Frequently asked questions

Search Canadian public-data catalogues by topic, place, publisher or format. Follow original downloads, explore supported tables and maps, or use the developer API in your own tools. A catalogue listing does not guarantee that every file is available or can be queried.

You can browse the website and use its supported data tools without an account. A verified developer account lets you create API keys and view your API usage. Creating a Free account does not start a paid subscription.

The data comes from public-sector publishers, including federal, municipal, regional and territorial sources. Dataset pages link to the publisher, source portal and applicable licence. Check that licence and its attribution requirements before reusing the data; different datasets can have different terms.

Table and map support depend on the resource. Supported live tables can be queried directly, while eligible CSV and Excel files can be prepared for querying. Other formats, oversized files or unavailable publisher downloads may remain download-only. A resource can support a map without supporting a table.

When you open an eligible resource in Table or Chart, CanQuery may download the file and prepare a queryable copy. Visitors share existing preparation work. File, row, column and storage limits apply. Opening catalogue pages or Map does not start table preparation.

A prepared table is a snapshot, not a continuously updated feed. CanQuery can refresh an eligible copy on a later visit when tracked source metadata changes. Publisher modification and preparation times are different. Copies may expire after inactivity or be evicted, so check the displayed dates and original source before relying on the data.

Use the original publisher download when you need the source file. CanQuery CSV exports are bounded to at most 10,000 rows and can be subject to a lower installed limit. Filters and aggregation affect the export. An export is not a guarantee of a complete historical dataset.

Both plans offer the same supported data capabilities. Business provides a larger API allowance, more keys and higher request capacity. It does not remove file, query, export or map limits. See Pricing for current prices and allowances.

Keyed API requests use credits according to the operation. Successful cached requests still count. A newly admitted preparation job has its own charge; joining existing work, checking job status and renewing activity cost no credits. Rate and capacity limits still apply. The Pricing and API documentation pages explain current costs and workflow examples.

If a charged preparation job ends in failure without publishing a successful copy, its original charge is returned once to the original payer and allowance period. Internal retries or stopping polling do not establish failure. A return to an expired period does not add credits to the current period. These are account credits, not cash refunds.

Open the billing portal from your account to cancel before renewal. Access continues through the paid period, then follows Free allowances. Email support for billing questions, account deletion or help with verification and password-reset messages.