Map and chart data

Intimate partner violence (IPV), also known as spousal or domestic violence, is a form of gender-based violence that includes physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, and other types of violence and control. Mapping police-reported incident data shows where rates of IPV are highest across Canadian provinces and territories, as well as other patterns. Domestic violence shelters are one type of service available for survivors of IPV and shelter capacity varies across regions.

Working with IPV and shelter capacity data from Statistics Canada in ArcGIS Online, you'll first style the provinces by the number of domestic violence shelter beds and the rate of intimate partner violence by province or territory. Then, you'll customize the pop-ups and create charts to visualize and analyze the data.

This tutorial was last tested on January 21, 2026.

View final result

Requirements

• ArcGIS organizational account with a Publisher, Facilitator, or Administrator role (see options for software access)

Style the layer and configure a pop-up

The first step to visualizing and charting data is adding it to Map Viewer. Then, you'll style the data to show the rate of intimate partner violence and the number of domestic violence shelter beds in each province or territory. Lastly, you'll configure the layer's pop-up to convey the most important information.

Video

This tutorial is also available as a video.

Map and chart data video

Note:

This video was recorded in 2026. It may differ slightly from the written instructions below, which are more recent.

Open the map

First, you'll open a map of Canada in ArcGIS Online. Then you'll sign in and save a copy of the map.

1. Open the Canadian Provinces and Territories map.

   A basemap of Canada appears.

   

   This basemap uses the Canada Lambert Conformal Conic map projection instead of the more common Web Mercator projection. Web Mercator greatly distorts area, which is particularly problematic for the northern regions of Canada. For more information, see this coordinate system definition from Statistics Canada. For more information on choosing a basemap, see this help topic.

2. On the ribbon, click Sign In. Sign in using your ArcGIS organizational account.

   Note:

   If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.

3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Save and open and choose Save as.

   Note:

   The toolbars can be expanded or collapsed. The example images show the expanded toolbars.

   

   The theme of the map will be intimate partner violence and domestic violence shelter capacity in Canada, so you'll name the map accordingly.

4. For Title, replace the current text with: Intimate partner violence and domestic violence shelter capacity in Canada.
5. For Tags, replace the current tags with domestic violence shelters, intimate partner violence, and charts.
6. For Summary, replace the text with Map showing the rate of police-reported intimate partner violence and domestic violence capacity by Canadian province or territory.

   

7. Click Save.

Add the data

Next, you'll add a layer with data about police-reported intimate partner violence and domestic violence shelter capacity by Canadian province and territory.

1. On the Contents toolbar, click Add and choose Browse layers.

   

   The Browse layers pane appears. By default, it shows layers in your account's content. The layer you'll add is hosted in ArcGIS Online.

2. In the Browse layers pane, click My content and choose ArcGIS Online.

   

3. In the search bar, type Intimate partner violence owner:Esri_Tutorials.
4. In the list of results, for Intimate partner violence and shelter capacity, click Add.

   

   The layer is added to the map.

   

   This layer was created by joining two .csv files to a layer of Canadian province and territory boundaries. One of the .csv contained data about domestic violence shelter capacity from the National Service Provider List, while the other contained data about intimate partner violence, from the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics.

   Note:

   This tutorial won't cover how to join a table to a layer of boundaries. To learn how, try the tutorial Join a table to a feature layer in ArcGIS Online.

   The data from the .csv files isn't shown on the map, but is contained in the layer's table. Before you continue, you'll explore the table to learn more about the data.

5. On the Contents toolbar, click Layers.

   

   The Layers pane appears. It lists the layers on the map. Right now, there's only one layer, the one you just added.

6. In the Layers pane, for Intimate partner violence and shelter capacity, click the Options button and choose Show table.

   

   The layer's table appears.

7. Scroll through and explore the table.

   The table contains data for all 13 Canadian provinces and territories. The data includes the province or territory name, the number and rate of reported intimate partner violence by gender, the percent change in reported intimate partner violence from 2018 to 2019, and the number of domestic violence shelters and beds.

   While this information is useful in a table, you also want it to appear on the map. Next, you'll style the data.

8. Close the table.

Style the data

You'll use smart mapping to create a bivariate map, which is a kind of map that displays two different variables at the same time. You'll visualize the number of domestic violence shelter beds and the rate of intimate partner violence by province or territory.

1. If necessary, in the Layers pane, click the Intimate partner violence and shelter capacity layer to select it.

   When a layer is selected, a blue line appears next to its name.

   

2. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click the Styles button.

   

3. In the Styles pane, for Choose attributes, click Field.

   

   You'll add two fields. One will show the total number of domestic violence shelter beds and the other will show the rate of intimate partner violence per 100,000 adults (aged 15 to 89).

4. In the search box, type total. Select the Total_rate and Total beds fields and click Add.

   

   A default style, Color and Size, is applied to the layer.

   

   The size of the symbols correspond to the number of beds, with larger symbols having more beds, while the symbol's color corresponds to the rate of violence, with darker symbols having higher rates.

   With the default color scheme, provinces or territories with lower rates of violence don't show up well on the gray basemap. Also, a blue color ramp isn't thematically appropriate for a subject like violence. You'll change the color scheme. You'll also change the shape of the symbols from circles to diamonds to give your map a more unique appearance.

5. For Pick a style, for Color and Size, click Style options.

   

   You have the option to change the style for the symbols colors or sizes. You'll change the colors.

6. For Counts and Amounts (color), click Style options.
7. In the Style options pane, under Symbol style, click the color ramp.

   

8. In the Symbol style window, for Current symbol, click Basic point.

   

9. Click the diamond symbol.

   

10. In the Symbol style window, click Done. For Colors, click the color ramp.

    

    A list of other color ramps appears.

11. In the Ramp window, under Category, choose Purples and pinks. Click the Andromeda color ramp.

    Tip:

    To see the name of a color ramp, point to it.

    

    By default, this color ramps styles lower rates with a darker color. It makes more sense for higher rates to have a darker color, so you'll flip the ramp colors.

12. Click Flip ramp colors.

    

    Now, higher rates have darker colors. To improve visibility, you'll also add a darker outline to the symbol.

13. In the Ramp window, click Done. In the Symbol style window, for Outline color, click the color ramp.

    

14. In the Select color window, change the color hex code (#) to 555555.

    

15. In the Select color window, click Done.
16. In the Symbol style window, change Outline transparency to 50 percent.

    

    Lastly, you'll remove the background symbol. This symbol represents the province and territory polygon boundaries. Currently, the symbol only has an outline. Because some province and territory boundaries have a lot of detail (especially near coasts), this outline symbol appears overly dense at some locations.

17. Close the Symbol style window. In the Style options pane, turn off Show background symbol.

    

18. In the Style options pane, click Done.

    The map is updated to use the new color ramp and outline color.

    

    On the map, the Canadian territories (the three northernmost symbols) are shaded the darkest colors, while the provinces are represented by lighter shades. The rates of intimate partner violence are higher in the territories than in the rest of the country, with the highest rates in Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

    In addition to rates of intimate partner violence, the map also shows the number of domestic violence shelter beds, with larger symbols representing higher numbers of beds. Ontario and Quebec have the highest number of shelter beds in Canada, possibly due to the higher populations of these provinces.

19. In the Style options pane, click Done. In the Styles pane, click Done.

Add an effect

To make the symbols stand out more, you'll add a drop shadow effect to them.

1. On the Settings toolbar, click the Effects button.

   

2. In the Effects pane, turn on Drop shadow.

   

   You have options to change the color, width, and opacity of the drop shadow, but the default settings are fine in this case.

3. Close the Drop shadow pane and the Effects pane.

   The drop shadow has been applied. The symbols now stand out more against the basemap.

   

Configure the pop-up

Pop-ups show information about a layer when it is clicked on the map. You'll view the pop-up for the Intimate partner violence and shelter capacity layer and determine the best way to configure it.

1. On the map, click any province or territory symbol.

   

   The pop-up has a long list of fields with a lot of unneeded information. You'll replace the field list with text and a chart.

2. Close the pop-up.
3. On the Settings toolbar, click the Pop-ups button.

   

   First, you'll change the pop-up's title to only show the name of the province or territory.

4. In the Pop-ups pane, click Title.
5. In the Title box, delete all of the existing text except {Name_EN}.

   

   Fields are surrounded by curly braces. The province or territory name field is {Name_EN}. Next, you'll remove the fields list from the pop-up.

6. For Fields list, click the Options button and choose Delete.

   

7. Click Add content and choose Text.

   

8. In the text box, type (or copy and paste) the following text: The rate of police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV) in {Name_EN} in 2019 was
9. Press the space bar and type {. Type Tot.

   A list of fields appears. You'll insert the Total_rate attribute field.

10. Click the Total_rate field.

    

    The field is added to the text.

11. After the {Total_rate} field, type per 100,000 adults (aged 15 – 89).
12. Highlight all of the text and click the Italic button.
13. Highlight {Total_rate} per 100,000 adults (aged 15 – 89) and click the Bold button.

    

14. Click OK.
15. If necessary, on the map, click a province to see the pop-up.

    

Add a chart

Next, you'll add a chart to the pop-up. A chart is a graphical representation of data that comes in many types, such as bar charts, scatter plots, pie charts, and line charts. Pie charts group data into slices to visualize part-to-whole relationships. You'll configure a pie chart for the pop-up to visualize intimate partner violence reports by gender.

1. In the Pop-ups pane, click Add content and choose Chart.
2. In the Configure chart window, choose Pie.

   

3. Click Select fields.

   

4. In the Select fields box, search for number. Check the boxes for Female_number and Male_number.

   

5. Click Done.

   The pie chart shows the proportion of intimate partner violence reports by women and men in orange and blue.

6. In the Configure chart window, click Done.
7. In the Pop-ups pane, under Media, for Description, type (or copy and paste) the following text: The following chart shows the number of intimate partner violence reports by gender.

   You'll finish the pop-up by adding a sentence about domestic violence shelter beds.

8. In the Pop-ups pane, click Add content and choose Text.
9. In the text box, type (or copy and paste) the following text: In 2021, there were {Total_number} beds in domestic violence shelters in {Name_EN}, out of a total of 9,197 beds in all of Canada.
10. Highlight {Total_number} beds and click the Bold button. Click OK.

    The pop-up now contains the chart showing the number of intimate partner violence reports by gender and a meaningful description.

    

11. Close the Pop-ups pane and any open pop-ups.
12. On the Contents toolbar, click Save and open and choose Save.

You have modified the layer style to better represent the data. You have also configured the pop-up to include only the information that you want and display a chart. Now, when a user views a pop-up on this layer, the pop-up is much more succinct.

Create charts

Next, you'll configure a series of charts that examine the data in more detail. When used in conjunction with maps, charts can help you tell a more complete story with data. You'll create three bar charts that uncover spatial patterns and relationships in the data.

Create a chart showing reports

First, you'll create a bar chart showing the number of police-reported intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents by province or territory.

1. On the Settings toolbar, click Configure charts.

   

2. In the Charts pane, click Add chart and choose Bar chart.

   

3. In the Data pane, for Category, choose Province_territory.

   

4. For Numeric fields, click Select numeric fields.
5. Choose Total_number and click Done.

   The bar chart shows the total number of reports by province or territory.

   

   The chart looks good, but you can apply the same colors as the layer by changing its aggregation type.

6. On the Data tab, for Aggregation, choose No aggregation

   

   The colors in the chart now match the layer's symbology.

   

7. On the chart, point to some of the bars, including the highest and lowest bar.

   

   Ontario has the highest number of reports at 30,185, while Prince Edward Island has the lowest number at 354. Given the difference in population for these two provinces, it might be more meaningful to look at the rate of IPV for every 100,000 adults, rather than the number of reports.

8. For Numeric fields, remove Total_number.

   

9. Click Select numeric fields. Choose Total_rate and click Done.
10. For Aggregation, choose No aggregation.
11. For Sort order, choose Y-axis descending.

    

    The chart is organized so provinces or territories with higher rates appear first.

    

    The rate of IPV for every 100,000 adults is highest in Nunavut, while Ontario and Prince Edward Island have the two lowest rates. These are the same results you saw after applying smart mapping styles to the map.

    To finish the chart, you'll update its title and axis titles.

12. In the Data pane, click the General tab.

    

13. Update the following parameters:
    • For Chart title, type Rate of police reported IPV by province or territory.
    • For X-axis title, type Province or territory.
    • For Y-axis title, type Rate of IPV per 100,000 adults.

    The chart updates to reflect your changes.

    

Create a chart showing rates by gender

Next, you'll create another bar chart comparing the rates of male and female IPV reports by province or territory.

1. In the General pane, click the Back button.

   

2. Click Add chart and choose Bar chart.
3. In the Data pane, for Category, choose Province_territory.
4. Click Select numeric fields. Check the boxes for Female_rate and Male_rate.

   

5. Click Done.

   The bar chart shows female and male IPV rates in different shades of blue.

   

   You'll change the colors to better differentiate between the male and female rates. You'll also provide clearer labels for the chart legend.

6. Click the Series tab.

   

7. Under Series, click Female_rate.
8. In the Series style window, change Label to Female IPV rate. Change the hex value (#) to 914a87.

   

9. On the Series tab, under Series, click Male_rate.
10. In the Series style window, change Label to Male IPV rate. Change the hex value (#) to f59d7d.
11. Close the Series style window.
12. In the Series pane, click the General tab. Enter the following parameters:
    • For Chart title, type Male and female IPV rates by province or territory.
    • For X-axis title, type Province or territory.
    • For Y-axis title, type Rate of IPV per 100,000 adults.

    The chart updates.

    

    According to the chart, the rate of IPV reports by women is higher than the rate of IPV reports by men in all provinces and territories, with the largest discrepancy between the genders occurring in Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Create a chart showing percentage change

Next, you'll compare the percentage change of IPV rates from 2018 to 2019 for both genders by province and territory.

1. In the General pane, click the Back button.
2. Click Add chart and choose Bar chart.
3. On the Data tab, for Category, choose Province_territory.
4. Click Select numeric fields. Check the boxes for Female_percent_change_2018_2019 and Male_ percent_change_2018_2019 and click Done.

   You'll change the colors to match the ones you used for the previous chart. You'll also provide clearer labels for the chart legend.

5. Click the Series tab. Under Series, click Female_percent_change_2018_2019.
6. In the Series style window, change Label to Female IPV percentage change (2018 to 2019). Change the hex value (#) to 914a87.
7. On the Series tab, under Series, click Male_ percent_change_2018_2019.
8. In the Series style window, change Label to Male IPV percentage change (2018 to 2019). Change the hex value (#) to f59d7d.
9. Close the Series style window. Click the General tab and enter the following parameters:
   • For Chart title, type Male and female IPV percentage change (2018 to 2019) by province or territory.
   • For X-axis title, type Province or territory.
   • For Y-axis title, type IPV percentage change.

   The chart is complete.

   

   Although the previous chart showed that the rate of IPV reports by women is consistently higher than the rate of IPV reports by men across the country, this chart shows that in many provinces and territories, men's IPV reports increased at a higher rate than women's IPV reports between 2018 and 2019. It's also worth noting that in Prince Edward Island, rates of IPV reporting for both genders decreased from 2018 to 2019. You can explore the data further to find possible explanations for these trends.

10. Close the chart.

    The Charts pane appears. The three charts you configured are listed.

    

Interact with the charts

The data in the charts is connected to the data in the map, so you can interact with a chart to make selections on the map.

1. In the Charts pane, click the Male and female IPV rates by province or territory chart.

   The chart is displayed over the map.

2. At the top of the chart, click the Collapse button.

   

   The chart collapses, allowing you to better see the map.

3. On the chart, click the highest purple bar.

   The corresponding territory, Nunavut, is selected on the map.

   

4. On the map, click Nunavut to view its pop-up.

   

   The colors in the pop-up's pie chart don't match the other charts that you created. You'll change pie chart colors to match the bar chart colors.

5. On the Settings toolbar, click Pop-ups.
6. In the Pop-ups pane, click Media.

   

7. For Media content, click No title.

   

8. Click the symbol for Female_number.

   

9. Change the hex value (#) to 914a87 and click Done.
10. Click the symbol for the Male_number field. Change its hex value (#) to f59d7d and click Done.

    Now the pie chart colors in the pop-up match the colors in the bar chart.

    

11. In the Configure chart window, click Done. Close the pop-up.
12. On the chart, click the Expand button.
13. Click the Clear selection button.

    

    Nunavut is deselected. You can edit a chart at any time by clicking it in the Charts list and clicking the Edit chart button in the chart display.

14. Close the chart. Save the map.

In this tutorial, you worked with intimate partner violence and domestic violence shelter data from Statistics Canada. You began by adding the data to Map Viewer and exploring the attributes in the table. You then styled the layer to show where rates of intimate partner violence are higher and lower. After styling the data, you configured pop-ups to provide more details about intimate partner violence and domestic violence shelter capacity in each Canadian province and territory. Once you explored the data using the map, you created three bar charts to explore the IPV data in more detail. The charts provided some additional insights into IPV patterns and trends in Canada.

What next? One option is to create an app using ArcGIS Instant Apps. An app displays your map with a user-friendly interface tailored to what your map is showing. For instance, the Chart Viewer app template can show your map and the three bar charts you created at the same time. To learn how to create an app using Instant Apps, try the tutorial Create an app. To learn how to configure the Chart Viewer template, see the blog article Chart Viewer: a new Instant App.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• Police reported intimate partner violence data adapted from Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, incident-based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, trend database.
• Domestic violence shelter capacity data is adapted from Statistics Canada, National Service Provider List, 2021.
• The Provinces and Territories of Canada layer was made with data from Natural Earth.
• The Canada Lambert Conformal Conic basemap was made data from Natural Earth.