Inventory of data and metadata reference standards

This page provides links to Government of Canada data and metadata reference standards issued under Appendix K of the Directive on Service and Digital.

The standards are in alphabetical order by topic. Additional standards are being developed and will be published here when they are ready. For more information about data and metadata reference standards, visit the About data and metadata reference standards page.

Reference standards

Business number

Requires the use of business numbers in all transactions between businesses and the Government of Canada.

Effective date: 2024-05-07
Stewards: Canada Revenue Agency, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and National Research Council Canada

Canadian provinces and territories

Lists the names and codes that must be used when describing and sharing data on Canadian provinces and territories.

Effective date: 2023-10-02
Stewards: Statistics Canada and Natural Resources Canada
Machine-readable formats: CSV | JSON

Countries, territories and geographic areas

Lists the codes that must be used when describing and sharing data on countries, territories and geographic areas recognized by the Government of Canada.

Effective date: 2024-01-29
Stewards: Global Affairs Canada
Machine-readable formats: CSV | JSON

Date and time format

Provides the format that must be used when describing and sharing dates and times.

Effective date: 2024-09-27
Stewards: National Research Council Canada

Digital archival records

Provides metadata concepts that must be used for all digital archival records for their protection throughout their life cycle, including when they are transferred to Library and Archives Canada.

Effective date: 2025-06-23
Stewards: Library and Archives Canada

Gender

Lists the categories and codes that must be used when describing and sharing data on gender.

Effective date: 2024-09-27
Stewards: Statistics Canada
Machine-readable formats: CSV

Government of Canada organization names and codes

Lists the names and codes that must be used when describing and sharing data on Government of Canada organizations.

Effective date: 2025-07-21
Stewards: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Machine-readable formats: CSV | JSON

Industry classification system

Lists the categories that must be used when describing and sharing data on industries.

Effective date: 2023-12-15
Stewards: Statistics Canada
Machine-readable formats: CSV

Name architecture

Provides the fields that must be used when recording people’s names.

Effective date: 2024-09-27
Stewards: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Sex assigned at birth

Lists the categories and codes that must be used when describing and sharing data on sex assigned at birth.