BC Data docsCitations and freshness
Every BC Data answer carries the government source it came from, when it was checked and its licence.
Every answer, over REST and over MCP, is the same envelope:
{
"available": true,
"data": { "...": "the answer" },
"citations": [
{
"source_url": "https://...",
"fetch_url": "https://...",
"fetch_format": "html",
"as_of": "2026-10-20T00:00:00Z",
"retrieved_at": "2026-10-21T04:12:00Z",
"licence": "Open Government Licence - British Columbia",
"attribution": "Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - British Columbia."
}
],
"freshness": { "as_of": "...", "retrieved_at": "...", "last_checked_at": "...", "label": "final", "stale": false },
"notes": ["Anything you should know before you rely on this."]
}Citations
Each entry points to where the data came from.
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
source_url | The public page for the source. Cite this. |
fetch_url, fetch_format | The exact record or file, when there is one. |
as_of | The date the data describes. |
retrieved_at | When BC Data last read it from the source. |
licence, attribution | The licence and the wording to use when you republish. Some sources require it. |
If you republish an answer, keep the citation with it.
Freshness
freshness.stale is true when the data is older than its source's refresh rule says it should be. label is preliminary or final for results that change, such as election night counts.
Notes
notes is a list of plain sentences. Read them. They say when a result is preliminary, partial, stale, or not an official version of a law.
Errors carry the envelope too
A tool that cannot answer returns available: false, an error with a code and a message, and citations: []. See Errors.
What BC Data does not do
It reads public sources and cites them. It does not give legal, medical or financial advice, and a law passage is not an official version. Check the source before you rely on it.