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Petitions API Documentation

Access Canadian parliamentary petition data programmatically via the MyParliament GraphQL API.

This API provides read access to all petitions from the 45th Canadian Parliament. An API key is required for all requests. Generate your key from the API Dashboard tab above.

Authentication

All API requests require an API key passed via the Authorization header using the Bearer scheme. Generate your API key from the API Dashboard.

http

Authorization: Bearer mp_live_your_api_key_here

Getting your API key

1. Sign in to MyParliament. 2. Navigate to the API Dashboard tab above. 3. Click "Generate API Key". 4. Copy and securely store your key — it is only shown once.

Keep your API key secret. Do not expose it in client-side code, public repositories, or browser-accessible files. If your key is compromised, revoke it immediately from the dashboard and generate a new one.

Rate Limits

API requests are rate-limited per API key to ensure fair usage. Current limits are:

Limit	Value	Window
Requests per minute	`20`	Sliding 60s window
Requests per day	`500`	Sliding 24h window

Rate limit headers

Every response includes rate limit information in the headers:

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Integer	No	Maximum requests allowed in the current window
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	Integer	No	Requests remaining in the current window
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	ISO 8601	No	Timestamp when the rate limit window resets
`Retry-After`	Integer	No	Seconds to wait before retrying (only on 429 responses)

If you need higher rate limits for a production application, contact us — we can adjust limits on a case-by-case basis.

Endpoint

The API exposes a single GraphQL endpoint. All queries are sent as HTTP POST requests with a JSON body containing the query and optionally variables.

POST

https://myparliament.ca/api/graphql/v1

Request format

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`query`	String	Yes	The GraphQL query string
`variables`	Object	No	Optional variables map for parameterised queries
`operationName`	String	No	Optional name of the operation to execute

cURL example

bash

curl -X POST https://myparliament.ca/api/graphql/v1 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer mp_live_your_api_key_here" \
  -d '{
    "query": "query { petitions(page: 1, pageSize: 5, sortBy: SIGNATURE_COUNT, sortOrder: DESC) { items { id petitionNumber subject signatureCount statusName } pagination { total hasNextPage } } }"
  }'

Query: petitions

Returns a paginated list of petitions, optionally filtered and sorted.

Arguments

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`page`	Int	No	Page number, 1-indexed (default: 1)
`pageSize`	Int	No	Results per page, max 100 (default: 50)
`filters`	PetitionFiltersInput	No	Filter criteria — see Filters section
`sortBy`	PetitionSortField	No	Field to sort by (default: SIGNATURE_COUNT) — see Enums
`sortOrder`	SortOrder	No	ASC or DESC (default: DESC)

Returns

A PetitionConnection with items (array of Petition) and pagination metadata.

Example query

graphql

query GetPetitions {
  petitions(
    page: 1
    pageSize: 10
    sortBy: SIGNATURE_COUNT
    sortOrder: DESC
    filters: {
      isEpetition: true
      statusName: "Open for signature"
    }
  ) {
    items {
      id
      petitionNumber
      subject
      statusName
      signatureCount
      isEpetition
      mpName
      mpCaucus
      dateOpened
      dateClosed
      provinceSignatures {
        province
        signatureCount
      }
    }
    pagination {
      page
      pageSize
      total
      totalPages
      hasNextPage
      hasPreviousPage
    }
  }
}

Query: petition

Retrieves a single petition by its numeric database ID.

Arguments

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`id`	Int!	Yes	The numeric petition ID (e.g. 13583047). This is the internal database ID, not the petition number like e-6722.

Returns

A single Petition object, or null if not found.

Example query

graphql

query GetPetition {
  petition(id: 13583047) {
    id
    petitionNumber
    subject
    statusName
    signatureCount
    request
    governmentResponseText
    responseDate
    mpName
    mpConstituency
    mpCaucus
    mpProvinceCode
    parliamentNumber
    sessionId
    typeId
    isEpetition
    dateOpened
    dateClosed
    dateCertified
    datePresented
    provinceSignatures {
      province
      signatureCount
    }
  }
}

Types

Petition

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
`id`	Int!	No	Internal numeric database ID
`petitionNumber`	String!	No	Human-readable petition number, e.g. "e-6722" or "451-00532"
`sessionId`	Int!	No	Parliamentary session number
`parliamentNumber`	Int!	No	Parliament number (e.g. 45)
`typeId`	Int!	No	Raw type identifier: 81830 = e-petition, 19 = paper petition
`isEpetition`	Boolean!	No	Convenience flag — true for e-petitions, false for paper petitions
`statusId`	Int!	No	Internal status code
`statusName`	String!	No	Human-readable status, e.g. "Open for signature", "Government response tabled"
`subject`	String!	No	Petition subject / title
`request`	String!	No	Full petition text with \n\n paragraph breaks
`signatureCount`	Int!	No	Total signatures at time of last import
`dateOpened`	String	Yes	ISO 8601 datetime when the petition opened for signatures (e-petitions only)
`dateClosed`	String	Yes	ISO 8601 datetime when the petition closed for signatures
`dateCertified`	String	Yes	ISO 8601 date when the petition was certified
`datePresented`	String	Yes	ISO 8601 date when the petition was presented to the House
`responseDate`	String	Yes	ISO 8601 date when the government response was tabled
`governmentResponseText`	String	Yes	Full text of the government response, if tabled
`mpName`	String!	No	Full name of the sponsoring MP
`mpConstituency`	String!	No	Riding name of the sponsoring MP
`mpCaucus`	String!	No	Caucus/party of the sponsor, e.g. "Conservative", "Liberal", "NDP"
`mpProvinceCode`	String!	No	Two-letter province code of the sponsor, e.g. "ON", "BC"
`provinceSignatures`	[PetitionProvinceSignature!]!	No	Signature counts by province. Empty array for paper petitions.
`createdAt`	String!	No	ISO 8601 datetime when this record was first imported
`updatedAt`	String!	No	ISO 8601 datetime of the most recent import update

PetitionProvinceSignature

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
`province`	String!	No	Province or territory name, e.g. "Ontario", "British Columbia". May also be "Other Countries".
`signatureCount`	Int!	No	Number of signatures from this province

PetitionConnection

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
`items`	[Petition!]!	No	The petitions for the current page
`pagination`	PaginationMeta!	No	Pagination metadata

PaginationMeta

Field	Type	Nullable	Description
`page`	Int!	No	Current page number
`pageSize`	Int!	No	Number of results per page
`total`	Int!	No	Total number of matching records
`totalPages`	Int!	No	Total number of pages
`hasNextPage`	Boolean!	No	Whether a next page exists
`hasPreviousPage`	Boolean!	No	Whether a previous page exists

Filters & Enums

PetitionFiltersInput

All fields are optional and combined with AND logic. String filters use case-insensitive matching unless otherwise noted.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`search`	String	No	Full-text search across subject, request body, petition number, and MP name
`statusName`	String	No	Case-insensitive partial match on status, e.g. "Open" or "response tabled"
`sessionId`	Int	No	Filter by parliamentary session number
`parliamentNumber`	Int	No	Filter by parliament number, e.g. 45
`isEpetition`	Boolean	No	true = e-petitions only, false = paper petitions only
`typeId`	Int	No	Raw type ID. Overrides isEpetition if both are provided.
`mpName`	String	No	Case-insensitive partial match on sponsor MP name
`mpConstituency`	String	No	Case-insensitive partial match on sponsor riding name
`mpCaucus`	String	No	Case-insensitive exact match on caucus, e.g. "Conservative"
`mpProvinceCode`	String	No	Case-insensitive exact match on province code, e.g. "ON"
`province`	String	No	Return only petitions with at least one signature from this province

PetitionSortField (enum)

Value	Description
`SIGNATURE_COUNT`	Sort by total signature count (default)
`DATE_OPENED`	Sort by petition open date
`DATE_CLOSED`	Sort by petition close date
`DATE_CERTIFIED`	Sort by certification date
`DATE_PRESENTED`	Sort by date presented to House
`RESPONSE_DATE`	Sort by government response date
`PETITION_NUMBER`	Sort by petition number alphanumerically
`CREATED_AT`	Sort by import creation date

SortOrder (enum)

Value	Description
`ASC`	Ascending order
`DESC`	Descending order (default)

Examples

Fetch open e-petitions sorted by popularity

graphql

query OpenEpetitions {
  petitions(
    page: 1
    pageSize: 20
    sortBy: SIGNATURE_COUNT
    sortOrder: DESC
    filters: { isEpetition: true, statusName: "Open" }
  ) {
    items { petitionNumber subject signatureCount dateClosed }
    pagination { total hasNextPage }
  }
}

Filter by sponsoring party

graphql

query NdpPetitions {
  petitions(
    filters: { mpCaucus: "NDP" }
    sortBy: DATE_PRESENTED
    sortOrder: DESC
  ) {
    items { petitionNumber subject mpName mpConstituency statusName }
    pagination { total }
  }
}

Find petitions with signatures from Quebec

graphql

query QuebecPetitions {
  petitions(
    filters: { province: "Quebec" }
    sortBy: SIGNATURE_COUNT
    sortOrder: DESC
  ) {
    items {
      petitionNumber
      subject
      signatureCount
      provinceSignatures { province signatureCount }
    }
    pagination { total }
  }
}

Full-text search

graphql

query SearchPetitions {
  petitions(
    filters: { search: "climate change" }
    sortBy: SIGNATURE_COUNT
    sortOrder: DESC
  ) {
    items { petitionNumber subject signatureCount statusName mpCaucus }
    pagination { total }
  }
}

Example response

json

{
  "data": {
    "petitions": {
      "items": [
        {
          "id": 13699521,
          "petitionNumber": "e-6903",
          "subject": "e-6903 (Citizenship and immigration)",
          "signatureCount": 2275,
          "statusName": "Government response tabled"
        }
      ],
      "pagination": {
        "page": 1,
        "pageSize": 5,
        "total": 688,
        "totalPages": 138,
        "hasNextPage": true,
        "hasPreviousPage": false
      }
    }
  }
}

Example response headers

http

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/json
X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 58
X-RateLimit-Reset: 2025-03-01T12:01:00.000Z
X-Response-Time: 127ms
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *

Error Handling

GraphQL errors are returned with HTTP status 200 in the standard errors array. HTTP-level errors are returned with appropriate 4xx/5xx status codes.

GraphQL error shape

json

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "Variable \"$id\" of required type \"Int!\" was not provided.",
      "locations": [{ "line": 1, "column": 16 }],
      "path": null
    }
  ],
  "data": null
}

Rate limit error (429)

json

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Try again in 42 seconds.",
      "extensions": {
        "code": "RATE_LIMITED",
        "status": 429
      }
    }
  ]
}

HTTP status codes

Status	Meaning
200	Success — check the errors array for GraphQL-level errors
400	Bad request — malformed JSON body or missing query field
401	Unauthorized — missing or invalid API key
403	Forbidden — API key revoked or expired
429	Too many requests — rate limit exceeded. Check Retry-After header
502	Bad gateway — invalid response from upstream service
503	Upstream GraphQL service temporarily unavailable
504	Gateway timeout — upstream service did not respond in time

Data is sourced from the Parliament of Canada and updated periodically. Signature counts and petition statuses reflect the most recent import and may not be real-time.

MyParliament Developer API · Data sourced from the Parliament of Canada · myparliament.ca

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