outcomecanada

API Documentation

Access 8,148 Statistics Canada datasets programmatically. Free, no API key required.

FreeRESTJSON + CSVNo auth
Base URL
https://outcomecanada.ca
GET/api/v1/tables

List all StatCan tables. Supports search and pagination.

Parameters
qstringSearch query (searches title)
limitnumberResults per page (default 20, max 100)
offsetnumberPagination offset
Example
GET /api/v1/tables?q=unemployment&limit=5
Response
{
  "tables": [
    {
      "id": 14100287,
      "title": "Labour force characteristics...",
      "frequency": "Monthly",
      "links": { "data": "/api/v1/tables/14100287/data" }
    }
  ],
  "total": 47,
  "limit": 5,
  "offset": 0
}
GET/api/v1/tables/:id

Get metadata for a specific table, including dimensions and members.

Example
GET /api/v1/tables/14100287
Response
{
  "id": 14100287,
  "title": "Labour force characteristics...",
  "dimensions": [
    { "position": 1, "name": "Geography", "members": [...] },
    { "position": 2, "name": "Labour force characteristics", "members": [...] }
  ]
}
GET/api/v1/tables/:id/data

Get structured data with human-readable column headers. Returns pivoted table.

Parameters
geostring"canada" (default), "provinces", or "all"
seriesnumberMax series/columns (default 10, max 20)
periodsnumberNumber of time periods (default 60, max 500)
formatstring"json" (default) or "csv"
Example
GET /api/v1/tables/14100287/data?geo=provinces&format=json
Response
{
  "id": 14100287,
  "title": "Labour force characteristics...",
  "columns": [
    { "key": "v2062815", "label": "Unemployment rate" }
  ],
  "rows": [
    { "date": "2024-01-01", "v2062815": 5.7 }
  ]
}
GET/api/v1/search

Semantic search across all 8,148 tables using AI embeddings.

Parameters
qstringNatural language query
limitnumberResults (default 10)
Example
GET /api/v1/search?q=average rent by city
Response
[
  {
    "id": 34100133,
    "title": "Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation...",
    "similarity": 0.87
  }
]
GET/api/ask

Ask a question in plain English. AI returns a data-backed answer.

Parameters
qstringYour question
Example
GET /api/ask?q=What is Canada's unemployment rate?
Response
{
  "answer": "Canada's unemployment rate is 6.7% as of January 2026.",
  "keyFigure": "6.7%",
  "sources": [{ "tableId": 14100287, "title": "Labour force characteristics..." }],
  "confidence": "high"
}

Code Examples

python
import requests

# Search for tables
tables = requests.get("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables?q=unemployment").json()
print(f"Found {tables['total']} tables")

# Get data
data = requests.get("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables/14100287/data?geo=provinces").json()
for row in data["rows"][-3:]:
    print(row["date"], row)

# Ask a question
answer = requests.get("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/ask?q=What is Canada's GDP?").json()
print(answer["answer"])
javascript
// Search for tables
const tables = await fetch("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables?q=unemployment")
  .then(r => r.json());
console.log(`Found ${tables.total} tables`);

// Get data as CSV
const csv = await fetch("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables/14100287/data?format=csv")
  .then(r => r.text());

// Ask a question
const answer = await fetch("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/ask?q=What is Canada's GDP?")
  .then(r => r.json());
console.log(answer.answer);
r
library(httr)
library(jsonlite)

# Search
tables <- fromJSON("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables?q=unemployment")
cat(paste("Found", tables$total, "tables\n"))

# Get data
data <- fromJSON("https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables/14100287/data")
tail(data$rows, 3)

# Download CSV directly
download.file(
  "https://outcomecanada.ca/api/v1/tables/14100287/data?format=csv",
  "unemployment.csv"
)

Rate Limits

Free tier: 100 requests per day. No API key needed.

Data endpoint: Each data request calls StatCan's API in real-time, so expect 2-8 second response times.

Search: Semantic search is instant (<200ms) as it queries our pre-computed embeddings.

Ask: AI-powered answers take 1-3 seconds as they involve an LLM call.

All data comes from Statistics Canada under the Open Government Licence. This API is free for non-commercial use. For commercial use or higher rate limits, contact us.