Parameters
Data can be accessed through a series of parameters to specify the observations that are to be returned by the query. A parameter can be an Indicator, Categorical Variable or Filter. An indicator will return an indicator value for the specified indicator type. A categorical variable will return the indicator values at the specified level of aggregation. A filter will limit the results based on the values of the filter.
When querying the API, the user specifies parameters via query strings onto the API URL endpoint:
https://lmic-datahub-prod-gw-d6ow9n6v.uc.gateway.dev/lmi
Table of Parameters
The following table highlights the required and optional parameters that can be sent to the API for each Indicator Category (see Indicator Documentation) as string queries. The "Parameter" column is the exact syntax required by the API set equal to the syntax described in the "Accepted Values" column. Note that where a table record is "n/a" the parameter is not used for the given indicator category. Also, if the API request is without the bounds of max date is exceeded, the API will return most recent data avaliable.
| Parameter | Description | Required/ Optional | Accepted Values - Standard Indicators | Accepted Values - Job Postings | Accepted Values - Work Requirements | Default Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| indicator | Selects values of interest from the Data Hub | Required | 1-14 | 14-16 | 17-18 | None – must be explicitly provided |
| index_date | Date of data ingestion | Optional | YYYYMMDD | YYYYMMDD | YYYYMMDD | Max date |
| start | Time period of interest start | Required | YYYYMMDD | YYYYMMDD | YYYYMMDD | Max date |
| end | Time period of interest end | Required | YYYYMMDD | YYYYMMDD | YYYYMMDD | Max date |
| freq | Frequency of data reported. | Optional | “monthly” | “monthly”, “annual”, “quarterly” | “monthly”, “annual”, “quarterly” | “monthly” |
| geo | Geographic level of data reported. | Optional | “canada”, "economic_regions", "provinces_territories", "cma" | “canada”, "economic_regions", "provinces_territories", "cma", "location", "census_division" | “canada”, "economic_regions", "provinces_territories", "cma", "location", "census_division" | “canada” |
| sex | Available sexes of data reported | Optional | “both sexes”, “male”, “female” | n/a | n/a | “both sexes” |
| age | Ages of data reported | Optional | “15+”, “15–24”, “25–54”, “55+” | n/a | n/a | “15+” |
| seasonality | Whether the data is seasonally adjusted. | Optional | “unadjusted”, “seasonally adjusted”, “trend cycle” | n/a | n/a | “unadjusted” |
| lang | Return French or English values | Optional | “fr”, “en” | “fr”, “en” | “fr”, “en” | “en” |
| noc_level | National Occupation Code Level* | Optional | 1–4; 0; -1; -0 | 1–4; 0; -1; -1 | 1–4; 0; -1; -2 | NULL |
| naics_level | The North American Industry Classification System* | Optional | 2–4; 0; -1; -0 | n/a | n/a | NULL |
| work_requirement | A work requirement as defined by Vicinity Jobs | Optional | n/a | n/a | "Data analysis", "Attention to detail" | NULL |
| page | Response pagination index | Optional | > 0 and < “total_pages" value returned in the payload | > 0 and < “total_pages" value returned in the payload | > 0 and < “total_pages" value returned in the payload | 1 |
Parameter Details
indicator
The indicator is a Labour Market Information indicator which is required for each API request. There are 18 currently avaliable.
index_date
The date of ingestion to the Data Hub for each record.
start and end
The time period of interest. Start and end must be used together or not at all in any given query. If start and end are not used then the dates returned from the Data Hub are arbitary. Any months within the start and end dates specified will be returned as monthly - the default aggregation. Also, for the sake of clarity, when using indicators which measure the year on year or month on month growth, the comparison is between the months included in the start to end dates, and respective months/years prior.
freq
The frequency parameter can be used to specify annual and quarterly aggregations instead of the default - monthly. Bear in mind that some indicators can only be aggregated monthly - the API will return an empty response for such indicators (please await further documentation for details on this).
geo
The Data Hub has several options for geographical aggregation. The most commonly available aggregation is by provinces and territories, which is available for all indicators. Census division aggregations are only available for Job Postings and Work Requirements indicators. Filters can be applied to the body of the API request to isolate specific locations.
sex
The Data Hub allows for aggregation by both sexes, male, and female for much of the data received from Statistics Canada
age
For available indicators, age can be selected.
seasonality
The Data Hub has some indicators which can be adjusted for seasonality which smooths out monthly data from the cyclicality of sectors such as agriculture.
lang
API requests must be written in English. The API response is in English by default but can be changed to French using 'fr' the lang parameter.
noc_level
This parameter aggregates the API response by a NOC level of 1-4 and is available for all indicators. The first level being generalised occupational descriptions, and the fourth being the most granular. Filters can be applied to the body of the API request to filter for certain NOCs. Ensure that any NOC filtered for matches the level of NOC selected as a parameter.
naics_level
Similarly to noc_level, the level of occupational description can be aggregated. Filters can be applied to the body of the API request to isolate certain NAICS. Note that the Data Hub NAICS levels differ slightly from Statistics Canada NAICS levels. The Data Hub NAICS level corresponds to the number of digits in the NAICS code whereas the Statistics Canada NAICS level is part of the NAICS hierarchical structure. This is identical logic to NOC levels, where a NOC level in the Data Hub corresponds to the number of digit in the NOC code.
work_requirement
Work requirements are skills, and other requirements, which have been identified to be associated with online job postings. This parameter can be used to find the number of work requirements with respect to parameters such as NOCs, the growth of certain work requirements, the share/popularity of certain work requirements, and other metrics.
page
Page of response to view. For responses over the one page limit of 1000 records, pagnation is required to return the other pages.