Open Data

The City of Ottawa provides free access to many of its data sets through a dedicated data portal.   The data is licensed under the Open Government License, making it easy to use and reuse.  The City continues to add data to the catalogue and accepts requests from the public to post specific data.   

Get the Data

Request Data

To see some of the applications that have been created using City data please visit our App Gallery.

To find data from other Canadian governments you can use the Government of Canada’s Open Government listings.

Introduction

This licence is based on version 2.0 of the Open Government Licence – Canada, which was developed through public consultation. The only substantive changes in this licence are to replace direct references to the Government of Canada with the City of Ottawa, replace a reference to the Federal Privacy Act with a reference to the Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and remove a reference to the Federal Court of Canada.

Open Data License change: FAQ

Using information under this licence

Use of any Information indicates your acceptance of the terms below.

The Information Provider grants you a worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use the Information including for commercial purposes subject to the terms below.

You are free to:

Copy, modify, publish, translate, adapt, distribute or otherwise use the Information in any medium, mode or format for any lawful purpose.

You must, where you do any of the above:

Acknowledge the source of the Information by including any attribution statement specified by the Information Provider(s) and, where possible, provide a link to this licence.     

If the Information Provider does not provide a specific attribution statement, or if you are using Information from several information providers and multiple attributions are not practical for your product or application, you must use the following attribution statement:

Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Ottawa.

The terms of this licence are important, and if you fail to comply with any of them, the rights granted you under this licence, or any similar licence granted by the Information Provider, will end automatically.

Exemptions

This licence does not grant you any right to use:

• Personal Information;
• Third party rights the Information Provider is not authorized to license;
• The names, crests, logos, or other official symbols of the Information Provider; and
• Information subject to other intellectual property rights, including patents, trade-marks and official marks.

Non-endorsement

This licence does not grant you any right to use the Information in a way that suggests any official status or that the Information Provider endorses you or your use of Information.

No warranty

The Information is licensed “as is”, and the Information Provider excludes all representations, warranties, obligations and liabilities, whether express or implied, to the maximum extent permitted by law.           

The Information Provider is not liable for any errors or omissions in the Information, and will not under any circumstances be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or other loss, injury or damage caused by its use or otherwise arising in connection with this licence or the Information, even if specifically advised of the possibility of such loss, injury or damage.

Governing law

This licence is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the applicable laws of Canada.

Legal proceedings related to this licence may only be brought in the courts of Ontario.

Definitions

In this licence, the terms below have the following meanings:

• “Information” means information resources protected by copyright or other information that is offered for use under the terms of this licence.
• “Information Provider” means City of Ottawa.
• “Personal Information” means “personal information” as defined in section 2(1) of the Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
• “You” means the natural or legal person, or body of persons corporate or incorporate, acquiring rights under this licence.

Versioning

This is version 2.0 of the Open Government Licence – City of Ottawa.  The Information Provider may make changes to the terms of this licence from time to time and issue a new version of the licence.  Your use of the Information will be governed by the terms of the licence in force as of the date you accessed the information.

Open Data License change: FAQ

Updated: 8 September 2016

The City of Ottawa has implemented a new “Open Data Licence”, replacing the “Open Data – Terms of Use” that previously governed the usage and distribution of City of Ottawa data sets.

The Open Data License is based on version 2.0 of the “Open Government Licence – Canada” which was developed through public consultation and consultation with other jurisdictions. The only substantive changes in this licence are to replace references to the Government of Canada with the City of Ottawa, replace a reference to the Federal Privacy Act with a reference to the Ontario Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and remove a reference to the Federal Court of Canada.

Q: What is the purpose of the Open Data Licence?
A: The Open Data licence governs the usage of data made available by the City of Ottawa through its Open Data platform. It establishes what users can do with the data, what their responsibilities are, and clarifies the exemptions that are not covered by the licence.
The licence helps ensure that Open Data can be as beneficial as possible to residents and businesses by providing an updated framework for using data.

Q: Why were the Terms of Use replaced by the Open Data Licence?
A: Replacing the Terms of Use with the new Open Data Licence allows the City’s Open Data program to simplify the usage, modification and distribution of the data provided through its Open Data platform. Essentially, the goal is to reduce or eliminate as many barriers as possible to the free and open use of data provided by the City of Ottawa.

Different terms of use and licences across jurisdictions make it difficult for users, researchers and developers to fully benefit from open data originating from various government sources. Creating a coherent licensing framework across the municipal, provincial and federal levels facilitates the combination of data sets to create useful analyses or applications.

Adopting a common licensing framework has been an objective of the Open Data program since the first year of its launch in 2010. The creation of the Canadian licence, its positive reception by the public and adoption by many jurisdictions now provides the City with this opportunity.

Q: What are some of the important changes in the Open Data Licence?
A: The Open Data Licence eliminates distribution and proprietary interest wording. Often, this is a barrier for users and businesses that utilize multiple organizational data sets in their applications. The license also adds versioning and definitions sections: versioning helps users know when changes are made to the licence; definitions help clarify terms and reduce ambiguity when using data governed by the licence.

Q: What is the impact to users who obtained data from the City’s Open Data program under the old Terms of Use?
A: Any data set(s) previously accessed under the Terms of Use will continue to be governed by those terms; however, as of 8 September 2016, all data sets accessed through the City of Ottawa’s Open Data website will be governed by the new licence. For example, if data set “x” was accessed before 8 September 2016, it is governed by the terms of use; if the same data set is accessed on or following 8 September 2016, it is governed by the new licence.

Q: Was there any cost to adopting this license?
A: There were no costs associated with the adoption of this license outside of staff time.

Q: How will we ensure that we remain consistent with the Canadian Open Government License?
A: Staff participate in several inter-jurisdictional Open Data working/knowledge sharing groups. Any update to the Canadian license will be discussed within these groups and provide opportunity to assess changes to Ottawa’s license.

Users are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the new Open Data Licence which can be found at City of Ottawa’s Open Data website.

For any additional enquiries, please email opendata@ottawa.ca

As the site evolves, we plan to make each type of data available in multiple formats; however, it will take some time to get there. Not all data will be available in all formats and other formats may be added to this list.

• CSV

  A basic text format that can be opened by many spreadsheet applications such as Excel. Read about CSV format on Wikipedia

• XLS

  A basic text format that can be opened by many spreadsheet applications such as Excel. Read about XLS on Wikipedia

• DWG

  DWG is a GIS standard format native to Autodesk design and GIS software. It is supported by a wide variety of CAD applications. Read about DWG format on Wikipedia

• KML

  KML is an XML-based language developed by Keyhole Inc. and subsequently acquired by Google to display data in Google Maps, Google Earth and similar applications. KML is an Open Geospatial Consortium standard. Read about KML format on Wikipedia

• SHP

  SHP (pronounced "shape") is a format native to ESRI GIS software. It can be consumed by a wide variety of ESRI and non-ESRI software packages. Read about SHP format on Wikipedia

A note about projections:

• DWG and SHP formats are projected in MTM Zone 9, NAD83 (CSRS)
• KML and CSV/XLS formats are projected in latitude, longitude (WGS84); this is relevant for CSV/XLS files only if they contain latitude and longitude.

2013 Apps4Ottawa Contest

The 2013 Apps4Ottawa Contest leveraged the growth of the data catalogue and the maturity of the Open Data community to deliver an even more exciting contest. 

Some of the key changes included:

• The number of data sets available in the OpenData catalogue has tripled since the launch of the first Apps4Ottawa contest;
• Eligibility criteria was expanded to include all Canadian residents over the age of majority;
• A new OpenData portal was launched to better facilitate application development and maintenance;
• A new data analysis and visualization category was created; and,
• The contest had multiple judging panels instead of just having a single panel.

The 2013 Apps4Ottawa Contest leveraged the growth of the data catalogue and the maturity of the Open Data community to deliver an even more exciting contest. Over 118 ideas and 60 apps were submitted in the following four categories:

1. On the Move
2. Having Fun
3. Your City
4. Data Analysis & Visualizations

2013 Apps4Ottawa Contest Winners

All qualified entries were judged by category panels each consisting of two City Officials, one member of Council, one sponsor representative, and one member of the academic community. Judges determined winners for all awards except the People’s Choice award, which was determined by public voting.

On The Move

• Gold: Larry Dunkelman  for Bus Buddy
• Silver: Grant Sutcliffe for O-Transit
• Bronze: Sean Kibbee for OC Bus Tracker
• Student: Grant Sutcliffe for O-Transit
• People’s Choice: Grant Sutcliffe for O-Transit

Having Fun

• Gold: Jean Grandbois for Ottawa Recreation Search
• Silver: Cam Stevenson for On In Ottawa for Windows 8
• Bronze: Andrei Marukovich for Ottawa Events
• People’s Choice: Sandesh Meghnath for HistoriCity Ottawa

Your City

• Gold: Jean-Francois Bibeau for Ottawa Garbage Schedule
• Silver: Hussain Saleem for RentCompass Android App
• Bronze: Kevin O'Donnell for OttWatch.ca
• People’s Choice: Mark Laudon for Save the Rain

Data Analysis and Visualization

• Gold: David Rust-Smith for Ottawa’s Heart
• Silver: Shawn French for DefibrillApp
• Bronze: Ali Al-Munayer for My Ottawa City
• Student: Ehsan Mohammadi for Ottawa Garbage Collecting Schedule
• People’s Choice: David Rust-Smith for Ottawa’s Heart

Windows 8

• 1^st Place: David Rust-Smith for Ottawa’s Heart
• 2^nd Place:  Cam Stevenson for On In Ottawa for Windows 8
• 3^rd Place: Eric Chowns for Rapid Transit Ottawa
• 4^th Place: Sébastien Lachance for Ottawa Bike Parking

For further information on the City’s open data program contact us at opendata@ottawa.ca.

2010 Apps4Ottawa Contest

In 2010, The City hosted its first ever Apps4Ottawa contest to reward developers of the most useful, creative, and effective web-based applications and tools, to allow people to easily make use of the City of Ottawa’s Open Data. By all accounts the contest was tremendous and included 99 application submissions and over 100 idea submissions. 

2010 Apps4Ottawa Contest Winners

The winners of the contest, selected by a seven member panel of judges across five categories, were announced on February 15, 2011 at Ottawa City Hall.

Best Overall App

Ekwa Jacob Duala-Ekoko for Ottawa Guide

People’s Choice App (tie)

Ekwa Jacob Duala-Ekoko for Ottawa Guide
Jonathan Rudenberg for Where’s my Bus

Best Student App

Tyler Pearce for OttawaFun.ca

Having Fun in Ottawa

Gold: Tyler Pearce for OttawaFun.ca
Silver: James DeMond for Ottawa Pastoral
Bronze: Thomas J. Bradley for Ottawa Dog Park Finder

Green Environment/Sustainability

Gold: Alec Mills for Collection Calendar
Silver: Chris Wise for GoLocavore
Bronze: Bill Wilson for Ottawa Recycles

Getting Around

Gold: Michael Russell for Ottawa Enroute
Silver: Ali Al-Munayer for My OC Transpo
Bronze (tie): Philippe Guitard for Ottawa Pools and Ottawa Rinks

Community Building

Gold: Alex deVries for Ottawa Biking Problems
Silver: Fenqiang Zhuang for Browser Ottawa/Ottawa Account
Bronze: Shawn French for ShinnyApp

Economic Development

Gold: Ekwa Jacob Duala-Ekoko for Ottawa Guide
Silver: Samir Al-Battran for Ottawa Inside Out
Bronze: Mike Felepchuk for Temporals.com

Most Popular Ideas

Construction Ottawa: Magdalena Barys

Estimated Bus Location and Time: Mohamed Nur

Urgent Care!: Mike Kelly

The City of Ottawa has adopted an open standard (Open311) that allows third party applications to communicate directly with our 311 technology. The Open311 Pilot Program empowers citizens and allows cities to do more with less.

About the Open311 standard

Open311 is a set of technologies and standards for providing open, two-way communication around city service- and issue-tracking. More specifically, Open311 enables a web-based application programming interface (API) to connect with existing 311 systems. This permits applications to be built that interface directly with the city.

For more information on Open311 and the collaborative effort to create an open standard for 311 services, visit the Open311 website.

Select Service Requests of the following types are currently available:

• Solid Waste
• Roads Maintenance
• Graffiti
• By-Law
• Parks and Forestry
• Parking
• Street lighting

Development process

In order to secure the City’s back-end systems, applications that submit service requests (post data) will require the use of an API key for every request in test and production. Fill out the registration form in order to obtain an API key.

The City will review API Key Requests to ensure that developers have a privacy policy and have agreed to the terms and conditions of the City of Ottawa Open311 API Terms of Service prior to issuing an API Key.

See our developer guidelines for more information.

Third party applications

Existing third party service request application:

• Pinpoint 311
• Neappoli
• PotSnap

The City does not endorse third party applications, guarantee that they will meet your requirements, that their use will be uninterrupted, that there will be no delays, failures or errors or omissions or loss of transmitted information resulting from their use, that no viruses or other contaminating or destructive properties will be transmitted by their use or that no damage will occur to your device  due to their use. You have sole responsibility for use of third party applications and you use them entirely at your own risk.

The City will not be liable to you or to others for any loss, damage or injury of any type caused or contributed to in any way by use of any of third party application and any problems or damages arising from use of third party applications are a matter exclusively between you and the application provider. You release and forever discharge the City from all claims arising from use of third party applications.

^* Platform names are trademarks of the respective vendor.

Although the City has adopted the Open311 standard, anyone may continue to instead submit Service Requests directly to the City using the City’s online channel, or by calling 3-1-1.

Contact us

If you have any questions regarding the City of Ottawa’s Open311 GeoReport v2, please contact SOWeb@ottawa.ca.

Last updated: August 2, 2017

All use of the Open311 API is subject to the following terms:

1. These Terms of Service (“TOS”) govern your participation in the Open311 API (“API”) and your use of API services provided by the City of Ottawa(“City”) and data transmitted over such API services (collectively “API Services and Data”). You understand and agree that these TOS constitute a legally binding agreement between you and the City. You represent that you have full authority to accept these TOS. If you are accepting on behalf of your employer or another entity, you represent that you have full authority to bind your employer or such other entity to the TOS.
2. In these TOS, “You” or “Your” refers to any individual or entity that uses or seeks to use the API Services and Data.

Application Process

3. In order to secure the City’s back-end systems, applications that submit service requests (post data) either in test or production require the use of an API key. You may request an API key by completing the required form. The City will review Your application to ensure compliance with the API Terms of Service. The City, in its sole and complete discretion, may give You an API key for access to the API.
4. Access to the API is subject to Your compliance with these terms as well as development of a privacy policy, including clear and conspicuous disclosure to users of any practice whereby You or a third party collect or use personally identifiable information from users. In addition, You agree to comply with all applicable laws relating to the collection of personally identifiable information from visitors/users. Any violation of these requirements or failure to comply with Your privacy policy constitutes a violation of these TOS and is grounds for immediate termination of all access privileges to the API services and Data.
5. Access privileges to API services and Data are granted at the sole discretion of the City and may be restricted or terminated at any time.

City Policies and Requirements Regarding Use of API Services

6. Usage is currently not limited, but will be monitored. Excessive usage, in the sole and complete discretion of the City, may be grounds for imposing usage caps or for termination of service. If You plan to make heavy use of the API service, please notify the City prior to such use. The City, in its complete discretion, may allow You to avoid limitations on usage.
7. The City reserves the right to track and publish aggregate statistics on usage per application.
8. When using the API, attribution of the City as the API source is appreciated but not required.
9. The City does not endorse or recommend for public use any specific application developed for this API, and any statements implying or claiming that the City has made such an endorsement are strictly prohibited.
10. Any practice whereby information that is intended to be transmitted directly between the user and the City is manipulated, edited, redacted or otherwise processed by the application, such that the content or meaning of the information is altered, must be disclosed to the user in a clear and conspicuous manner.
11. Sharing, distribution, or any other intentional or unintentional disclosure of API keys to unauthorized users is not permitted and constitutes a violation of these TOS.
12. You agree to comply with, and use all means available to assist the City in complying with all laws applicable to the API Services and Data.
13. Any activity that exceeds Your authorized access privileges to City API services and Data is strictly prohibited.

Consequences Of Violating The Terms Of Service

14. You have a continuing obligation to comply with the TOS. Any violation of the TOS may, in the City’s sole and complete discretion, result in the immediate invalidation of Your API key and termination of all access privileges to API services and Data.

Exclusion Of Warranties

15. The City does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or availability of the API services and Data. You understand and agree that Your use of the API services and Data is at Your sole risk and that the API services and Data are made available on an “as is” and “as available” basis without any warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including without limitation implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. Should there be an error, inaccuracy or other defect in the API services and Data, You assume the full cost of correcting any such error, inaccuracy or defect. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by You from the City or through or from the API services or data will create any warranty not expressly stated in these TOS.

Limitation Of Liability And Indemnity

16. In no event shall the City be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential or special damages (including without limitation, loss of use, time or data, inconvenience, commercial loss, lost profits or savings, or the cost of computer equipment and software), to the full extent that such may be disclaimed by law, or for any claim against You by any third party. In no event shall the City be liable for any claim, including claims by third parties, for loss or damages arising from Your use of the API services and Data.
17. To the fullest extent permitted by law, You shall indemnify and save harmless the City, from any claim, loss, damage, injury or liability of any kind, nature and description (including, without limitation, incidental and consequential damages, court costs, legal fees and costs of investigation), that arise directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from Your use of the API services and Data. In addition to Your obligation to indemnify the City, You specifically acknowledge and agree that You have an immediate and independent obligation to defend the City from any claim which actually or potentially falls within this indemnification provision, even if the allegations are or may be groundless, false or fraudulent, which obligation arises at the time such claim is tendered to You by the City and continues at all times thereafter.

General Provisions

18. The City retains the right to modify these TOS at any time by posting such modifications on this page. Any modification is effective upon posting, unless otherwise indicated. The City will attempt to provide reasonable advance notice of any such changes to developers who have been granted access to API Services and Data. Notice will be provided to the current email address provided in the API Key Request Form by the developers. For this reason, developers are required to provide current contact information to the City and to update any information that changes.
19. These Terms shall be governed by and interpreted under the laws of the Province of Ontario without regard to conflict of laws provisions. Any dispute arising out of these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive venue of the Ontario, and You and the City hereby consent to the venue and jurisdiction of such courts.
20. No modification to the terms and obligations of these TOS, other than modification as described at paragraph 18 above, nor any waiver of any rights, shall be effective except by an instrument in writing signed by You and the City, and the waiver of any breach or default shall not constitute a waiver of any other right hereunder or any subsequent breach or default.
21. These TOS contain the entire agreement and understanding between You and the City with respect to the subject matter hereof and completely replace and supersede all prior agreements, understanding and representations. In no event will any additional terms or conditions be effective unless expressly accepted by the City in writing.
22. If any provision of these TOS is held to be invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, then the remaining provisions will nevertheless remain in full force and effect.
23. You agree that, if the City does not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy contained in these TOS (or that the City has the benefit of under any applicable law), this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of the City’s rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to the City. Any waiver of any provision of these TOS will be effective only if the City expressly states in a signed writing that it is waiving a specified provision.

The City of Ottawa supports the use of the Open311 GeoReport v2 standard. Information on Open311 can be found at Open311.org and the Open311 GeoReport v2 Specification Wiki. The following documentation is intended to support developers in working with this specification by describing what aspects of the specification are and are not supported, as well some specific nuances to this API specification for the City of Ottawa.

Select Service Requests of the following types are currently available:

• Solid Waste
• Roads Maintenance
• Graffiti
• By-law
• Parks and Forestry
• Parking
• Street lighting

Development Process

Applications that are built using the Open311 GeoReport v2 Standard for the City of Ottawa should be tested using the following base URLs:

• city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/open311/v2/, e.g. https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/open311/v2/discovery.xml
• city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/gis/v1/, e.g. https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/gis/v1/findAddressCandidates

Note that the test API does not create cases in a back-end system and should be used to test API responses only.

A test key is available for the development POST service for those that do not have a production key. Use this key: upxH1uGMCboY3qrXKGRmKWdYaxhaGiDr

In order to secure the City’s back-end systems, applications will require the use of an API key for every request in production. Fill out the registration form in order to obtain an API key.

When applications are ready for production, they should use the following base URLs:

• city-of-ottawa-prod.apigee.net/open311/v2/
• city-of-ottawa-prod.apigee.net/gis/v1/

There should be no testing in production. All parameters and application features should be tested in development before requesting a key and going live. However, if there is a specific reason where a testing needs to be done in production such as a landing test key holder must do the following:

• Key holders (or developers) must notify SOWeb@ottawa.ca of their testing plan (date and time, service requests to be submitted)
• SOWeb@ottawa.ca will confirm the plan is approved
• Key holders are to use the following values in their test cases:
  • First name: Test
  • Last Name: Test
  • Client address id: __9BQ1OJ
  • Address: 100 CONSTELLATION DR, NEPEAN K2G6J8
  • Telephone: 6135802424
  • Email: testing@ttawa.ca
  • Description: Test case please close
• Key holders are to notify SOWeb@ottawa.ca when the cases have been successfully submitted.

Application Requirements

To ensure the delivery of City services and to promote a positive experience for users of third party applications the City requires that developers meet certain mandatory requirements. Access privileges to API services and Data are granted at the sole discretion of the City and may be restricted or terminated at any time as per the Terms of Service.

Mandatory developer requirements

• Third party applications must disclose their privacy statement to users.
• In order to obtain an API key, Developers must provide their contact information. The City reserves the right to share and/or publish this information and will divert all inquiries about third party applications to the developer.
• Applications must submit the client/reporters contact information, including name, address, and email address to the City, where this information is mandatory. Any applications found to be submitting values that were not collected from the user, e.g. default contact information, will have their API key revoked.
• The use City of Ottawa trademarks, including logos, etc. is strictly prohibited.

Recommended developer requirements

• Applications should use the Statuses provided by the City when tracking service requests
• Applications should consider both French and English user interfaces
• Applications should consider Accessibility in interface design, including the guidelines provided by the W3C (WCAG AA).In order to ensure traceability for users who follow-up on their service request with the City directly, applications should provide the service request ID issued by the City to users. This does not preclude application from providing the user with its own tracking number in addition to the City’s service request ID.

Open311 GeoReport v2 Specification and the City of Ottawa

Service Discovery

The base URL for Service Discovery for the City of Ottawa is as follows:

• https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/open311/v2/discovery.xml
• https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/open311/v2/discovery.json

Format Support

The City of Ottawa supports both XML and JSON formatting.

Definitions and Miscellany

jurisdiction_id

The City of Ottawa ignores the “jurisdiction_id” parameter.

Language Support

The City of Ottawa supports both official languages in the API; when used, a request header parameter of “Locale” with the value of “en-CA” or “fr-CA” will take precedence over the default “Accept-Language” header. If the “Locale” request header is not present, the portal will fall back to the user’s default “Accept-Language” header; if no header information is present, the Locale will be set to “en-CA.”

Field Sizes

The Open311 GeoReport v2 Specification does not enable the specification of field sizes; however, there are restrictions on field sizes in the back-end business systems that should be adhered to in the development of an application, as follows:

Known fields

• first_name: 35
• last_name: 40
• email: 60
• description: 2000
• phone: 11 (dashes and parentheses will be stripped; must be a valid North American number)
• media_url: 255
• cde_extension: 6

Attribute fields by type

• string: 40
• number: 40
• text: 2000
• singlevaluelist: 80
• multivaluelist: 80
• datetime: 25

Note that these field lengths may be subject to change.

Supported API Methods

GET Service List

This method is supported.

GET Service Definition

This method is supported.

POST Service Request

This method is supported, with the following notes:

Address Validation

The City of Ottawa supports all three methods of addressing provided by the Open311 GeoReport v2 Specification (address_id, address_string, and latitude and longitude pairings). The preferred method for service address information is a Latitude and Longitude pair. The next best approach is to provide a valid municipal address id (this applies for service address (address_id) and client addresses (client_adress_id or client_adress_id_req) as well). Address strings are also supported, however, tend to be more error prone due to discrepancies in user input. Application developers are responsible for ensuring that the addresses that are submitted are valid; to facilitate this, the City of Ottawa offers the use of an addressing web service:

• https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/gis/v1/findAddressCandidates

To ensure a valid municipal address for either the “address_id,” “client_address_id,” or “client_address_id_req” fields, follow these steps:

1. Enter the following URL (using the user’s address string, example in bold):https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/gis/v1/findAddressCandidates?SingleLine=100+Constellation+DR&outFields=User_fld&f=json
2. The response should be as follows (item in bold is the address id):{"spatialReference":{"wkid":102100,"latestWkid":3857},"candidates":[{"address":"100 CONSTELLATION DR","location":{"x":-8434021.1488476545,"y":5676573.4154919367,"z":-100000},"score":100,"attributes":{"User_fld":"__9BQ1OJ"}},...(more results may be included)]}
3. Ensure that the address returned is a proper match for the user input, then use the address id returned by the service (the value in the “User_fld” element) to populate the form field (“address_id”, “client_address_id”, or “client_address_id_req”).

End User Contact Information

Some of the services listed on the City of Ottawa portal require client information, such as contact information and/or personal address. The service definition will identify when this is required. Make note of the following attributes in the service definitions:

• contact_info_req - This will indicate that client contact information (first_name, last_name, phone and email) is required for the service request

• client_address_id_req and client_address_string_req - This will indicate that a client address is required for the service request. Client addressing requirements can be met in one of two ways; you have a choice of providing a City of Ottawa postal address and insert it in the "client_address_string_req" parameter or retrieving a City of Ottawa address id through an address service and inserting its value in the “client_address_id_req” parameter.
  • If you choose to use a postal address, the API will validate the client_address_string_req parameter to the best of its ability and may produce a validation error should it fail to find the supplied address
  • If you chose to use an address id, it can be obtained through the address service as described in address validation section.
• client_address_id and client_address_string - This will indicate that client address details are optional for the service request. Should you choose to supply this information, please follow the same instructions as client_address_id_req and client_address_string_req

Service Definition Fields

• Field names (“code” element) retrieved from the service definition of a particular service need to be encapsulated as attribute [<code_element_value>] (attribute[<code_ element_value>][] for siglevaluelist and multivaluelist datatypes) in your requests as per the GeoReport V2 specification (see http://wiki.open311.org/GeoReport_v2/#post-service-request under “Required Arguments”, “attribute” element).

GET service_request_id from a token

This method is not currently supported.

GET Service Requests

This method is supported, with the following notes:

• Only the Service Request types as defined in the Get Service List method will be available through this method
• A delay of at least five minutes between posting a Service Request and being able to retrieve it through the GET Service Requests method should be expected
• Per the Open311 GeoReport v2 Specification, the default query limit is a span of 90 days or the first 1,000 requests returned, whichever is smallest; this date range may be within the past two (2) years
• The address information will be returned as either Ward information (Ward Name and Number) or Latitude and Longitude (lat, long) pair associated to a Service Address depending on the service request type (see appendix)

GET Service Request

This method is supported, with the following notes:

• Only the Service Request types as defined in the Get Service List method will be available through this method
• A delay of at least five minutes between posting a Service Request and being able to retrieve it through the GET Service Request method should be expected
• In addition to the service_request_id required argument, the email address can be provided as an optional argument to return additional address details beyond the Ward information

GET service requests by specific geographical area

A list of service requests created within a specific geographical area can be retrieved by passing two sets of latitude longitude parameters to your query. The query parameters are defined as follows:

• query_location_lat_1 : top left latitude coordinate
• query_location_lon_1 : top left longitude coordinate
• query_location_lat_2 : bottom right latitude coordinate
• query_location_lon_2 : bottom right longitude coordinate

Sample request: https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/open311/v2/requests.xml?query_location_lat_1=45.3463453&query_location_lon_1=-75.8255661&query_location_lat_2=45.287005&query_location_lon_2=-75.716325

GET service requests by updated time

A list of service requests updated starting from a specific date and time can be retrieved. The query parameter is defined as follows:

• updated_datetime: must be formatted in a common subset of ISO 8601. Timezone information (either Z meaning UTC, or an HH:MM offset from UTC) must be included.

Sample request: https://city-of-ottawa-dev.apigee.net/open311/v2/requests.xml?updated_datetime=2019-03-01T01:00:00-04:00

Errors

Any input validation error will be returned in the description as:

• label (field name) error message

Field names may be returned as a comma-separated list.

XML Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<errors>
<error>
<code>400</code>
<description>Latitude and Longitude (lat,long) pair is not returning a valid address or intersection.</description>
</error>
</errors>

JSON Example

[{"code":400,"description":"Latitude and Longitude (lat,long) pair is not returning a valid address or intersection."}]

Contact

If you have any questions regarding the City of Ottawa’s Open311 GeoReport v2, please contact SOWeb@ottawa.ca.

Appendix

Service Request Types with Lat/Long displayed

• 2000040-1 Parked or stopped in a bike lane
• 2000046-1 Pay And Display Machine
• 2000081-1 Drain Covers on the Road
• 2000088-1 Graffiti - Public Property - Offensive
• 2000089-1 Graffiti - Public Property - Vandalism
• 2000107-1 Ball Diamond Field Requires Maintenance
• 2000109-1 Trail/Pathway in City Park Requires Maintenance
• 2000111-1 Grass in City Park Requires Maintenance
• 2000111-2 Wild Parsnip, Poison Ivy or Giant Hogweed in municipal park
• 2000112-1 Garbage Cans in Parks
• 2000116-1 Abandoned shopping cart in a City Park
• 2000123-1 Shrub or Bush in City Park Requires Maintenance
• 2000154-1 Ditches
• 2000154-2 Wild Parsnip, Poison Ivy or Giant Hogweed in ditches
• 2000158-1 Area Between Road and Sidewalk (Easement)
• 2000159-1 Curb or Gutter
• 2000161-1 Wild Parsnip, Poison Ivy or Giant Hogweed on area between road lanes (median)
• 2000162-1 Roads Maintenance - General Operations
• 2000162-2 Abandoned shopping cart
• 2000162-3 Dead animal on the road
• 2000163-1 Gravel Shoulder
• 2000163-2 Wild Parsnip, Poison Ivy or Giant Hogweed on sidewalk or road shoulder
• 2000164-1 General Road Maintenance
• 2000164-2 Pothole on the Road
• 2000165-1 General Sidewalk Maintenance
• 2000165-2 Winter Sidewalk Maintenance
• 2000166-1 Garbage cans next to roadways
• 2000186-1 Street Lighting
• 2031035-1 Graffiti - OC Transpo

Service Request Types with ward displayed

• 2000031-1 Disabled parking spaces
• 2000031-2 Fire hydrant or route
• 2000031-3 Unauthorized vehicle parked in your space
• 2000032-1 Intersection
• 2000033-1 Parking - public lanes and alleys
• 2000034-1 Municipal Park
• 2000035-1 No Parking Zone
• 2000036-1 No Stopping Zone
• 2000037-1 Winter Overnight Parking - Restricted Zone
• 2000038-1 Street - Over time limit
• 2000039-1 On Sidewalk
• 2000039-2 Too Far From Curb (impeding traffic)
• 2000068-1 Abandoned shopping cart on City of Ottawa property
• 2000069-1 Abandoned shopping cart on O.C. Transpo property
• 2000099-1 Graffiti - Private Property - Offensive
• 2000099-2 Graffiti - Private Property - Vandalism
• 2000141-1 Obtaining All New Bins
• 2000142-1 Obtaining a New Black Box
• 2000144-1 Obtaining a New Blue Box
• 2000148-1 Obtaining a New Green Bin
• 2000149-1 Obtaining a New Kitchen Container
• 2000157-1 Property damaged by city vehicle
• 2000173-1 Black Box Collection - Houses
• 2000174-1 Blue Box Collection - Houses
• 2000176-1 Order a Garbage and Recycling Collection Calendar
• 2000177-1 Christmas Trees
• 2000178-1 Garbage Collection
• 2000180-1 Green Bin Collection
• 2000197-1 Special Consideration
• 2000341-1 City Trees - Determine Health
• 2000342-1 City Trees - Determine Ownership
• 2000344-1 City Trees - Brush and Wood Removal
• 2000353-1 City Trees - Insect Infestation
• 2000354-1 City Trees - Stump Removal
• 2000365-1 City Trees - New Tree Maintenance
• 2000379-1 City Trees - Trees in Trust
• 2003000-1 Machinery Noise
• 2003001-1 Car Alarm Noise
• 2003002-1 Construction Site Noise
• 2003003-1 Delivery Vehicle Noise
• 2003004-1 Garbage Noise
• 2003006-1 Loud Noise
• 2003009-1 Shouting
• 2003014-1 Dog Previously at Large
• 2003015-1 Dog Barking
• 2003018-1 Dog in Park
• 2003019-1 Unlicensed Dog
• 2003020-1 Pitbull Issue
• 2003022-1 Unlicensed Cat
• 2003023-1 Cat Disturbance
• 2003025-1 Illegal Exotic Animal
• 2003030-1 Private Property Maintenance - Building Exterior
• 2003031-1 Private Property Maintenance - Building Interior
• 2003032-1 Private Property Maintenance - Business Premise Inspection
• 2003034-1 Private Property Maintenance - Derelict Vehicle
• 2003035-1 Private Property Maintenance - Elevators
• 2003036-1 Private Property Maintenance - Exterior Debris and Waste
• 2003038-1 Private Property Maintenance - Grass and Long Weeds
• 2003048-1 Private Property Maintenance - Abandoned shopping cart
• 2003053-1 Lost My Pet
• 2003054-1 Too Many Animals
• 2030713-1 Dog Muzzle Order Violation
• 2030714-1 Stoop and Scoop Violation
• 2030759-1 Oversized Vehicle
• 2030760-1 Front Yard Parking
• 2030764-1 Smoking at a City Facility or Property
• 2030765-1 Smoking in a Common Area
• 2030766-1 Smoking at a Hospital or Long Term Care Facility
• 2030767-1 Smoking at a Restaurant, Bar, Patio
• 2030768-1 Smoking at a School
• 2030769-1 Smoking Shisha or Hookah
• 2030770-1 Tobacco Retail Sales to Minor
• 2030771-1 Tobacco Retail Signage Violation
• 2030772-1 Tobacco Retail Signage Request
• 2030773-1 Smoking in the Workplace Violation
• 2031040-1 Request for Recycling Bins - New Home