Through the data concierge service, we get requests asking what the top dataset is for a specific category or topic. It’s a challenging question to answer. It’s not necessarily about what the most popular data is, it’s about what is the right data to satisfy the particular need. Each situation is slightly different so you need to ensure you clarify the problem you want to solve and the types of data that may get you to a solution.
That being said, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at a few of the most downloaded datasets in Canada’s Open Data Portal. We dug through the site’s analytics and came across some intriguing information. Below, you will find a few examples of the type of information that is available through the portal. Each of the datasets we highlighted offers a glimpse into a different aspect of our country and sparks ideas for potential commercial use.
However, being data geeks, we felt compelled to start by sharing a few stats we gathered about the portal.
Now that we got that out of our system, let’s move on to the datasets. In no particular order, here are a few of the most downloaded pieces of information from last month. We also identified the department or agency responsible for releasing it.
Annual map data that shows agricultural land use across the country for as far back as 2009. Check out the web application here.
Provides demographic data about TFSA holders including age group, province, and income bracket.
An API that provides the last 15 product recalls, advisories and safety alerts from Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Transport Canada. The API calls provide limited search and allow responses to be filtered by the categories of food, vehicles, health products, and consumer products.
A database of all police-reported motor-vehicle collisions on public roads across Canada. There are a number of data points provided including date of collision, collision severity, road conditions, weather conditions, and vehicle type.
Provides a public inventory of pollutant releases (to air, water and land), disposals and transfers for recycling. The data is provided annually and is available in a number of formats including online query tools, downloadable datasets, and map layers.
This very small sample gives you an idea of what is available through Canada’s Open Data Portal. Given the total number of datasets, there are countless opportunities waiting to be uncovered. And we haven’t even touched on the thousands of datasets available at the provincial or municipal level. Discovering and utilizing open data can allow you to build on your existing business, establish new revenue streams, develop insights into different industries, or better understand what’s happening in our country. All it takes is a bit of work to uncover the possibilities.
Do you need help finding data? Contact the Data Concierge. Whether you’re not sure where to start, or you’re having trouble locating a particular dataset, we can offer assistance to start you on your open data journey.
