ERstat API v1

Live Canadian emergency-room data as JSON: closures, reopenings and service disruptions, per-province coverage, and live per-hospital wait times. Free for non-commercial use with attribution; commercial licensing adds wait feeds, history and an SLA.

Base URL https://erstat.ca

All endpoints live under /api/v1, are read-only GET, and are CORS-enabled (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *) so you can call them straight from a browser. Responses are JSON and carry an attribution string you must surface on the free tier.

OpenAPI spec · JSON index · Dataset & citations · Licensing & terms · Embed widget (no key)

Authentication

Every data endpoint requires an API key. Keys are free, start with esk_, and are tied to your ERstat account. Send the key as an X-API-Key header (preferred) or a ?key= query parameter. Requests without a valid key return 401.

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" https://erstat.ca/api/v1/closures

# or, as a query parameter
curl "https://erstat.ca/api/v1/closures?key=YOUR_KEY"

Create a free API key →

The free tier is for non-commercial use with attribution (a visible link back to erstat.ca). The /waits and /history endpoints require a commercial key — see licensing.

Rate limits & caching

The free tier is rate-limited and served as-is with no SLA; exceeding the limit returns 429. Higher limits, an uptime SLA and webhook/push delivery are part of a commercial licence. Responses are edge-cached, so effective freshness is bounded by the cache window per endpoint:

Endpoint	Cache
`GET /api/v1/closures`	~60 seconds
`GET /api/v1/coverage`	~5 minutes
`GET /api/v1/waits`	~30 seconds
`GET /api/v1/history`	~5 minutes

Endpoints

GET /api/v1/closures Free key

Every Canadian emergency room currently closed or under a service disruption. Edge-cached ~60s.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`province`	string	no	Two-letter province/territory code (e.g. `ON`, `NS`, `AB`). Omit for all of Canada.

Request

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" "https://erstat.ca/api/v1/closures?province=NS"

Response 200 OK

{
  "version": "v1",
  "generated_at": "2026-08-15T14:32:00Z",
  "attribution": "Data from ERstat (https://erstat.ca). Free for non-commercial use with attribution.",
  "count": 1,
  "closures": [
    {
      "id": "ns_rosewayhospital",
      "name": "Roseway Hospital",
      "city": "Shelburne",
      "province": "NS",
      "status": "closed",
      "message": "ER closed until 8:00 a.m. due to physician unavailability.",
      "updated_at": "2026-08-15T02:05:00Z",
      "expected_reopen": "2026-08-15T12:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

GET /api/v1/coverage Free key

How many ERs each province has and how many publish a live wait time. Edge-cached ~5 min.

Request

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_KEY" "https://erstat.ca/api/v1/coverage"

Response 200 OK

{
  "version": "v1",
  "generated_at": "2026-08-15T14:32:00Z",
  "attribution": "Data from ERstat (https://erstat.ca). Free for non-commercial use with attribution.",
  "national": { "ers": 812, "reporting_live": 216 },
  "provinces": [
    { "province": "AB", "ers": 104, "reporting_live": 104, "pct": 100 },
    { "province": "ON", "ers": 168, "reporting_live": 61,  "pct": 36 }
  ]
}

GET /api/v1/waits Commercial

Current wait for every tracked ER: a live published reading where a province exposes one, a model prediction elsewhere, or a typical historical baseline (wide range, low confidence) where the model abstains. Each row carries a basis flag (live, predicted, typical, closed, none) so a consumer degrades gracefully instead of showing a wait it cannot stand behind. A live reading that goes stale automatically degrades to predicted; the last live value and its age stay in live_wait_minutes / live_updated_at. Edge-cached ~30s.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`province`	string	no	Two-letter province/territory code. Omit for all of Canada.
`basis`	string	no	Comma-separated basis values to include, e.g. `live,predicted,typical` to drop no-data rows. Omit for all.

Request

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_COMMERCIAL_KEY" "https://erstat.ca/api/v1/waits?province=ON"

Response 200 OK

{
  "version": "v1",
  "licensed_to": "Acme Health",
  "generated_at": "2026-08-15T14:32:00Z",
  "attribution": "Data from ERstat (https://erstat.ca).",
  "count": 1,
  "hospitals": [
    {
      "id": "on_uhntoronto",
      "name": "Toronto General Hospital",
      "city": "Toronto",
      "province": "ON",
      "lat": 43.6579, "lng": -79.3873,
      "status": "open",
      "status_message": null,
      "basis": "live",
      "wait_minutes": 142,
      "wait_lower": 120, "wait_upper": 190,
      "live_wait_minutes": 142,
      "live_updated_at": "2026-08-15T14:28:00Z",
      "predicted_wait_minutes": 155,
      "predicted_confidence": "high",
      "updated_at": "2026-08-15T14:28:00Z",
      "predicted_at": "2026-08-15T14:00:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

GET /api/v1/history Commercial

Historical and bulk wait-time and closure data. Response schema and terms ship with the licence. Without a commercial key the endpoint returns 403.

Query parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`period`	string	no	Look-back window, e.g. `30d`, `90d`. Defaults to `30d`.
`province`	string	no	Two-letter province/territory code.

Request

curl -H "X-API-Key: YOUR_COMMERCIAL_KEY" "https://erstat.ca/api/v1/history?period=90d&province=ON"

Response 403 Forbidden (without a commercial key)

{
  "error": "commercial_license_required",
  "message": "Historical and bulk data require a commercial API key. See https://erstat.ca/licensing",
  "licensing": "https://erstat.ca/licensing"
}

Errors

Errors return the HTTP status plus a JSON body of the form { "error": "…", "message": "…" }.

Status	Code	Meaning
`200`	`OK`	Request succeeded.
`401`	`api_key_required`	Missing or invalid API key. Create a free key on your account and send it as `X-API-Key`.
`403`	`commercial_license_required`	Endpoint requires a commercial licence (`/waits`, `/history`).
`429`	`rate_limited`	Free-tier rate limit exceeded. Back off, or move to a commercial key.
`500`	`server_error`	Unexpected server error.
`503`	`history_unavailable`	The history service is temporarily unavailable.

FAQ

Is there a Canadian ER closures API?

Yes. The ERstat API returns live emergency-room closures, reopenings and service disruptions across Canada as JSON, plus per-province coverage. Every request needs a free API key tied to your ERstat account.

Is the ERstat API free?

Yes — the JSON API and RSS feed are free for personal, journalistic, academic and other non-commercial use, with attribution (a visible link back to erstat.ca). Commercial use, history and bulk export are available under a paid licence.

How do I authenticate?

Send your key on every request as an X-API-Key header (preferred) or a ?key= query parameter. Requests without a valid key are rejected with HTTP 401.

Is there a rate limit?

Yes, the free tier is rate-limited and provided as-is with no SLA. Higher limits, an uptime SLA and webhooks/push delivery are part of a commercial licence.

Can I use the data commercially?

Not on the free tier. A commercial licence grants commercial-use rights along with historical and bulk data, higher limits, an SLA and support. See the licensing page or get in touch.

Do you have historical or bulk data?

Yes — historical and bulk export are available via the /api/v1/history endpoint under a commercial licence.

Is there a no-code option?

Yes — a free embeddable widget shows live ER status for Canada or a single province with one line of HTML. It needs no key and includes attribution automatically.