The Neighbourly Aquatic Resource API returns the fisheries profile of Ontario lakes, ponds and rivers: thermal regime, the fish species recorded, surface area, mean and maximum depth and water clarity. Search by name, filter by water type or temperature class, or go straight from a lake polygon to its profile.
An aquatic resource area (ARA) is the Ontario government's fisheries record for a lake, pond or river segment. It holds the waterbody's official name, type and thermal regime (cold, cool or warm water, which tells you which fish it can support) and a summary of the fish species recorded there. Lakes also carry surface area, mean and maximum depth, Secchi depth (a measure of water clarity) and conductivity.
Cold, cool and warm water classes, each with the reason it was assigned. Cold-water lakes support lake trout; warm-water lakes favour bass and panfish.
A species list for each waterbody, for example the 26 species recorded in Lake Rosseau, from lake trout and cisco to muskellunge.
Search by name with q=, filter by waterbody_type or thermal_regime, or pass a lake_boundary_id to get the profile for a lake polygon.
These are the fields the API returns for this layer. Field names match the JSON response exactly.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ara_ident | string | Provincial ARA identifier, e.g. PS-0001-ROS |
| official_waterbody_name | string | Official name |
| waterbody_type | string | Lake or Pond, Stream or River, Combination, Drain |
| thermal_regime | string | Cold, Cool, Warm or Unknown |
| thermal_regime_reason | string | Why the class was assigned |
| fish_species_summary | string | Comma-separated species recorded |
| surface_area | float | Surface area in hectares |
| mean_depth / maximum_depth | float | Depth in metres |
| secchi_depth | float | Water clarity in metres |
| conductivity | float | Specific conductance |
| lake_boundary_id | integer | Linked lake polygon |
All requests go to https://api.neighbourly.io and send your key in the Api-Key header. A viewport is a JSON bounding box, {"southWestLat":…,"southWestLon":…,"northEastLat":…,"northEastLon":…}, URL-encoded.
Live response, trimmed. The species list is shortened here; the API returns the full list.
[
{
"id": 29941,
"ara_ident": "PS-0001-ROS",
"waterbody_type": "Lake or Pond",
"official_waterbody_name": "Lake Rosseau",
"thermal_regime": "Cold",
"fish_species_summary": "Black Crappie,Bluntnose Minnow,Brown Bullhead,Burbot,Cisco,…",
"surface_area": 6390,
"maximum_depth": 89,
"mean_depth": 24.0,
"secchi_depth": 5.6,
"lake_boundary_id": 2093445
}
]
Show cold-water versus warm-water, the fish species, the depth and the water clarity. These details sell a waterfront property.
Let anglers search for cold-water lakes with lake trout near them, then hand off to stocking and access-point data.
Pull official thermal class, depth and clarity as the starting point for shoreline development or habitat reviews.
Generate consistent lake profile pages for a region from one structured source.
Every environmental layer shares the same API key, coordinate system and response conventions. Combine them in one integration.
Common questions about the Aquatic Resource Data API.
It is Ontario's fisheries record for a lake, pond or river segment: its name, type, thermal regime and recorded fish species, plus depth, area and water clarity for lakes.
It classifies a waterbody as cold, cool or warm water based on its temperature profile. That largely decides which fish can live there: cold-water lakes support trout and whitefish, warm-water lakes support bass and sunfish.
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources aquatic resource area dataset, published through Ontario GeoHub.
Yes. Streams and rivers are a large share of the records. Depth and area metrics are mainly recorded for lakes and ponds.
Use lake_boundary_id to fetch the polygon from the Lake Data API, or call the lake endpoint, which includes its profiles. Profiles have no geometry of their own.
Request an API key from the dashboard or book a demo. Every request sends the key in the Api-Key header. Pricing is usage-based.
Neighbourly normalizes public open data into one schema. Source licences and attribution apply; see our terms.
Get an API key and query this layer today, or talk to us about coverage and volume.