Bank of Canada Valet API

Free Bank of Canada Valet API with no key: official exchange rates, interest rates, bond yields and economic series with decades of history. Tested example.

No API key requiredCORS enabledHTTPSFree tier

Endpoint tested and returned HTTP 200 on 2026-08-20

What is the Bank of Canada Valet API?

The Bank of Canada Valet API is a free, key-free official API providing Canadian economic data — daily exchange rates, policy interest rates, bond yields and inflation series — with decades of historical coverage.

This is central bank data published directly by the Bank of Canada, which makes it authoritative for anything involving official Canadian exchange rates — the figures used for tax and accounting purposes.

The series-based model is worth understanding: everything is a named time series such as FXUSDCAD for the US dollar rate. You look up the series name once, then request observations, optionally as JSON, XML or CSV.

Quick facts

Base URL: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/valet
Authentication: No API key required.
Rate limit: No published hard limit; fair use expected.
Pricing: Free official central bank data.
CORS: Enabled — callable directly from browser JavaScript
Official docs: Read the docs

How to use the Bank of Canada Valet API

Every request below was executed against the live API on 2026-08-20, and the response shown is the real body it returned — not an illustration.

1. Fetch the latest USD/CAD exchange rate

GET https://www.bankofcanada.ca/valet/observations/FXUSDCAD/json?recent=1

curl

curl 'https://www.bankofcanada.ca/valet/observations/FXUSDCAD/json?recent=1'

JavaScript (fetch)

const res = await fetch("https://www.bankofcanada.ca/valet/observations/FXUSDCAD/json?recent=1");
if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${res.status}`);
const data = await res.json();
console.log(data);

Python (requests)

import requests

res = requests.get("https://www.bankofcanada.ca/valet/observations/FXUSDCAD/json?recent=1", timeout=20)
res.raise_for_status()
print(res.json())

Response — HTTP 200

{
  "terms": {
    "url": "https://www.bankofcanada.ca/terms/"
  },
  "seriesDetail": {
    "FXUSDCAD": {
      "label": "USD/CAD",
      "description": "Daily average exchange rate: daily value of the US dollar expressed in Canadian dollars, for 1 unit of US dollar",
      "dimension": {
        "key": "d",
        "name": "Date"
      }
    }
  },
  "observations": [
    {
      "d": "2026-08-19",
      "FXUSDCAD": {
        "v": "1.3824"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
`observations/<series>/json`	path	Required	Series name and output format. `observations/FXUSDCAD/json`
`recent`	integer	Optional	Number of most recent observations. `10`
`start_date / end_date`	string	Optional	Date range as YYYY-MM-DD. `2026-01-01`
`lists/series/json`	path	Optional	List every available series. `lists/series/json`

Response fields

terms.urlstring: Link to the terms of use.
seriesDetailobject: Metadata for each requested series — label, description, dimensions.
observationsarray: The data points.
observations[].dstring: Observation date.
observations[].<SERIES>.vstring: The value, as a string — parse before use.

What you can build with the Bank of Canada Valet API

Convert currencies using official Bank of Canada rates for accounting
Chart Canadian interest rate and bond yield history
Support Canadian tax and compliance reporting
Analyse long-run Canadian economic trends

Common errors and how to fix them

404

Unknown series name.

Fix: Series names are specific codes like FXUSDCAD. Request /lists/series/json to find valid names.

Values are strings

Observation values are returned as JSON strings.

Fix: Parse explicitly, and use decimal arithmetic for financial calculations.

No observation for a date

Rates publish on business days only.

Fix: Weekends and Canadian holidays have no observation — read the date field rather than assuming continuity.

Bank of Canada Valet API — frequently asked questions

Is the Bank of Canada API free?

Yes, completely free with no API key. It is official central bank data.

Which series should I use for USD to CAD?

FXUSDCAD gives the daily average US dollar to Canadian dollar rate. Request /lists/series/json to browse the full catalogue.

Are these rates suitable for accounting?

Yes — Bank of Canada rates are the official reference used for Canadian tax and accounting purposes, which is their main advantage over commercial FX APIs.

Why are some dates missing?

Rates are published on business days only, so weekends and Canadian public holidays have no observation.

Tools that pair with this API

JSON Formatter

Format, beautify and minify JSON online with 2-space, 4-space or tab indentation. Sort keys alphabetically and catch syntax errors instantly — free and private.

Percentage Calculator

Calculate what X% of a number is, what percent one number is of another, and percentage increase or decrease between two values — instantly and free.

Unit Converter

Convert between units of length, weight, temperature, area, volume, speed, time and data storage instantly, with a swap button and common conversion tables.

Bank of Canada Valet is an independent third-party service and is not affiliated with ByteTools or ByteVancer. Details on this page were verified on 2026-08-20; always check the official documentation before relying on this API in production, as terms and limits can change.