Athena StatCan MCP Server

An MCP server that connects Athena AI to Statistics Canada's Web Data Service (WDS) API, fetches open data, and renders it in a table widget.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• npm

Setup

npm install

Run

Development (TypeScript with tsx):

npm run dev

Production (build + run):

npm run build
npm start

Server listens on http://localhost:8787/mcp.

Test with MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector@latest --server-url http://localhost:8787/mcp --transport http

Expose for Athena

Athena requires HTTPS. Use ngrok:

ngrok http 8787

Add the connector in Athena with URL: https://<ngrok-id>.ngrok.app/mcp

Tools

• fetch_statcan_data – Fetches metadata (list of data cubes) from StatCan WDS getAllCubesListLite. Optional limit (1–50, default 10).

Architecture

1. User prompts Athena
2. Athena calls fetch_statcan_data
3. Server fetches from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/wds/rest/getAllCubesListLite
4. Returns structuredContent with rows and columns
5. Athena loads the table widget (text/html+skybridge) and injects data via window.openai.toolOutput