1. Reference Document Document de référence
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. This information is released under an Open Government Licence - Canada. 
Disclaimer: This resource has been deemed to have business value but is not an official publication of the Government of Canada. It is provided in the original language and format in which it was created.   
Document de référence
Secrétariat du Conseil du Trésor du Canada
© Sa Majesté la Reine du chef du Canada. Les présents renseignements sont communiqués selon les termes de la Licence du
gouvernement ouvert — Canada. 
Avis de non-responsabilité: On a jugé que les présents renseignements possèdent une valeur opérationnelle, mais il est possible qu’ils soient inexacts car ils sont périmés. Ils sont fournis dans la langue originale et le format dans lesquels ils ont
été créés.
Open Government Canada
Gouvernement ouvert Canada

2. Introduction to Open Government
May 29, 2017 – Presentation to OAG

3. What is open government?
Open Government is about greater openness and accountability, strengthening democracy and citizen participation, and driving innovation and economic opportunities for all Canadians
A key Government of Canada priority
A recognized international undertaking
An opportunity for public servants to more effectively deliver the programs and services Canadians want and expect 
OG is a global movement to make governments more transparent, more accountability, and more responsive to citizens.
It’s about making governments more accessible to everyone
Means giving greater access to government data and information to the public and the business community
Underpinning this is that openness and transparency are fundamental to ensuring Canadian’s trust in their government and in democracy overall.
Recognizes that there are certain things that government is best at doing and others where citizens can make a really helpful contribution
If we believe that citizens can make meaningful contributions to policy debates, then we need to equip them with relevant information
For Canadians to trust their government, we need a government that trusts Canadians
Opportunity for citizens to take on a much greater role in public policy
Open Government is not a new concept in Canada
1880 – Hansard
1983 – Access to Information Act, and Privacy Act

4. Ministerial Mandate Letters
A key Government of Canada priority
Ministerial Mandate Letters: “We have also committed to set a higher bar for openness and transparency in government”
Prime Minister of Canada
“Government and its information must be open by default. Simply put, it is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on the people it was created to serve – Canadians." – Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Ministerial Mandate Letters
2016 Federal Budget
It’s definitely a priority of the current government.
The Prime Minister has set the bar high by publishing all mandate letters to minister, a symbolic but important move.
He sees OG as an all-of-government affair - open and transparent government was a commitment included in each letter. Ministers were asked to:
Engage with Canadians
Build trust
Work collaboratively
Be open by default
Deliver better programs and services
Published an Open and Accountable Governemnt Guide for Ministers
Established a cabinet committee on open and transparent government and parliament
Open and transparent government was a commitment in the Speech from the Throne (December 2015)
Budget 2016 granted additional resources to TBS to work on open government
There is a general willingness with this government to reach out and engage, and to admit our errors, and a willingness to take smart risks opening up.

5. An international movement
The Open Government Partnership (OGP), founded in 2011, is a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to:
Promote transparency
Empower citizens
Fight corruption
Harness new technologies to strengthen governance
Canada joined in 2012
75 member countries today
Canada elected to the OGP Steering Committee – a 3-year term which begins in October 2017
OGP formally launched in September 2011, with 8 founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States)
Since then, OGP has welcomed a total of 75 member countries to the Partnership, with Canada formally joining 2012
To become a member of the OGP, participating countries must:
Endorse the OG Declaration , declaring commitment to promoting transparency, empowering citizens, fighting corruption and harnessing new technologies to strengthen governance
Deliver country action plans developed with public consultation every two years
The OGP’s Support Unit manages OGP’s external communications, supports the Steering Committee (OGP’s management body) as well as the broader membership
In December 2016, the Minister Brison went to Paris to attend the OGP Summit where Canada was recognized for being at the forefront of global OG progress.
In March 2017, Canada was elected to the OGP’s Steering Committee finishing first among 12 competing countries. Canada’s 3-year term begins on October 1, 2017 and we will be represented by Minister Brison. This important initiative will require the support of the GC-wide Open Government community. 5

6. Support for Innovation
Canada’s Third Biennial Plan to the OGP
The Third Biennial Plan to the OGP consists of 22 commitments organized under 4 themes:
Open by Default
Fiscal Transparency
Support for Innovation
Engaging Canadians
Ensuring citizens are equipped to participate in our democracy
Unleashing innovation and advancing sustainable development through data and information
Enabling citizens to better understand how their tax dollars are spent
Sharing government information and data wherever feasible
Canada’s Third Biennial Plan to the OGP was developed through consultation with Canadians, stakeholders, and government departments.
The Plan includes twenty-two commitments that are structured around four priority areas:
Open by default: Canadians can easily access government data and information in open, standardized formats.
Highlight commitments: expand and improve open data, define an approach for measuring open government performance, build open government skills across the public service
Fiscal transparency: GC financial and budget information is available and easy to understand, allowing Canadians to track how their tax dollars are spent.
Highlight commitments: increase transparency of budget information, improve public information on corporations
Innovation, prosperity, and sustainable development: Government data and information can be used by Canadians to improve their lives, and to create sustainable, inclusive social and economic progress worldwide.
Highlight commitments: stimulate private sector innovation, increase openness of science activities, align open data across Canada,
Engaging Canadians and the world: Canadians have the information they need to meaningfully interact with and participate in their democracy. Canada demonstrates leadership by championing open government principles and initiatives around the world.
Highlight commitments: Enable open dialogue and open policy-making, promote open government globally

7. Open Government Partnership
Elements of open government
Open Government Partnership
Open Government Plans
Open data
Open source
Open maps
Open access
Open information
Open dialogue
Open license
Open policy making
Open by design
Open budgets
Open science
Open standards
Open state
Open policies
Open contracting
Open heritage
Open parliaments
The OGP provides continuity and legitimacy for open government reform – the foundation
OG plans are the core of a country’s participation in the OGP – they provide stability through the 2-year national action plan calendar cycle
The commitments are the fruit of these plans, they are co-created between government and civil society and clustered under various themes
The themes with maple leaves are areas where the GC has either made significant commitments to action, or where we are already considered a leader
Leader: open data, open license, and open maps
Significant commitments: open dialogue, open science, open heritage, open contracting and open budgets
Open education

8. Open government federal initiatives
1. Directive on Open Government
“…maximize the release of government data and information to the public in support of transparency, accountability and socio-economic benefits through reuse”
2. Open Government Portal
Open.Canada.ca
One stop shop for information on open government
Uses free and open source software
The Government of Canada issued the Directive on Open Government, a mandatory policy requiring federal government departments and agencies to maximize the release of data and information of business value. Eligible data and information is to be released in standardized, open formats, free of charge, and without restrictions on reuse The policy includes additional requirements for: -Ensuring that data and information is published in accessible and open formats via GC open government websites under an open and unrestrictive licence; -Publishing inventories of departmental data and information holdings; and
Open Government Portal – Open.Canada.Ca
One stop shop for information on OG
Currently 118,000+ data sets available
In fact, Canada was just ranked #2 in the world by the Open Data Barometer (up from 4th in and 8th in 2013).
The portal including space for data, information, and consultation
It’s very well regarded, even if it doesn’t have the look of a cutting edge, modern site
Because it’s based on open source, which we share
Because it simplifies for department the releasing of data and info, including proactive
Allows search of structure and unstructured data, which is hard to do.

9. Open by default
Government and its information must be open by default. Simply put, it is time to shine more light on government to make sure it remains focused on the people it was created to serve – you!
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
This government has an expectation of becoming open by default. This is a huge shift in culture and mindset. What this means for Canadians – tools and information to hold gov to account; trust between citizens and government. Instead of asking why information and data should be open, ask whether there is any strong reason not to make it open.
We have a new CIO, Alex Benay, who shares the PM’s vision and wants to systematically remove the barriers to accessing government.
believes that otherwise we run the risk of becoming irrelevant as an organization.
This means releasing content and data to the public and leveraging citizen knowledge to let them find the solutions to some of our problems.
He wants us to take intelligent risks and try new approaches to how we work
Planning an open by default pilot project
In addition to TBS, participating departments ECCC, Heritage, NRCan, with support from StatsCan and PSPC.
Will leverage the existing open.canada.ca portal and departmental document repositories (such as GCDOCS) to provide a technical platform to give citizens a “peek behind the curtain”
As part of this pilot, there will be a hackathon in September, at Hack the North in Waterloo in to pilot the technology and expose it to the public.
Goals of this pilot include:
allowing public access to non-sensitive federal information and data,
encouraging public engagement, and
demonstrating agile procurement.
All documents used in this pilot will be non-sensitive, draft documents that will allow citizens to be engaged at an earlier stage while being proactive and citizen-centric.
Represents the first critical step in moving to open by default while emphasizing the idea of government as a platform.
In addition, this will be the first time that a hackathon will be used for procurement.
So this is a really exciting for us. But most importantly, it’s a window of opportunity for us to really improve the way we do things.

10. Open Government at the Office of the Auditor General
Government of Canada-wide priority of a healthy democracy
While the OAG is exempt from the Directive on Open Government there are opportunities for OAG to further advance the spirit of the Directive.
Existing key OAG activities include:
Publishing twice-yearly reports to Parliament
Working to fight corruption
How does OAG fit into this?
The first independent auditor general, John Lorn McDougall, was appointed in 1878 with the mandate to examine and report on past transactions, and
to approve or reject the issuance of government cheques. Today the Auditor General is responsible for auditing federal departments and agencies, and many other federal organizations, and reports directly to parliament.
Like many agents of Parliament, OAG is exempt from the Directive on Open Government.
However, OAG can still follow the spirit of the Directive and reinforce the integral role it plays as a key federal pillar in a healthy democracy
OAG Reports to Parliament
Through the twice-yearly reports to Parliament, the OAG gives citizens a clear view of the working being done to ensure that government is doing its job. These reports often overlap with key international open government goals such as tackling fraud and corruption. The most recent report to parliament this May, for example, contained one audit looking into managing the risk of fraud, and another examining the risk of fraud in immigration and border services. 10

11. Next steps Inform and enable Respond Engage Collaborate
Enhance the usability of Open.Canada.ca
Support skills development
Respond
Publicly track and report on open government progress
What we Heard reports
Engage
Design and implement targeted community outreach workshops
Support Canada’s membership on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee
Collaborate
Establish a permanent civil society dialogue mechanism
Advance FPT collaboration on open government
Over the medium term, we are working to mainstream OG practices across the GC that includes informing, responding, engaging, and collaborating.
Inform and Engage
Raising awareness of the opportunity of OG (both within and outside of GC)
Support skills development in the public service
Improving content on Portal (findability), room for new content (OG Skills) and adhere more closely to the Canada Web Information Architecture Specification .
Respond
Publishing self-assessment reports at the mid and end-point of action plan cycles
Work to enhance public reporting on OG commitments through public-facing dashboards on our Portal that will be updated on a quarterly basis
What we heard reports
Respond to public questions and comments
Engage
Enable citizen participation in OG consultations
Member of the Steering committee, lead or co-lead a number of domestic and international OG working groups.
Collaborate
Leading the creation of a multi-stakeholder engagement mechanism to maximize cooperation between government and civil society
FPT aim to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relationships; share information and best practices; identify common areas for collaboration; and provide advice/support

12. Opportunities for public servants
Target Outcomes
Open data and information help government deliver programs and services that Canadians need and expect
Canadians have trust in their government and the tools to hold it to account
Leverage open data and information
→ Release open data and info! Explore the portal!
Align organizational initiatives with open government
→ Identify opportunities to champion open by default
Expand public participation in decision-making
→ Leverage your assets to build partnerships & consider where citizen engagement adds value
Pursue open government learning opportunities
→ Open government = enterprise-wide commitment
OG offers numerous benefits to public servants (e.g., enhancing innovation, effectiveness)
Benefits of OG span many areas, as reflected in OECD’s December 2016 report entitled Open Government: The Global Context and the Way Forward. Potential benefits from OECD:
Ensuring better outcomes at less cost;
Raising compliance levels; and,
Establishing greater trust in government.
Leverage open data and information
Explore the Portal and consider how you can use it to generate insights and inform decisions
Align organizational initiatives with open government
Challenge traditional ways of working and actively locate opportunities for integrating openness into day-to-day business
Expand public participation in decision-making
Broadening range of people we engage, expanding public engagement across GC domains and engaging earlier
Pursue open government learning opportunities.
TBS is leading on OG skills across GoC and we are creating a diverse range of learning solutions as per Commitment 6 of the 3rd Biennial Plan
Through skills development and enterprise-wide engagement, public servants will :
Armchair Discussion with CSPS on April 12, 2017, from 1:30 to 3:00 pm
National Policy Conference on March which has a webcast option
Online OG module with GovLab; and Video series

13. How do I stay connected? Join the GCconnex group
on Twitter, and tweet with #OpenGovCan
Check out Open Government on GCpedia
Connect with your departmental Open Government coordinator
Visit Open.Canada.ca and sign up for our mailer us