Lakes API for Canada
A rich freshwater dataset for Canada — lake boundaries with bathymetry, aquatic resource areas, fish species, stocking history and access points, all queryable by map viewport.
Everything about a lake, connected.
- Lake boundaries (MultiPolygon) with pre-computed GeoJSON at three levels of detail
- Bathymetry lines — depth contours with survey method
- Aquatic resource areas — thermal regime, fish species and depth metrics
- Fish stocking history — species and year, keyed to each lake
- Fishing access points for every waterbody
- Pre-joined hierarchy arrays for fast viewport queries
Endpoints
/lake_boundary/bathymetry_line/aquatic_resource_area/fish_stock/fishing_access_pointQuery by
- By coordinate
- By address
- By bounding box
What the Lakes dataset gives your team.
One waterbody, fully connected
Boundaries, depth, species, stocking and access points all resolve to a single lake — no stitching required.
Fast at any zoom
Pre-computed GeoJSON at three levels of detail keeps viewport queries snappy without runtime simplification.
Freshwater detail nobody else has
Bathymetry, thermal regime and stocking data go far beyond a simple lake outline.
Use cases.
A few of the things teams build on Lakes data.
Fishing & outdoor apps
Show lakes with depth, species and access points near a point.
Waterfront real estate
Add lake and shoreline context to listings and guides.
Recreation & tourism
Map lakes alongside trails, campgrounds and amenities.
Environmental research
Analyze aquatic resources, thermal regime and stocking.
See it in a request.
curl -H "Api-Key: $NEIGHBOURLY_KEY" \ "https://api.neighbourly.io/api/v1/locations/lake_boundary/5521?includes_boundaries=true"
{
"id": 5521,
"nom": "Lake Simcoe",
"wbdy_type": "lake",
"area_m2": 743000000,
"fish_stocks": [
{ "species": "Lake Trout", "year": 2024 }
],
"aquatic_resource_areas": [
{ "thermal_regime": "cold", "species": ["Walleye", "Yellow Perch"] }
],
"bathymetry_lines": [ { "depth": 18, "survey_method": "sonar" } ],
"boundary_geojson": { "type": "MultiPolygon", "coordinates": [ ... ] },
"lod": "med"
}Lakes API — common questions
What lake data does the API provide?
Lake boundaries, bathymetry (depth) lines, aquatic resource areas, fish species, stocking history and fishing access points — all joined to each waterbody.
Does it include fish stocking data?
Yes — stocking events with species and year are recorded and keyed to each lake.
What is bathymetry, and is it included?
Bathymetry is underwater depth data. The API provides bathymetry lines with depth and survey method for covered lakes.
What fish species information is available?
Aquatic resource areas carry thermal regime and fish species, and stocking records list the species stocked in each lake.
Can I query lakes by map viewport?
Yes — /lake_boundary takes a viewport and can return pre-computed GeoJSON at the right level of detail, with the lake's associations inline on a single-lake request.
Is lake data available across Canada?
Yes — coverage is Canada-wide, hosted in Canadian data centres and PIPEDA-compliant by default.
More environmental datasets
Build with the Lakes API.
One API key, ten data layers, Canada-wide. Get access or talk to our team.