Canada launches 2022-24 National Action Plan on Open Government
Thursday, 22 September 2022 04:33.PM
The Government of Canada continues to increase the transparency of its institutions through its leadership within the international Open Government Partnership (OGP).
Today, the Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board of Canada, released Canada's 2022–24 National Action Plan on Open Government.
The 2022–24 Action Plan outlines a series of initiatives to give people access to the information and tools they need to better understand the impacts of climate change, to protect against misinformation and disinformation, to advance corporate transparency, to address their legal problems, and to encourage participation in fair, democratic processes. They include:
• expanding the federated open data search to include open data from all 13 jurisdictions
• facilitating data-sharing with Indigenous governments
• creating an online hub for GBA Plus data
• increasing collection of data on disabilities
• developing an RCMP open government strategy
The plan reflects a commitment to making government more accessible and building public trust.
Canada committed to developing the plan with inclusion from the start and throughout the plan's commitments. It adopted a Feminist and Inclusive Open Government lens, to better recognize and respond to the lived realities of women, girls, those across the gender spectrum, and others who face obstacles. It also reflects United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in its commitments and milestones. As well, it has sustained an open dialogue with civil society by engaging with the Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Open Government.
Over the next 2 years, the Treasury Board Secretariat will work with its partners throughout the federal government, across Canada, and around the world to deliver on the commitments in this plan. Canadians will be able to monitor progress on the commitments and activities that matter most to them through an online tracker available on open.canada.ca.
The 2022–24 National Action Plan builds on the successes of past plans, notably the 2018–20 Plan, which offered 10 open government commitments aimed at advancing government accountability and citizen participation. A total of 111 of 133 initiatives were implemented, and all were completed for the ''Healthy democracy'' and ''Corporate transparency'' themes. A roadmap for Open Science was also launched.
"Building and maintaining public trust in government institutions is fundamental to a healthy democracy. We are using the pillars of open government—accountability, transparency, participation, and inclusion—to make information available to Canadians that helps them understand and see the outcomes of the work we do in government on their behalf."
– The Honourable Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board
Quick Facts
• Canada has been a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) since 2012, and is recognized as a global leader, particularly in the areas of citizen engagement, feminist and inclusive open government, and open data.
• Canada's national action plans on open government are developed on a 2-year cycle. To date, Canada has completed 4 plans.
• Between July 2021 and February 2022, the Government of Canada consulted on the draft commitments for the 2022–24 plan and received hundreds of comments, ideas, and suggestions from Canadians.
• Canada and the OGP launched the Feminist Open Government initiative in 2018, which focuses on ensuring underrepresented communities, such as women, girls, 2SLGBTQI+ people, racialized communities, persons with disabilities, young Canadians, low-income Canadians and others who face obstacles are empowered, represented and enabled to participate meaningfully in government decision-making.
• The Multi-stakeholder Forum (MSF) on Open Government supports ongoing dialogue between government and Canadian civil society on open government. The Treasury Board Secretariat worked closely with Canada's MSF to develop the five commitments detailed in the plan.
SOURCE: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat