generated: '2026-07-25'
method: searched
source: https://docs.ckan.org/en/2.10/api/index.html and https://docs.ckan.org/en/2.10/maintaining/datastore.html
  (the CKAN 3 Action API contract that serves OSFI's data), https://www.osfi-bsif.gc.ca/en/data-forms/open-government-osfi-financial-data/working-open-government-data
  (OSFI's own guidance), plus live probes of https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action on 2026-07-25.
description: 'How OSFI''s machine-readable surface actually behaves. OSFI does not operate its own API
  gateway: its regulatory data is published to Canada''s Open Government Portal, which runs CKAN 2.10.8
  (confirmed via status_show) and exposes the CKAN 3 Action API. Every convention below is CKAN''s, verified
  live against OSFI''s own resources.'
base_url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action
api_style: RPC-over-HTTP. Every call is /api/3/action/<action_name>; parameters go on the query string
  for GET or as a JSON body for POST. Responses are always a JSON envelope, never a bare resource. This
  is not a REST-resource API and there is no OpenAPI description of it.
operations:
- action: status_show
  description: Return the CKAN site status, version and enabled extensions.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/status_show
- action: package_list
  description: List every dataset (package) name on the portal.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/package_list
- action: package_search
  description: Search datasets; filter to OSFI with fq=organization:osfi-bsif.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/package_search
- action: package_show
  description: Return one dataset with all of its resources and their datastore_active flag.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/package_show
- action: resource_show
  description: Return one resource (a single OSFI return series or register file).
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/resource_show
- action: datastore_search
  description: Read records out of a datastore-active resource, with filters, q, fields, limit and offset.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/datastore_search
- action: datastore_info
  description: Return the datastore table metadata for a resource.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/datastore_info
- action: organization_show
  description: Return the osfi-bsif publisher organization.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/organization_show
- action: organization_list
  description: List publisher organizations on the portal.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/organization_list
- action: group_list
  description: List dataset groups/themes.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/group_list
- action: tag_list
  description: List tags in use across the portal.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/tag_list
- action: resource_search
  description: Search resources by field.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/resource_search
- action: package_activity_list
  description: Return the change activity stream for a dataset.
  verified_status: 200
  url: https://open.canada.ca/data/en/api/3/action/package_activity_list
disabled_actions:
- action: datastore_search_sql
  status: 400
  response: 'Bad request - Action name not known: datastore_search_sql'
  note: CKAN's SQL passthrough is NOT enabled on open.canada.ca. Verified 2026-07-25. Consumers must use
    datastore_search with filters/q/fields instead — any guidance that suggests datastore_search_sql against
    OSFI data is wrong.
authentication:
  scheme: none
  detail: Every action above returns 200 to a fully anonymous request. No API key, no OAuth, no registration.
    See authentication/osfi-authentication.yml.
idempotency:
  supported: false
  mechanism: null
  note: The public surface is read-only (GET), so it is inherently idempotent, but there is no idempotency-key
    contract because there are no client-initiated writes. Writes happen on the gated filing side (Regulatory
    Reporting System), which publishes no programmatic interface.
pagination:
  style: limit/offset with hypermedia links
  request_params:
    limit: number of records to return (datastore_search); default 100
    offset: records to skip
    rows: page size for package_search
    start: offset for package_search
  response_fields:
  - result.total
  - result.limit
  - result.offset
  - result._links.start
  - result._links.next
  - result._links.prev
  verified: datastore_search?resource_id=945045fa-2de0-47d4-aad2-144d69467824&limit=1&offset=2 returned
    total=349 with _links.next/_links.prev
  note: total_was_estimated / total_estimation_threshold are returned on large resources — the record
    count on the multi-hundred-thousand-row return series may be an estimate unless include_total is forced.
filtering:
  filters: JSON object of exact-match column filters, e.g. filters={"Industry Group":"Banks"}
  q: free-text search across the resource, or a JSON object for per-field search
  fields: comma-separated column projection
  sort: column [asc|desc]
  distinct: boolean, de-duplicate the projected fields
response_envelope:
  shape:
    help: URL of the help_show page for the action
    success: boolean
    result: the payload, present only when success is true
    error: present only when success is false
  content_type: application/json;charset=utf-8
  note: Errors carry the same envelope with success:false and error.__type; see errors/osfi-problem-types.yml.
    RFC 9457 problem+json is NOT used.
data_shape:
  bilingual: Every FINDAT column is published as an English/French pair (for example 'Fiscal Year/Annee
    fiscale', 'Return Title' + 'Titre du releve'). Consumers must pick a language side.
  typing: The CKAN datastore types every OSFI column as `text`, including 'Measure Value/Valeur de mesure'.
    Numeric analysis requires client-side casting.
  surrogate_key: _id is a CKAN row id, not an OSFI identifier. The OSFI keys are 'Id' (institution) plus
    'Data Point Address/Adresse de point de donnee'.
  schemas: json-schema/
caching:
  cache_control: public, max-age=30, must-revalidate
  etag: false
  note: Observed on datastore_search responses 2026-07-25.
cors:
  access_control_allow_methods: GET, POST
request_tracing:
  request_id_header: null
  note: No request-id or correlation header is returned.
versioning:
  scheme: uri-path
  current: '3'
  example: /api/3/action/<action>
  detail: lifecycle/osfi-lifecycle.yml
rate_limit_signaling:
  headers: []
  note: No RateLimit-* / Retry-After headers are returned and no limit is published. See rate-limits/osfi-rate-limits.yml.
client_gotchas:
- issue: WAF rejects default curl/script User-Agents
  detail: open.canada.ca answers requests carrying a default curl User-Agent with an HTML 'Request Rejected'
    page under HTTP 200. Send a browser User-Agent or you will silently parse HTML as JSON.
  verified: '2026-07-25'
- issue: datastore_search_sql is unavailable
  detail: Returns HTTP 400 'Action name not known'.
related:
  errors: errors/osfi-problem-types.yml
  authentication: authentication/osfi-authentication.yml
  lifecycle: lifecycle/osfi-lifecycle.yml
  rate_limits: rate-limits/osfi-rate-limits.yml
  data_model: data-model/osfi-data-model.yml