API Terms of Use
Effective date: June 10, 2026
These API Terms of Use ("API Terms") govern programmatic access to the Energy Labs North API. They supplement the Terms of Service — in the event of conflict between the two, these API Terms govern API usage. Capitalised terms not defined here have the meanings given in the Terms of Service.
1. API Access and Authentication
Programmatic API access is available on the Business subscription tier. API calls require a valid API key passed in the X-API-Key request header. API keys are issued per account, are non-transferable, and may not be shared outside your organisation.
You are responsible for all API calls made using your key. If you believe your key has been compromised, you must regenerate it immediately via your Data Access page.
2. Rate Limits
| Tier | Monthly call limit |
|---|---|
| Business | 10,000 calls / month |
Monthly call counts reset on the first of each calendar month. Exceeding your monthly limit returns HTTP 429 with the reset date. Sustained circumvention of rate limits (e.g. multiple accounts or keys) may result in account suspension.
3. Permitted Use
| Use case | Business |
|---|---|
| Internal business use and analysis | ✓ |
| Display in your own client-facing products | ✓ (with attribution) |
| Bulk CSV exports of underlying datasets | ✓ |
| Redistribution or resale of raw data | — (contact us) |
"Display in client-facing products" means surfacing API data within a product or service you provide to your customers, provided you include required attribution (see Section 4). It does not include reselling raw data or creating a competing data product.
For redistribution rights or custom volume arrangements, contact us.
4. Attribution Requirements
All uses of data from the API — whether displayed in a product, included in a report, or used in analysis — must include attribution to the original government data sources. Every API response includes an attribution array listing the applicable sources.
Required attribution format for displayed content: "Data sourced from Statistics Canada, CMHC, NRCan, Environment and Climate Change Canada, BC Wildfire Service, and other Canadian government open data. See full attribution at [your product's attribution page or a link to energylabsnorth.com/legal/attribution]."
Attribution must be visible to end users — not buried in footnotes or documentation only.
5. Prohibited Uses
You may not use the API to:
- Build a data product that competes directly with Energy Labs North
- Redistribute raw API response data as a data feed or data product to third parties (redistribution rights require a separate written agreement — contact us)
- Remove, obscure, or modify attribution to original data sources
- Circumvent rate limits through multiple accounts or API keys
- Make API calls on behalf of unauthenticated or unidentified end users at scale (all calls must originate from your authorised systems)
- Use the API to make housing, credit, employment, or insurance decisions that discriminate against individuals in violation of the Canadian Human Rights Act or applicable provincial human rights legislation
- Reverse-engineer the scoring algorithms or use API output to reconstruct underlying proprietary datasets
6. Data Accuracy Disclaimer
API data is provided "as is" from Canadian government sources. We do not guarantee accuracy or fitness for any specific professional purpose. Natural hazard and environmental data from the API are for general informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional engineering assessment, Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessments, or insurance evaluation. You must not present API data to end users as professional engineering, environmental, or insurance assessments.
7. Versioning and Backwards Compatibility
The API is versioned (current version: v1). We will not remove fields or change data types within a version. We will add new fields with reasonable notice. When a new major version is released, the previous version will remain available for a minimum of 12 months. We will notify API users by email at least 90 days before deprecating a version.
8. SLA
No uptime SLA is provided. We target 99.5% monthly uptime but do not guarantee it. For SLA requirements, contact us to discuss a custom arrangement.
9. Suspension and Termination
We may suspend or revoke API access immediately upon: breach of these API Terms, exceeding rate limits abusively, suspected fraudulent or illegal use, or non-payment of subscription fees. We will provide advance notice where possible but reserve the right to act immediately when necessary to protect service integrity.
10. Changes to These Terms
We may update these API Terms with 30 days' notice to registered API users. Continued use of the API after the effective date of changes constitutes acceptance.
11. Contact
API access questions: [email protected].