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Please do forgive the double-posting to both lists.
During the ACMLA-WAML Joint Conference in Vancouver 2 weeks ago there was
some discussion about the difficulty many of us obtaining elevation
information for places in Canada.  The geographic names server at the
University of Michigan does provide the elevation of American places but
there is no such tool for Canadian places.  Ron Whistance-Smith made
mention of the Climatological Station Catalogues (from Atmospheric
Environment Service in Downsview) and how useful he had found these for
providing just that kind of information.  I now have a copy of each of
these catalogues and thought that you might be interested in knowing a
little more about them.
 
There are 6 of these catalogues: one for Atlantic Provinces, one for
Quebec, for Ontario, for Prairie Provinces, for British Columbia, and for
The North (Yukon and NWT).    Each costs $5.00 (Canadian) for a total of
$30.00.  I paid $10.00 handling for the set and was granted a 25%
discount (to Canadian institutions only??).  Title from title page is:
  Climatological Station Catalogue Des Stations Climatologiques
All were published by Environment Canada's Atmospheric Environment
Service in Downssview, Ontario in 1989.
 
Using the Ontario catalogue as an example, it is 62 pages long and
contains 4300 elevation entries (give or take).  The data are arranged in
columns with the following column headings:
  station number
  station name
  province
  latitude
  longitude
  elevation (meters)
  year/month began observation
  year/month ended observation (if applicable)
  observing program (synoptic, hourly, temp, precip, etc. etc.)
  region
 
Although there are a great many entries (i.e., 4300 or so) the situation
is not as good as it might seem.  Many places are listed several times;
for example, Kingston Airport has 14 entries, then there is Kingston Aut
(2 entries), Kingston Marine (4 entries), Kingston N & C Gas (3 entries),
Kingston Pumping Station (2 entries), Kingston Queens University (13
entries), and Kingston RMC (1 entry).  THe reason for the multiple
entries seems to be that observation programs at each station would
begin and then end, would begin again, then end, and so on.  Each period
of observation constitutes one entry.  I did a spot check for our local
area (Waterloo Region in Ontario) and found that all 3 cities in the
region are represented in the catalogue (Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge)
as are some smaller centres (Elmira, Elora, Fergus, Ayr) but not St.
Jacobs, New Hamburg, Breslau, Baden, New Dundee.  So it is a bit hit and
miss.
 
A note in the introduction states:
 "The elevation of each site is given to the nearest metre and is
generally the height of ground on which the instruments are exposed.
Prior to April 1, 1986 at principal stations the elevation was generally
the established elevation which is equal to the aerodrome elevation at
airports or to the elevation determined for the barometer cistern at
on-airport principal stations.
 
To obtain copies of these catalogues, fax a message to Mr. Gary Teeter at
416/739-4446 in Downsview.  Or call him at 416/739-4331.  I found that he
was willing to mail the catalogues along with the invoice as long as the
fax message included the name and address of the institution.  These
catalogues are not as comprehensive as I had hoped but nevertheless they
do go part way in addressing our need for elevation information.  If you
have additional questions, please don't hesititate to email me.