BC Laws

bclaws · Data

Data No Auth Free & Open open_data

BC Laws is an electronic library providing free public access to the laws of British Columbia. BC Laws is hosted by the Queen's Printer of British Columbia and published in partnership with the Ministry of Justice and the Law Clerk of the Legislative Assembly.BC Laws contains a comprehensive collection of BC legislation and related materials. It is available on the internet in two forms:First: The library is available as a web site in which users can browse and search the laws of British Columbi

Authentication

No authentication requiredFree to use with no key needed.

Sample Requests

GET A listing of metadata available for the specified aspect and search term from the BCLaws legislative repository

A listing of metadata available for the specified aspect and search term from the BCLaws legislative repository

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch?e=20&q=water&s=0&lFrag=100&nFrag=5

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch?e=20&q=water&s=0&lFrag=100&nFrag=5"

import requests
params = {
    "e": "20",
    "q": "water",
    "s": "0",
    "lFrag": "100",
    "nFrag": "5"
}
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch",
    params=params,
)
print(response.json())

const url = new URL('https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch');
url.searchParams.set('e', '20');
url.searchParams.set('q', 'water');
url.searchParams.set('s', '0');
url.searchParams.set('lFrag', '100');
url.searchParams.set('nFrag', '5');

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"net/url"
)

func main() {
	baseURL, _ := url.Parse("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch")
	q := baseURL.Query()
	q.Set("e", "20")
	q.Set("q", "water")
	q.Set("s", "0")
	q.Set("lFrag", "100")
	q.Set("nFrag", "5")
	baseURL.RawQuery = q.Encode()
	targetURL := baseURL.String()
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch")
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
  "e" => "20",
  "q" => "water",
  "s" => "0",
  "lFrag" => "100",
  "nFrag" => "5"
})

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/search/{aspectId}/fullsearch?" . http_build_query([
    "e" => "20",
    "q" => "water",
    "s" => "0",
    "lFrag" => "100",
    "nFrag" => "5"
]);
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Describes the documents and directories available within a specific 'aspect' (content group) of the BCLaws library

Describes the documents and directories available within a specific 'aspect' (content group) of the BCLaws library

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}"

import requests
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}",
)
print(response.json())

const url = 'https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}';

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	targetURL := "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}"
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}")

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}";
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

GET Lists the metadata available for the specified index or directory from the BCLaws legislative respository

Lists the metadata available for the specified index or directory from the BCLaws legislative respository

https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}

Hover any highlighted part to learn what it does

curl -X GET "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}"

import requests
response = requests.get(
    "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}",
)
print(response.json())

const url = 'https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}';

const response = await fetch(url); 
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	targetURL := "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}"
	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", targetURL, nil)

	client := &http.Client{}
	resp, _ := client.Do(req)
	defer resp.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(resp.Body)
	fmt.Println(string(body))
}

require "net/http"
require "json"

uri = URI("https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}")

http = Net::HTTP.new(uri.host, uri.port)
http.use_ssl = uri.scheme == "https"

req = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri)

res = http.request(req)
puts JSON.parse(res.body)

<?php
$url = "https://api.apis.guru/v2/specs/bclaws.ca/bclaws/1.0.0/content/{aspectId}/{civixDocumentId}";
$opts = ["http" => [
    "method" => "GET",
]];
$ctx = stream_context_create($opts);
$res = file_get_contents($url, false, $ctx);
print_r(json_decode($res, true));

Postman Setup Guide

Get Postman ↗

See official documentation for authentication and setup.

What can you build with BC Laws?

BC Laws is a Data API. Developers commonly use data APIs for:

enriching your app with third-party datasets
building data pipelines and ETL workflows
querying and searching large datasets
powering research, analysis, and reporting tools
syncing reference data into your own systems

No authentication required. This API is open — no signup or key needed. Ideal for quick prototypes and public-facing features. BC Laws is free to use, making it a low-risk choice to experiment with.

New to APIs? Read our beginner's guide · Learn about API keys · What is REST?

Open documentation ↗