site at no cost.

Natural Resources Canada will supervise the project and the contractors Telus Corp. and Iunctus Geomatics Corp., which are providing the satellite images. Other Canadian government organizations involved in the deal include: Agriculture and Agri-Food, National Defence, Environment, Parks, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and the national partnership initiative Geoconnections.