Odd things on Google Street View Canada

Google Street View has added 130 Canadian cities to its roster, the online giant announced Tuesday.

The service, which uses ground-level panoramic photographs to offer virtual 3D maps of streets and highways worldwide, had previously only featured major Canadian cities.

"Street View in Google Maps is about showing people places they might never otherwise experience, and helping them plan journeys, so we hope it will continue to help boost tourism, heritage, real estate, education and everyday discovery," said Jonathan Lister, managing director and head of Google Canada.

Along with the new cities, Google Street View has added ski runs in Whistler, B.C., and other Olympic venues to increase international visibility of the upcoming Winter Games.

Normally, Street View maps are compiled from images taken by a camera-strapped Google car. In Whistler, however, they used a snowmobile.

"The imagery from this special collection is available in Google Maps, letting anyone around the world see the same view down the mountain as a world-class skier about to push off on their quest for gold," wrote Dan Ratner, senior mechanical engineer for Street View in a blog post.

Launched in Canada in October 2009, Google Street View blurs faces and licence plates to alleviate privacy concerns.