The Neighbourly Lake Data API returns lake and pond polygons for Canada with official names, waterbody type, surface area and pre-simplified geometry for every zoom level. Ontario lakes also link to their depth contours, fish stocking history and fisheries profile.
It is a REST API that answers "which lakes are here, and what shape are they?" for any map view or coordinate in Canada. Each lake is a MultiPolygon with a stable ID, its official name, waterbody type, permanency, surface area in square metres and perimeter. Geometry comes pre-computed at three levels of detail, so a province-wide map and a single-cottage view both render quickly.
Pass a map zoom and the API picks the right geometry: low detail (about 1 km tolerance) for zoom 0–6, medium (about 100 m) for 7–10 and high (about 10 m) for 11 and up. Small lakes drop out at wide zooms so the response stays light.
Fetch a lake by ID and the response also carries its aquatic resource profile (thermal regime, depth, fish species), its bathymetry lines and its fish stocking records, where those exist.
Records keep the source's official name (off_name), French or national name (nom), permanency, positional accuracy and verification status, so you can show provenance or filter low-confidence shapes.
These are the fields the API returns for this layer. Field names match the JSON response exactly.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| id | integer | Stable Neighbourly lake ID |
| off_name | string | Official waterbody name (Ontario Hydro Network) |
| nom | string | Name from the national (Statistics Canada) lakes file |
| wbdy_type | string | Waterbody type, e.g. Lake |
| permanency | string | Permanent or intermittent |
| area_m2 | float | Surface area in square metres |
| sys_perim | float | Perimeter in metres |
| accuracy | string | Positional accuracy, e.g. Within 5 metres |
| veristt_fl | string | Verification status |
| bbox_west … bbox_north | float | Bounding box of the lake |
| boundary_geojson_low / _high | GeoJSON | Pre-simplified MultiPolygon geometry |
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.
zoom sets geometry detail and the minimum lake size. Up to 2,000 per request.?fields= and ?sort=.Live response, trimmed. Lake Rosseau has no stocking records or linked contour lines; the contours around it are available by viewport from the bathymetry layer.
{
"id": 2093445,
"off_name": "Lake Rosseau",
"wbdy_type": "Lake",
"permanency": "Permanent",
"area_m2": 62869536.31,
"sys_perim": 216947.86,
"accuracy": "Within 5 metres",
"veristt_fl": "Verified",
"bbox_west": -79.6792294,
"bbox_south": 45.1103364,
"bbox_east": -79.5149517,
"bbox_north": 45.2557129,
"aquatic_resource_areas": [
{
"ara_ident": "PS-0001-ROS",
"thermal_regime": "Cold",
"maximum_depth": 89,
"mean_depth": 24.0,
"secchi_depth": 5.6
}
],
"fish_stocks": [],
"bathymetry_lines": []
}
Resolve a listing's coordinates to the lake it fronts and show the name, size and shoreline length. Buyers searching for "on Lake Rosseau" get an answer without leaving the page.
Use exact lake polygons, not centroids, to measure how far a property sits from open water. That gives cottage and rural underwriting a cleaner input.
Draw lakes on a web map without running your own simplification: ask for the viewport and zoom, and render what comes back.
Group sales, permits or listings by the lake they sit on to compare waterfront markets lake by lake.
Every environmental layer shares the same API key, coordinate system and response conventions. Combine them in one integration.
Common questions about the Lake Data API.
Lake and pond polygons as GeoJSON with an ID, official name, waterbody type, permanency, area in square metres, perimeter, accuracy and verification flags, plus a bounding box. A lake fetched by ID also includes its aquatic resource areas, bathymetry lines and fish stocking records where they exist.
Two public sources: the Statistics Canada lakes and rivers boundary file for national coverage, and the Ontario Hydro Network waterbody layer from the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources for detailed Ontario shorelines.
Lake outlines cover Canada through the national file. The detailed shorelines, quality flags and links to depth, fisheries and stocking data are Ontario-only today.
Call /api/v1/locations/lake_boundary with a viewport (south-west and north-east corners) and your map zoom. Results come back largest first, up to 2,000 per request.
WGS84 longitude and latitude (EPSG:4326), the standard for GeoJSON and web maps.
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.