After months of preparation -- and considerable prodding from the privacy commissioner -- Google's Street View feature has launched in Canada.
High resolution 360-degree views of 13 Canadian cities -- as well as Banff National Park -- are now available through the Google Maps website.
British Columbian cities Vancouver, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Squamish and Whistler are all available for view. Across Canada, Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Kitchener, Montreal and Quebec are also open to curious web browsers.
To access the service, navigate to one of the featured cities on Google Maps and drag the icon shaped like a small orange man on to the street of your choice.
Controversy arose earlier this year when Google cameras were caught snapping images in Canadian cities, prompting concerns about pedestrian privacy.
Google Canada's managing director Jonathan Lister addressed parliament in June, assuring that all faces captured would be automatically blurred by the service's software.
Google Street View has been available in the United States since 2007, and in Europe since 2008.
