Canada Open Data Search — connector documentation

MCP endpoint: https://ca-opendata-search.connectorbay.com/mcp
REST API: POST https://ca-opendata-search.connectorbay.com/v1/tools/{tool_name}, described by the OpenAPI 3.1 spec at https://ca-opendata-search.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless, MCP specification 2025-06-18 or later
Authentication: none required. An optional Authorization: Bearer <key> raises rate limits.
Health: https://ca-opendata-search.connectorbay.com/health · Tool schemas: https://ca-opendata-search.connectorbay.com/tools.json
Publisher: Unify Dynamics LLC · connectorbay.com/ca-opendata-search · agent@connectorbay.com

What Canada Open Data Search is for

Canada Open Data Search wraps the keyless CKAN Action API of the Open Government Portal (open.canada.ca) so a small business or its agent can find the right federal dataset without browsing the portal. search_datasets runs a package_search with a query, an organization and a file-format filter; dataset_detail describes one dataset (title, publisher, licence, update frequency, last modified, keywords); resource_links lists its download URLs with format, language and type; recently_modified lists what changed in the last days; licence_note gives the attribution wording of the Open Government Licence - Canada and the licence of a named dataset; business_dataset_shortlist lists a curated set of business-relevant datasets (tenders, GST/HST rate history, recalls, sanctions) and reads each one's live record. Everything is requested from the portal at run time and cached for minutes; the connector never downloads the data files themselves. Independent; not affiliated with the Government of Canada.

Ask your assistant things like:

"Is there a federal open dataset on tender notices, and what format is it in?"
"Which Canada Revenue Agency datasets can I download as CSV?"
"How often is the CanadaBuys tender notices dataset updated and when was it last modified?"
"What attribution wording do I have to use when I republish data from the Open Government Portal?"
"Which business-relevant federal datasets should my agent look at (tenders, GST/HST rates, recalls, sanctions) and are they current?"

What it does

search_datasets: Search the Open Government Portal (CKAN package_search) by keywords with an optional organization and file-format filter; returns compact dataset summaries.
dataset_detail: Metadata of one dataset by id: title in English and French, publisher, licence, update frequency, published and last-modified dates, keywords and a count of resources by type.
resource_links: Download links of a dataset: every resource with its name, format, language, type (dataset, guide, data dictionary, website), URL and dates, exactly as published.
recently_modified: Datasets whose portal record was modified in the last N days, newest first, optionally for one organization.
licence_note: Attribution wording and limits of the Open Government Licence - Canada, and (with a dataset id) the licence the portal records for that dataset.
business_dataset_shortlist: A curated shortlist of business-relevant federal datasets (tender notices, GST/HST rate history, recalls, sanctions list) with each dataset's live title, licence, frequency and last-modified date.

Data sources

Reference data from official sources (open.canada.ca); every answer states its source, date and validity period.

What it is not

Canada Open Data Search is independent; not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated by any government body, central bank, standards body or scheme operator. Names of rails, schemes and standards are used only to say what a tool works with. It is read-only: it never sends, pays, files or signs anything for you, and it never looks up private individuals.

Built for: Canada. Languages: English.

Tools

Look up & validate

search_datasets — Search the Open Government Portal (CKAN package_search) by keywords with an optional organization and file-format filter; returns compact dataset summaries. Use for "Is there a federal open dataset on tender notices, and what format is it in?". Args: query, organization, format, rows, start, sort.

Reference & guides

dataset_detail — Metadata of one dataset by id: title in English and French, publisher, licence, update frequency, published and last-modified dates, keywords and a count of resources by type. Use for "How often is the CanadaBuys tender notices dataset updated and when was it last modified?". Args: dataset_id.

resource_links — Download links of a dataset: every resource with its name, format, language, type (dataset, guide, data dictionary, website), URL and dates, exactly as published. Use for "Where can I download the CanadaBuys tender notices as CSV?". Args: dataset_id, format.

recently_modified — Datasets whose portal record was modified in the last N days, newest first, optionally for one organization. Use for "Which federal open datasets were updated in the last week?". Args: days, organization, rows, on_date.

licence_note — Attribution wording and limits of the Open Government Licence - Canada, and (with a dataset id) the licence the portal records for that dataset. Use for "What attribution wording do I have to use when I republish data from the Open Government Portal?". Args: dataset_id.

business_dataset_shortlist — A curated shortlist of business-relevant federal datasets (tender notices, GST/HST rate history, recalls, sanctions list) with each dataset's live title, licence, frequency and last-modified date. Use for "Which business-relevant federal datasets should my agent look at and are they current?". Args: topic, check_portal.

Conventions

Read-only. Every tool reads public data or computes; nothing is written anywhere and nothing about the user is stored.
Result envelope. ok: true with data, or ok: false with a structured error (bad_input, not_found, upstream_error). degraded lists optional sources that were unreachable.
Rate limits. Free tier 60 tool calls/minute and 300/day per user (keyed on the user identifier supplied by the host agent, else client IP); Pro keys raise this. Over-limit calls return HTTP 429 with Retry-After. initialize and tools/list are never counted.

Support

agent@connectorbay.com · connectorbay.com/ca-opendata-search/support