Canadian Electoral Data API

Free, accurate electoral boundary data for all levels of Canadian government.

Base URL: https://ridingdesk.ca/api/v1/electoral

All responses are JSON. Dates use ISO 8601 format. GeoJSON follows the RFC 7946 specification.

Authentication

The API supports three access tiers. Anonymous access requires no credentials.

Tier	Rate Limit	Price	Auth Required
Anonymous	10 req/min	Free	No
Free API Key	100 req/min	Free	Yes
Pro	1,000 req/min	$29/month	Yes

Pass your API key via the Authorization header or as a query parameter:

Header (recommended)

Authorization: Bearer ced_a1b2c3d4e5f6...

Query parameter

GET /api/v1/electoral/lookup?postalCode=K2P1L4&api_key=ced_a1b2c3d4e5f6...

Postal Code Lookup

Look up all electoral boundaries (federal, provincial, municipal) for a Canadian postal code.

GET/api/v1/electoral/lookup?postalCode=K2P1L4

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`postalCode`	string	required	Canadian postal code (e.g. `K2P1L4` or `K2P 1L4`). Spaces are ignored.

Response 200

{
  "postalCode": "K2P1L4",
  "province": "ON",
  "federal": {
    "id": "clx9abc123...",
    "name": "Ottawa Centre",
    "code": "35079",
    "boundaryUrl": "/boundaries/federal-electoral-districts-2023-representation-order/35079/"
  },
  "provincial": {
    "id": "clx9def456...",
    "name": "Ottawa Centre",
    "code": "16",
    "boundaryUrl": "/boundaries/ontario-electoral-districts/16/"
  },
  "municipal": {
    "id": "clx9ghi789...",
    "name": "Somerset Ward",
    "code": "12",
    "boundaryUrl": "/boundaries/ottawa-wards/12/"
  }
}

List Boundaries

Retrieve a paginated list of electoral boundaries, filtered by level and province.

GET/api/v1/electoral/boundaries?level=FEDERAL&province=ON&page=1&limit=20

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`level`	string	optional	`FEDERAL`, `PROVINCIAL`, or `MUNICIPAL`
`province`	string	optional	Two-letter province code (e.g. `ON`, `QC`, `BC`)
`q`	string	optional	Full-text search on boundary name (e.g. `Ottawa`)
`page`	integer	optional	Page number (default: `1`)
`limit`	integer	optional	Results per page, max 100 (default: `20`)

Response 200

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "clx9abc123...",
      "level": "FEDERAL",
      "province": "ON",
      "code": "35079",
      "name": "Ottawa Centre",
      "population": 108000,
      "electorCount": 82000
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 20,
    "total": 121,
    "totalPages": 7
  }
}

Get Boundary

Retrieve full details for a single electoral boundary by ID.

GET/api/v1/electoral/boundaries/{id}

Response 200

{
  "id": "clx9abc123...",
  "level": "FEDERAL",
  "province": "ON",
  "code": "35079",
  "name": "Ottawa Centre",
  "nameEn": "Ottawa Centre",
  "nameFr": "Ottawa-Centre",
  "population": 108000,
  "electorCount": 82000,
  "centroidLat": 45.4215,
  "centroidLng": -75.6972,
  "spendingLimit": "120000.00",
  "contributionLimit": "1725.00",
  "validFrom": "2023-06-22T00:00:00.000Z",
  "validUntil": null,
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.elections.ca/...",
  "confidence": "HIGH"
}

Get Boundary Shape

Returns the boundary geometry as a GeoJSON Polygon or MultiPolygon.

GET/api/v1/electoral/boundaries/{id}/shape

Response 200

{
  "type": "MultiPolygon",
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        [-75.7280, 45.3980],
        [-75.6660, 45.3980],
        [-75.6660, 45.4450],
        [-75.7280, 45.4450],
        [-75.7280, 45.3980]
      ]
    ]
  ]
}

Get Candidates

List candidates for a boundary in a specific election.

GET/api/v1/electoral/boundaries/{id}/candidates?electionId=...

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`electionId`	string	required	The ID of an election event

Response 200

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "clx9xyz...",
      "name": "Yasir Naqvi",
      "party": "Liberal Party of Canada",
      "incumbent": true,
      "elected": false,
      "votesReceived": 22150,
      "voteShare": 0.38
    }
  ]
}

Get Polling Divisions

List all polling divisions within a boundary.

GET/api/v1/electoral/boundaries/{id}/polls

Response 200

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "clx9poll...",
      "pollNumber": "001",
      "name": "St. Luke's Church Hall",
      "address": "760 Somerset St W, Ottawa, ON",
      "registeredVoters": 432
    }
  ]
}

List Elections

Browse past and upcoming elections.

GET/api/v1/electoral/elections?level=FEDERAL&year=2025

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`level`	string	optional	`FEDERAL`, `PROVINCIAL`, or `MUNICIPAL`
`year`	integer	optional	Filter by election year

Response 200

{
  "data": [
    {
      "id": "clx9elec...",
      "level": "FEDERAL",
      "name": "2025 Federal General Election",
      "electionDate": "2025-04-28T00:00:00.000Z",
      "writsIssued": "2025-03-23T00:00:00.000Z"
    }
  ]
}

API Status

Check service health and data freshness.

GET/api/v1/electoral/status

Response 200

{
  "status": "operational",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "data": {
    "federalBoundaries": 343,
    "provincialBoundaries": 893,
    "municipalBoundaries": 2150,
    "lastUpdated": "2026-03-01T00:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Register for API Key

Create a free API key to increase your rate limit from 10 to 100 requests per minute.

POST/api/v1/electoral/register

Request body

{
  "name": "My Civic App",
  "email": "[email protected]"
}

Response 201

{
  "apiKey": "ced_a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0...",
  "tier": "FREE",
  "rateLimit": 100,
  "message": "Store this key securely — it will not be shown again."
}

Rate Limiting

Requests are rate-limited per minute based on your tier. When the limit is exceeded, the API returns 429 Too Many Requests.

Tier	Limit
Anonymous	10 req/min
Free API Key	100 req/min
Pro ($29/mo)	1,000 req/min

Every response includes rate-limit headers:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 100
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 87

Data Coverage

Federal

343 ridings based on the Elections Canada 2023 Representation Order. Updated monthly.

Provincial

All 10 provinces covered. Updated monthly.

Municipal

Top 50+ Canadian cities. Updated quarterly.

Data Sources

Elections Canada — federal riding boundaries, candidates, and results
Provincial election agencies (Elections Ontario, Elections BC, etc.)
Municipal open data portals
Statistics Canada — population and postal code reference data