Just because data is publicly available doesn't mean you can use it however you want. Open data comes with a licence — a legal document that specifies what you can and can't do with the data.
Reading and understanding the licence before using a dataset is one of the most important habits in responsible data practice.
The Open Government Licence – Canada
Most federal and many provincial and municipal datasets in Canada use the Open Government Licence – Canada (OGL-C). This licence is very permissive — it allows you to:
- Copy, modify, publish, translate, and distribute the data
- Use it for commercial purposes
- Combine it with other data
The main requirement is attribution — you must credit the source. For example: "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada."
Creative Commons Licences
Creative Commons licences are used by many open data publishers worldwide. The key variants are:
- CC0 — No rights reserved. Use it for anything, no attribution required.
- CC BY — Attribution required. Otherwise, use freely.
- CC BY-SA — Attribution required, and derivatives must use the same licence.
- CC BY-NC — Attribution required, non-commercial use only.
- CC BY-ND — Attribution required, no derivatives allowed.
For most business and research uses, CC0 and CC BY are the most useful licences. CC BY-NC restricts commercial use, and CC BY-ND prevents you from modifying the data — which limits its usefulness for analysis.
Provincial Licences
Some provinces have their own open data licences. British Columbia uses the BC Open Government Licence. Ontario uses the Open Government Licence – Ontario. These are generally similar to the federal OGL-C but may have specific conditions.
What to Check Before Using Data
- What licence applies?
- Is commercial use permitted?
- Is attribution required? What form?
- Can you modify or combine the data?
- Are there any restrictions on redistribution?
Now that you understand licences, explore Canadian Open Data Sources.