Google opens Street View to Canada

Google Street View is now available to iPhone users in Canada, using the Maps application.

The service should now be available in Greater Toronto, Montréal, Metro Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and other major Canadian cities. The data should be available in both the iPhone browser and the Maps application, starting from today.

The company has also made a few tweaks in the overal usability of Street View, including inclusion of a “report a problem” link, through which users can report mistakes and inaccuracies, for example when a building has been knocked down or a name has changed. The company hopes to resolve each such edit within a month.

The company is also expanding Maps data, including work to introduce directions for cyclists.

Street View provides users 360° horizontal and 290° vertical panoramic street level views within Google Maps. Google collects these images using special cameras and equipment that capture and match images to a specific location using GPS devices. Faces and license plates are blurred before the panorama images are served and become viewable in Google Maps.