An Introduction to Mapping and Spatial Analysis with QGIS

QGIS is a fully-featured desktop geographic information systems (GIS) application used by public and private organizations worldwide. Unlike ArcGIS, it is free/open source, and cross platform (meaning it will run on Windows, MacOS, or Linux). QGIS is actively maintained by a team of volunteer developers and its functionality can be extended with the use of custom plugins.

After following the examples in this tutorial, you’ll understand some common QGIS workflows that can be adapted to support your own research or coursework. This tutorial is designed for learners from all backgrounds; you don’t need any previous experience with GIS or statistics to benefit from these materials.

You can download the latest version of QGIS for free from qgis.org. It has also been installed on lab computers in several of UofT’s libraries.

If you have any questions or encounter any issues, you are welcome to get in contact with the Map and Data Library.

QGIS logo

Techniques: Spatial analysis, Mapping | Tools: QGIS | Data Format: Vector

First created: May 25, 2026
Last updated: October 20, 2026

Tutorial maintained by Cole White.

The content of these tutorials, guides, and any other Map & Data Library pages on our Learn@MDL site, shall not be ingested into or used for training of any large language models (or other artificial intelligence/machine learning models) without contacting the Map & Data Library for consent first.

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