GC Forms has three delivery options to get form submissions:
- Receiving responses by email
- Downloading responses from GC Forms
- Using the GC Forms data retrieval API
These delivery methods vary in terms of the data classification they can support.
1. Receiving responses by email
If you have a simple, straightforward form (that is either unclassified or Protected A), and expect a manageable number of responses that can be processed one at a time, getting form responses delivered by email, might work for you. Submitted responses are emailed in real-time, as they are received, directly to a Government of Canada email address of your choice, which can be a shared inbox.
2. Downloading responses from GC Forms
GC Forms can also hold and store form responses submitted by people who fill out forms, however only temporarily, as departments and agencies have ultimate custody and control of their forms’ data. As such, when the form response delivery option is set to “Download responses from GC Forms” (which is required for Protected B data), responses must be retrieved from GC Forms within 45 days of receiving a submission. This response delivery method also allows for multiple account holders to access responses, and offers multiple response format options (HTML, CSV, JSON).
To download form responses:
- Sign in to GC Forms.
- In Forms, go to the form for which you want to get responses.
- Select “Responses page”.
- If responses have been submitted, they will appear in the “New” tab.
- You should download responses within 15 days.
- Select all responses and “Download selected”.
- You can download up to 150 responses at a time. Your browser may initially block the attempt to download multiple files — this can be changed in your browser’s settings.
- Choose the format of responses (HTML, CSV, or JSON)
- If you’re looking for a spreadsheet with multiple responses, CSV is likely the option you’re looking for.
- Choose where responses should be saved on your computer.
- Consider where responses should be saved based on your department or agency’s information management policies and processes.
- Responses will be moved to the “Downloaded” tab.
- Next, you will have 15 more days to sign off on the removal of responses.
To sign off on the removal of form responses:
We ask that you confirm having downloaded responses and approve them for removal from GC Forms. Having responses in GC Forms for more than 30 days may lead to account restrictions.
- Open the responses and ensure the content reflects a genuine form response.
- Open the receipt file (receipt-recu.html) that was also downloaded.
- Select the “Copy all receipt codes” button in the receipt file.
- Go to the “Downloaded” tab.
- Select the “Sign off on removal with receipt codes” button.
- You can sign off on up to 150 responses at a time.
- Paste receipt codes to verify that responses were downloaded successfully.
- Submit receipt codes. Responses will be moved to the “Signed off for removal” tab.
- If you encounter a problem with a specific response, select “Report a problem”.
3. Integrating the data retrieval API
GC Forms now has an application programming interface (API) that can be used to retrieve form responses programmatically. This data delivery method offers a more efficient and scalable way to collect high volumes of form responses with machine-to-machine connections.
Currently this response delivery method is only available for some clients and only for unclassified or Protected A forms.
What you’ll need to use the API
With help from developers, you might be able to connect what’s submitted to GC Forms to your department’s web application or back-office system.
- Infrastructure/software development resources able to set up the API integration and craft HTTP requests to reach an external API endpoint (outside of departmental firewall).
- A form in GC Forms that is Unclassified or Protected A, to retrieve responses from a specific form.
- An API key and OAuth access token to authenticate and securely access data.
- A target system where you plan on receiving form submission data that can accept or parse responses in a structured JSON format.
Set up the API integration
To test our API and see if the programmatic delivery of form submissions by calling an API endpoint could work for you, consult our technical documentation for developers.
