Introduction to open data

What is open data?

Open data is information that the City has made available for anyone to freely use, reuse or analyze.  

Along with routine disclosure plans and the City’s Freedom of Information program, open data helps the City achieve its commitment to open government and transparency by making as much information as possible available to residents.  

More specifically, open data makes information available in formats that can be used to create new products, services or insights. These transformative uses of open data foster research, innovation and democratic participation in the community.  

For example, City of Toronto open data has been used to:  

• Improve access to City services (e.g. real-time tracking apps for public transit or Open Water Data for swimmers) 
• Help the public better understand and engage with the City (e.g. Civic Dashboard) 
• Expand the use of data for civic research (e.g., Raising the Village) 

For more examples of how residents and businesses have used open data to create positive impacts, visit the Open Data Gallery.

Open data at the City of Toronto  

Toronto’s Open Data program was launched in 2009 and has since made over 500 datasets available on the City’s Open Data Portal.  

Toronto’s approach to open data is guided by: 

• The Open Data Policy, which sets out responsibilities for City divisions and staff 
• Toronto’s Open Data License, which allows data to be freely used for any lawful purpose, including commercial purposes 
• The Open Data Master Plan, which describes the City’s strategic vision for open data 

Examples of open data  

Data from nearly every City division or agency is on Toronto’s open data portal, ranging from ward boundaries and building permits, to information about the City’s vehicle fleet or paramedic calls.  

Datasets on the open data portal tend to be structured as rows and columns in a spreadsheet, not charts or written reports. For example, each row in the 311 service requests dataset represents a service request, and columns contain information on the type of request, when it was made and which division it was directed to.  

Benefits of open data

Proactively publishing data about our operations, assets and services creates benefits for the City, its staff and its residents.  

Benefits for the public 

• Improved access to City services: Open data enables the public to build tools that help others make use of the City’s many assets and services.  
  
  For example, the TTC’s real-time arrival data helps power the Transit app, ensuring residents know exactly when the next bus or streetcar is coming. 

• Better understanding of civic issues: Open data can help the public understand how  issues of the day are impacting the City, connect their individual experiences with the broader context, or make informed decisions.  
  
  For example, the Centralized Waiting List Activity for Social Housing dataset helps inform news coverage of the City’s improved affordable housing programs. 

• Participation in the democratic process: Open data helps the public keep track of City decision-making and engage with their municipal government. 
  
  For example, the City Clerk’s Council and Committees Meeting Schedule Reports dataset is used by Tabs Toronto to help stakeholders know when the issues they care about are being discussed by elected officials. 

Benefits for the City and staff 

• Operational efficiencies: Open data can help divisions save time by making it easy to share data with stakeholders inside and outside of the City. 
  
  For example, Toronto Water’s Watermains dataset facilitates pre-application discussions and preparation of servicing reports by local developers. 

• An easier way to make data products: By leveraging the open data portal, divisions can make data available without having to build and maintain their own websites, reports or dashboards. 

• Reduced administrative burden (and improved customer experiences): By making open data proactively available to customers, divisions can save time responding to Freedom of Information requests or other requests for data.  
  
  For example, by making topographic data freely available as open data, the City’s Geospatial Competency Centre significantly reduced the time they spend processing requests for map purchases (while also removing cost as a barrier to access for users).