Microproduct Data GuideBeginner

Vancouver Council Voting Records

Individual councillor votes, agenda descriptions, decisions, and meeting timestamps for building voting-bloc and policy-topic analysis tools.

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At a Glance

Difficulty
Beginner — comfortable for a first prototype
Size
Small · 0.01–0.2 GB
Formats
CSV, JSON
Access
Download and API
API Key
Not Required
Provider
City of Vancouver
Updates
Occasional
Last Verified
Sep 3, 2026
Source Type
Government Source
Data Terms
Open Government Licence - Vancouver
  • Python Syntax Checked
  • Runnable Notebook

From Source to Product Signal

Test a Product Idea in Four Steps

Start with one meeting date and a small API page of individual votes. Meeting minutes remain the official record, excluded vote types reduce coverage, and consent votes may be entered after a meeting.

1

Check the Setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • A notebook environment such as Jupyter or Google Colab
  • An internet connection
2

Access the Data

  1. 1.Open the official dataset page and review the excluded-vote and official-record notes.
  2. 2.Query a bounded page through the OpenDataSoft API.
  3. 3.Keep vote number, date, agenda description, councillor, vote, and decision.
Open Official Source
3

Run the Python Example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install pandas requests

import pandas as pd
import requests

url = "https://opendata.vancouver.ca/api/explore/v2.1/catalog/datasets/council-voting-records/records"
response = requests.get(
    url,
    params={"limit": 100, "order_by": "vote_date DESC"},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
votes = pd.json_normalize(response.json()["results"])
columns = [
    "vote_number",
    "vote_date",
    "agenda_description",
    "council_member",
    "vote",
    "decision",
]
print(votes[columns].head())
4

Test a Useful Signal

Compare Council Voting Patterns

Test whether individual votes can support a bounded councillor-similarity view.

  1. 01Pivot the sample into councillors by vote number.
  2. 02Calculate agreement rates only where both councillors recorded eligible votes.
  3. 03Explain why excluded motions, consent entries, and official minutes limit voting-bloc conclusions.

Related Datasets

Dataset Details

City of Vancouver is a government source. Last verified 2026-09-03. Temporal coverage: 2016-present.

Formats

CSVJSON

Provider

City of Vancouver

Data Terms

Open Government Licence - Vancouver

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