Summary report on open government consultations March 31 – July 15, 2016: What We Heard

Broad themes

You told us Government data should be open by default and easy to find and understand. Data should be made available in a timely manner and should reflect the interests and priorities of Canadians.

Resulting action

We incorporated this feedback into our commitment to Expand and Improve Open Data (commitment 3).

Broad themes

You told us that the Government of Canada should engage in open dialogue with Canadians, leveraging innovative technologies as well as community-focused, in-person events. Canadians should be able to be involved in all stages of government policy- and decision-making processes.

Resulting action

We reflected your comments in our commitment on Open Dialogue and Open Policy Making (commitment 20) and our commitment on Developing Open Government Skills in the Federal Public Service (commitment 6).

Broad themes

You told us Canadians have a right to access certain government information and should have effective systems that allow them to request this information. Government information should be open and carefully managed and preserved to ensure it can benefit all Canadians now and in future generations.

Resulting action

We reflected your feedback in our commitments to Enhance Access to Information (commitment 1), our commitment to Provide and Preserve Open Information (commitment 4), and our commitment to Develop Open Government Skills across the Federal Public Service (commitment 6).

Broad themes

You told us that the Government of Canada should take leadership in supporting openness and transparency across Canada. Governments at all levels should work together to align standards and share best practices for open government. You also told us that the Government of Canada should collaborate with institutions inside and outside government, working in close partnership with stakeholders in civil society.

Resulting action

As part of our commitment to Engage Civil Society on Open Government (commitment 19), we are working to establish permanent dialogue mechanisms with civil society. Additionally, government departments are doing more to reach out to experts outside government and to enable a dialogue with the government's own experts, including through Statistics Canada's "Chat with an Expert" sessions. Your comments have also helped us to shape our commitments and priorities for Aligning Open Data across Canada (commitment 16).

Broad themes

You told us that the Government of Canada should communicate more openly with Canadians and should measure government departments' progress in transitioning to a culture of 'open by default.'

Resulting action

We sought to incorporate your feedback through a number of commitments in our Plan including our commitments to Define an Approach for Measuring Open Government Performance (commitment 5), Develop Open Government Skills across the Federal Public Service (commitment 6), Expand and Improve Open Data (commitment 3), Open Dialogue and Open Policy Making (commitment 20), and Promote Open Government Globally (commitment 21).

Broad themes

You told us open government should not stop with the federal public service. Parliamentary openness should be an important pillar of open government.

Resulting action

We sought to recognize this important issue in the introduction to the Plan, where we mention some of the initiatives tied to parliamentary openness. The Plan itself is focused on what the federal public service can accomplish.

Broad themes

You told us Canadian postal code data should be made available under an open and unrestrictive licence.

Resulting action

In Canada, postal code data is owned by Canada Post, a Crown corporation that operates at arm's length from the federal government. It is expected to conduct its operations on a self-sustaining financial basis that does not rely on taxpayer funding. As such, Canada Post licences the uses of its postal code database products to businesses, which provides an important revenue stream for Canada Post, and helps to ensure the accuracy of information for delivery. Your comments have been shared with officials at Canada Post. Additionally, the Government of Canada is conducting an independent review of Canada Post to ensure Canadians receive quality postal services at a reasonable price.

Broad themes

You told us Canadians should have the tools and knowledge they need to use open data effectively, and to understand how governments make decisions.

Resulting action

Although not linked to a specific commitment, the Government of Canada continues to develop and launch tools that allow users to effectively visualize and understand data (such as the Open Maps portal and TBS InfoBase). Taking the time to develop visualization tools that work for everyone is a Government of Canada requirement. We will continue to work with partners inside and outside government to promote data literacy as an important priority.

Broad themes

You told us that the Government of Canada should seek to open up the source code underlying many of its programs and services and should collaborate with experts outside government to co-create data and solutions that will help government better serve Canadians.

Resulting action

All the comments we received on open source software have been analyzed as part of TBS consultations on the IT Strategic Plan 2016-2020. As part of this consultation, we will consider feedback on how software solutions, including open source, can be best leveraged to meet strategic objectives.

Some ideas and comments we received could not be included in the Plan because they were either beyond our scope at this time or may be better suited as part of other government efforts. We have tried to provide some explanation in this report as to why certain feedback we received is not reflected in the Plan. We will hold on to all these ideas and comments and will share them with partners within and beyond government who can assist us to make these ideas a reality. We will also use these comments to support the implementation of our commitments or to inform the development of future initiatives and commitments.

Make government data understandable to the average user

You told us that open data is an important tool for those who have the skills and tools to use it effectively. However, for many Canadians, it is difficult to understand or analyze raw data in a way that offers meaningful conclusions. You told us that you would like to see government provide more tools and contextual information to allow anyone to use open data effectively.

We have incorporated this feedback into our commitment to Expand and Improve Open Data (commitment 3). We have committed to provide access to high-quality, open data and information from Statistics Canada, which includes hosting online and in-person sessions to increase interaction between Canadians and Statistics Canada analysts and better understand published datasets.

We will also work to provide improved tools that allow you to better use open data to create visual products that provide a better understanding of the data. We have committed to expanding the new Open Maps tool, which allows you to take multiple geospatial datasets and layer them onto a single map so you can compare and contrast different types of data. We will also work to improve the TBS InfoBase tool – a searchable, online database of information on government finances and human resources – expanding the types of data, graphics, and analytics available.

Make data more easily searchable

You told us you want to be able to find the data you are looking for more easily which means making our own Government of Canada open data more centralized and searchable and providing integrated search solutions so you can access the data you need, regardless of which Canadian government holds it.

Searchability is an important aspect of open data and in our commitment to Expand and Improve Open Data (commitment 3), we have committed to develop and refine guidance to government departments on open data, including developing metadata standards to enhance data interoperability and discoverability. We will also work to improve our open.canada.ca site to ensure it provides a user-centric experience, allowing you to more easily find what you are looking for. More broadly, a consistent user experience is being established with Canada.ca to ensure greater access of data for Canadians.

Federated search – providing a "no wrong door" approach for accessing open data from the provincial, territorial and federal governments – is another important part of our Third Biennial Plan to the Open Government Partnership as per our commitment 16 to Align Open Data across Canada. See the section on Leadership and collaboration across governments and stakeholders for more on this. We will be working to pilot a similar initiative focused specifically on open information regarding corporations in Canada (commitment 12: Improve Public Information on Canadian Corporations).

Release more, high-value data based on input from Canadians on prioritization. Make data open by default!

You told us you want the Government of Canada to focus on releasing datasets that would provide significant value to Canadians and to work with Canadians to prioritize data for release. You want to have a voice in deciding what data should be opened up sooner. In the longer term, you want government data to be open by default, so that the datasets we create and maintain are made open and available to Canadians as a regular part of Government operations.

Making government data open by default is a major aspect of our work on open government. As we indicate in our commitment to Expand and Improve Open Data (commitment 3), we will be publishing inventories of all Government of Canada departmental data holdings. These will help to give Canadians a better idea of what data is currently held by government and will help departments to engage with citizens to ensure they have a say in the prioritization of data for release.

We have committed to working with our partners in governments across Canada to develop a list of high-value, priority datasets for release. This kind of list can push governments to be more consistent about the data they open up, making it easier for Canadians to compare data across different jurisdictions. Additionally, we are also committing to publish departmental targets for the release of open data, which will help you hold us accountable for whether or not data has been opened up in a timely manner.

We are committing to provide access to high-quality, open statistical data and information from Statistics Canada, which should provide Canadians with data on some of the issues that affect them on a day-to-day basis.

Finally, it's also important to note that there are already ways you can help us prioritize data for immediate release. Through open.canada.ca's "Suggest a Dataset" feature, you can suggest the type of data you would like to see opened up on our portal and you can vote for datasets suggested by others. We use the feedback you provide through this tool to support departments as they prioritize data for release.

Release data in real time (or as close as possible)

You told us you want Government of Canada data that is timely and relevant. Historical data can allow for interesting analysis, but for real accountability, data must be up to date and reflect the most recent facts.

Timeliness of data can certainly be an issue for governments. Since open data is still a relatively new reality, departments may not have specific data publishing processes in place, which can lead to burdensome approval processes before data can be published.

There is good reason for such approval processes – governments must also safeguard protected information – we have important responsibilities with regard to security, privacy, and confidentiality. The push to release more timely data can conflict with the desire to be prudent about the data we release, ensuring it would not cause undue harm to individual Canadians or to our collective security. We also want to ensure the accessibility of information for persons with disabilities, and to respect official languages.

We feel that the best way to ensure government data is released in a timely and effective manner is to establish clear, consistent open data policies and practices, taking any ambiguity out of the publishing process. We have committed to provide guidance to departments (for example, on anonymization) to ensure that appropriate processes are in place that will help to standardize data publication, making it easier and faster.

We have also committed to adopt the international Open Data Charter, which includes a principle mandating that data should be timely and comprehensive. We will work with our partners in the Charter initiative to ensure we have the tools and resources to support departments in releasing data that is timely and comprehensive.

There is no doubt that the acceleration of the release of open data will remain a challenge into the future. We would welcome your ideas on how we can make more, higher-quality data available to Canadians in a timely manner.

Focus on what citizens and communities want to talk about

You told us that you were pleased to participate in consultations on open government and that the Government of Canada should also conduct consultations on subjects of interest to your community.

This included a desire to be engaged on key social issues, such as the environment, job creation, and poverty. You also told us that public engagement should reflect how Canadians want to be engaged so that we reach Canadians and their communities in an effective, efficient and meaningful way.

We have tried to reflect these comments in our commitment on Open Dialogue and Open Policy Making (commitment 20). We have committed to promoting common practices and approaches for open dialogue across the Government of Canada to foster better consultations and engagement with Canadians, and to ensure there is a more direct connection between the input we receive and the policies and solutions we end up implementing. We will share best practices and lessons learned from consultation activities undertaken by government departments.

It is also important to ensure that Government of Canada departments are not only designing consultations based on their own requirements, but on the needs and expectations of the Canadians they want to hear from. This could include, for example, engaging with Canadians to understand what subjects they would like to provide feedback on, or providing the opportunity for Canadians to comment on consultations as they are being developed. We will support departments that engage with Canadians to understand how Canadians want to be consulted, and what policies or issues they want to discuss.

We recognize the importance of providing multiple tools and approaches during consultations. We have tried to accomplish this as part of our consultations on the Third Biennial Plan to the Open Government Partnership by providing both online and in-person options for participation. We used social media and other digital tools to reach as wide an audience as possible while continuing to connect with Canadians in their own communities. We will continue to work across the Government of Canada to adopt innovative in-person and online consultation tools and approaches.

Provide a better platform for engagement, particularly online

You told us you would like the Government of Canada to use improved, interactive online tools and platforms to support consultations. You also told us you would like participants to have a consistent consultation experience, with government departments using a common consultation platform that provides dynamic content and multiple channels for engagement.

We recognize the value of providing a consistent experience for consultation participants, while working to identify innovative ways to design consultations that are responsive to Canadians.

Through our commitment on Developing Open Government Skills in the Federal Public Service (commitment 6), we will ensure public servants have opportunities to build their capacity to use open dialogue to support decision-making. Through our commitment on Open Dialogue and Open Policy Making (commitment 20) we are supporting and promoting the use of new approaches to promote more meaningful engagement.

For examples of innovative consultation initiatives, see the Government of Canada's Defence Policy Review, consultations on Canada's Approach to Climate Change, and Clean Technology.

Support more meaningful dialogue by providing Canadians the information they need, as well as access to government experts

You told us you want to have the information and knowledge you need to engage with government in an informed and meaningful way. You told us you want to have background information or context documents you can react to, so that you can provide more focused, specific input.

In recent consultations, such as those noted above, some informational documents have been provided to start discussions on online forums. As mentioned earlier in this report, our team was pleased to see the detailed, thoughtful, useful comments that came after we posted the draft Plan for review, reinforcing our belief that it is worth investing time and effort to build and share knowledge among our stakeholders, supporting better-informed consultation processes.

We will use your comments on informed consultations to guide our implementation of our commitment on Open Dialogue and Open Policy Making (commitment 20). We will continue to refine our own open government consultation practices to ensure you have the information and knowledge you need to tell us about your expectations for openness and transparency. We will also work with departments to support common practices for open dialogue, including providing information to participants to allow them to engage more meaningfully with government.

Enhance the Access to Information Act

We received a number of comments on Canada's Access to Information (ATI) regime. Broadly speaking, we heard that people are enthusiastic about including ATI enhancements as a key priority for open government in Canada. You told us you want to ensure changes to the Access to Information Act are closely aligned to the broader Government of Canada commitment to being open by default, making government information as open as possible, whether on a proactive basis or in response to ATI requests.

From March 31 to June 30, the Government of Canada sought input from Canadians on proposals to improve the Access to Information Act. A separate report has been published offering an overview of input received during that consultation. We will continue to work towards greater openness and transparency as we move forward to revitalize access to information.

Make government information open by default

You told us that openness and transparency need to be built into the way government works. You expect that all government information that is not subject to privacy, security, or confidentiality concerns should be made open by default, published for all Canadians to access and reuse under an open and unrestrictive licence.

Open by Default is one of the four key themes that structures our Plan. While this is a long-term goal, a lot of work will need to happen to get us to the point of being open by default.

Open by default is the lens through which we crafted our commitment to Provide and Preserve Open Information (commitment 4). We have specifically committed to enhance the Open Information Portal on open.canada.ca to improve access to digital publications made available by the Government of Canada. We are currently testing search capabilities of the future portal through the first of multiple phases, consisting of the consolidation of the electronic publications provided by Government of Canada Publications and Library and Archives Canada. Investing in a solution to effectively manage records and documents is another way to set the stage for being open by default.

You also told us we need to be clearer about the scope of open information. What types of information will and won't be included? How do we define what information is most valuable, especially where the value to governments and the value to citizens might differ? We will consider this feedback as we implement our commitment to Develop Open Government Skills across the Federal Public Service (commitment 6), providing government departments with the resources and learning opportunities to help them understand how to make their information more open for the benefit of all Canadians.

Retain government information that is important to Canadians

You told us you want the government to publish clear guidelines on the preservation and retention of digital content. We recognize that it's important not to hold onto information that has no continuing value, since archiving unneeded content can cause digital infrastructure challenges. You told us governments must also be careful not to lose older information that may still be valuable to Canadians if it supports accountability or longitudinal studies, or if it is of historical significance.

Keeping this input in mind, we've committed specifically to develop and publish clear guidelines on the preservation and retention of digital content (see commitment 4: Provide and Preserve Open Information).

Develop strong information management practices and information inventories

You want government departments to have access to effective, common tools that support retention and categorization of the information they create. Comprehensive inventories are needed to support good information management and to allow both Canadians and public servants to better understand the information held by government so it can be prioritized for release.

Your comments have reinforced our commitment to ensuring departments have effective information management tools at their disposal. We have committed to expand the government-wide information technology (IT) solution for managing federal records and documents (a system called GCDOCS). Additionally, departments are expected to soon begin the work of providing a public inventory of all their information holdings. We are also reviewing the Government of Canada's suite of information management policy tools to ensure they foster better information management practices across all departments.

Include municipalities in open government and provide open government tools to small local governments

Municipal governments are often the first point of contact between citizens and their public institutions. Municipalities often have data on programs and services that impact the daily lives of Canadians and they must be key partners in open government efforts across Canada. You told us that the federal government should play a leading role to support open government at the local level.

Open government poses particular challenges for local governments. Municipalities often have different policies for tracking, preserving, and publishing data, which means the same kind of data may not be available across multiple cities, even within the same region. Likewise, municipalities often lack the financial and human resources that can be required to support robust openness and transparency initiatives.

Municipal governments are recognized as important partners in our commitment to Align Open Data across Canada (commitment 16). We recognize that there is scope to collaborate more actively with local governments as we design and implement open government initiatives. We will ensure that the feedback you have provided is taken into account as we implement our Open Data Canada commitment and we will seek to increase engagement with government and non-government organizations focusing on open data at the local level including, for example, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Increase standardization of data across Canada

You told us that open data is most valuable when it can be analyzed and compared over time and across geographic locations. This kind of comparison is made possible when datasets are created and published using clear, consistent open data standards.

Data standardization poses a particular challenge in Canada's federal system where many high-value data types (education, health, etc.) belong to the provinces and territories, which each have their own systems and practices. Your comments have helped us to shape our commitments and priorities for Aligning Open Data across Canada (commitment 16). We will continue to work toward adopting common open principles across Canada (consistent with the Open Data Charter). We have also committed to working with provincial, territorial, and municipal partners to develop a common list of high-value, priority datasets for release. While it is not mentioned specifically in our Plan, we will continue to work through existing intergovernmental working groups and communities of practice to support increased data standardization.

Allow Canadians to search data from multiple governments via a single portal

You told us you wanted to be able to search data across multiple governments without having to consult multiple data portals. In Canada's last Action Plan on Open Government (2014-2016) we committed to piloting integrated search capability, known as federated search, to allow Canadians to search data from multiple governments through our open.canada.ca portal. This could allow users, for example, to go to open.canada.ca and enter a simple search term like "climate change" and find relevant data from not only the federal government, but also from other governments across Canada. Unfortunately, we were not able to launch this pilot in our original timeframes, but we recognize that federated search is still a priority for Canadians. We are re-committing to piloting a federated search service as part of Canada's Third Biennial Plan to the Open Government Partnership, and we will be working closely with provincial and territorial partners to make it happen. In the future, we hope to work with municipalities as well to federate data search at the local level. For an example of what this could look like, see the common search portal developed by the Government of Québec in collaboration with five municipalities in that province: https://www.donneesquebec.ca/fr/ (site available in French only).

Take leadership at the federal level, pushing provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to go further on open government

You told us that the role of the federal government is not only to work with provinces and territories that are already well advanced in the domain of open government. You would also like to see the federal government providing leadership to governments that have not yet created official open government or open data initiatives.

We will continue to work to raise awareness of the importance of openness and transparency for all governments. We recognize other Canadian leaders in open government – for example, the Government of Ontario has been chosen as one of 15 subnational governments worldwide to participate in a pilot project with the OGP, and the City of Edmonton was recently recognized as Canada's most open city in Public Sector Digest's Open Cities Index 2015.

Engage with Indigenous Communities

Some of our key stakeholders told us they were disappointed that our draft Plan did not recognize the important role Indigenous communities should play in the open government movement in Canada. Canadians need to feel that the personal information they provide to government is used appropriately and judiciously, and this is of particular importance to Indigenous communities.

We made some adjustments to our draft Plan to reflect the important, nation-to-nation relationship that governs our understanding of open data, information, and dialogue as it relates to Indigenous peoples, and to ensure the rights and needs of Indigenous communities are considered when designing open government initiatives.

Engage with partners outside government

You told us that the Government of Canada should look beyond governments themselves for potential partners and collaborators.

We heard, for example, about the enormous potential for collaboration between government and schools, libraries, academics, and civil society. Schools and libraries generally fall under provincial jurisdiction; however, as part of our commitment to work with partners in other levels of government we will seek potential collaborations with a variety of institutions, including through co-hosting public consultation events on best practices for open data and information.

We recognize we could do more to increase the Government of Canada's collaboration with experts and stakeholders outside government. We have already started to increase our engagement with the open government community by participating actively in events like the Canadian Open Dialogue Forum and the Canadian Open Data Summit. Likewise, government departments are seeking to do more to reach out to experts outside government and to enable a dialogue with the government's own experts, including through Statistics Canada's "Chat with an Expert" sessions.

As part of our commitment to Engage Civil Society on Open Government (commitment 19), we are working to establish a permanent dialogue mechanism to ensure civil society can have a stronger role in the development and implementation of our open government plans. We would like to recognize the leadership of a group of civil society champions who have come together to form Canada's Open Government Civil Society Network (the Network). This Network was launched in March 2016 and we have been in touch with its interim steering committee members to open up a dialogue about how we can best include their voices in the development of future open government initiatives.

Make departments accountable for opening up more information and being open by default

Canadians recognize that government and its information belongs to them and should be open by default. Some of you told us you want to see more government information made open and available as quickly as possible. Others want government to provide useful information, packaged in a way that is easy to understand and use effectively. The tension between these two goals (any information fast vs. good quality information, when it's ready) is at the heart of our work on open government and open information.

We have a number of commitments in our Plan that seek to ensure Canadians can have a say in prioritizing information for release, and that departments have the tools they need to support prioritization as well. Specifically, as part of our commitment to Expand and Improve Open Data (commitment 3), we will develop guidance to help federal departments and agencies set priorities for the release of high-value open data. We have also committed to develop learning opportunities and materials to help departments set priorities for the release of open data and information based on potential public impact and benefit. Finally, we have committed to develop performance indicators on openness and transparency, and to measure and report publicly on departmental progress (commitment 5: Define an Approach for Measuring Open Government Performance). These commitments, among others, will allow us to better meet your needs and expectations when it comes to releasing of open information that is timely, high-quality, and useful.

Move away from culture of secrecy

You told us that you want the Government of Canada to move away from a perceived culture of secrecy. You would like to see public servants take intelligent risks and be more open to sharing information between departments and with external stakeholders. In the spirit of 'open by default', you told us you would like departments to focus on the potential benefits of open information rather than only focusing on the potential risks.

Public servants have a duty to protect sensitive information. We want to ensure our actions would not breach security or reveal Canadians' personal information. We also want to ensure the information being provided is accurate and complete. Openness also requires clarity about what the real risks are – when the release of information could be damaging to privacy or security. Being open means integrating these considerations into our process in a more effective way.

We have sought to incorporate your feedback into our commitment to Develop Open Government Skills across the Federal Public Service (commitment 6). We will work with departments to make sure public servants understand the benefits of open government, including how open data and open information can inform policy- and decision-making, and how to ensure sensitive information is protected through processes that facilitate determining whether information may be disclosed or not.

We have specifically committed to provide government departments with guidance on managing the risks associated with openness, including, for example, guidance on anonymizing datasets (commitment 3: Expand and Improve Open Data).

Being open also means recognizing that errors are sometimes made, and working in constructive ways to solve the problems open data and information may identify.

A culture change of the kind described above will require a change in our way of doing business and our way of thinking about our work. We will also strive to promote open government principles globally to ensure there is a strong international community pushing for similar culture changes around the world, and holding Canada accountable as a leader in open government (commitment 21: Promote Open Government Globally).

Open up communications between public servants and the public

You told us you would like public servants to be more open to speaking factually with Canadians about the work we do. You recognized that this requires support from all parts of the federal public service.

Open communication and open dialogue are important parts of the government's commitments to raising the bar on openness and transparency. We believe that Government information should be available to the public, and that subject-matter experts should be able to speak publicly on their own areas of expertise. In May 2016, the Government of Canada launched its new Policy on Communications and Federal Identity. The new Policy, supported by the new Directive on the Management of Communications, modernizes Government of Canada communications practices to be in line with today's digital environment. It also provides clearer and simplified guidance to officials on the conduct of government communications activities.

Your comments will also be consulted as we develop Open Government Skills across the Federal Public Service (commitment 6) and we will consider including more specific commitments on open communication with Canadians in future open government policy. Here in the Open Government team at TBS, we will continue to strive to communicate openly with everyone who contacts us and to provide you with the information you're looking for in a timely manner.

Collaborate to solve problems

You told us that you want to be able to work with government. You don't only want to provide feedback on proposed ideas, policies, or solutions; you also want to help identify and solve problems facing your community and country.

We have reflected these comments in our commitment on Open Dialogue and Open Policy Making (commitment 20). We can do more to ensure Canadians are involved throughout the policy development process, including identifying and defining problems we face together as a nation. We will work together to implement more innovative participatory approaches, such as co-creation models.

Data literacy – Provide Canadians tools and education they need to use open data effectively

Data literacy is an issue that was raised in consultations on previous Open Government Action Plans and was raised again this year. You told us that data literacy is a very important challenge for Canadians and for government, and that value of open data can only truly be unlocked when people have the tools they need to understand and reuse it effectively.

You told us you want to see data literacy included in school curricula as a way to engage a new generation of open data users. Changes to school curricula would generally be outside the scope of our Plan as it would fall under provincial responsibility; however, we support skills development in other ways. The Government of Canada continues to develop and launch tools that allow users to effectively visualize and understand data. These tools include things like the Open Maps portal and TBS InfoBase. One challenge we face in government is that many visualization tools do not provide a friendly experience for visually impaired users, which is a requirement for Government of Canada web content. We want everybody to be able to experience open data, and so we have to take the time to develop tools that work for everyone.

We will continue to work with partners inside and outside government to promote data literacy as an important priority. With departments, we will work to encourage not only the release of raw data, but also the development of tools to understand that data.

Civic literacy – Educate Canadians on the value of open government

You told us you want to be able to understand the value of open government: what efficiencies has it created? What problems has it solved? What difference has it made in the day-to-day lives of Canadians? You would also like government to provide more information on the benefits we have achieved so far and the potential positive impacts openness and transparency might have in future.

We believe open government has enormous potential when it is used to shape and inform government policies and services. We will aim to publicly demonstrate the value of open government through annual, public reporting on government departments' progress in implementing openness and transparency initiatives (commitment 5: Define an Approach for Measuring Open Government Performance).

We will also continue to work to provide good examples of innovative, public reuse of open government data and information. We will do this in a number of ways, including through the apps gallery on open.canada.ca, through our participation in Canadian and international events, and in blog posts highlighting initiatives we have learned about. For future open government plans, we will consider including more specific commitments on demonstrating the value of open government initiatives.

Open up government-developed source code and leverage open source software solutions

Some of you told us you would like to see the Government of Canada reflect the principles of open government in its own information technology policies. You told us you would like government departments to increasingly leverage and contribute to open source software solutions. When departments develop code to support government services or programs, you would like them to open up that underlying code.

The Government of Canada does not have a specific policy that promotes either open source or commercial software. Departments are encouraged to use the solution that is right for them, and meets their information technology (IT) needs. Many departments currently use open source solutions and also contribute to open source initiatives. This includes our own open government portal at open.canada.ca, which is built on open source platforms, CKAN and Drupal.

There is potential benefit to opening up source code, as it allows the public to suggest changes that could strengthen code, and to re-use the code. Costing, implementing, supporting, and maintaining IT projects over their full lifecycle is challenging work. As a recent departmental initiative example, Shared Services Canada (SSC) has been working with Government of Canada departments and stakeholders in the software industry to support the development of an SSC Open Source Strategy, which will provide guidance to SSC employees regarding open source software adoption and explore the option of distributing in-house software under an open source licence.

All the comments we received on open source software have been analyzed as part of TBS consultations on the IT Strategic Plan 2016-2020. As part of this consultation, we will consider feedback on how software solutions, including open source, can be best leveraged to meet strategic objectives.

Co-creation of data

You told us that you want the Government of Canada to work closely with individual Canadians, businesses, civil society organizations, and academics to explore the co-creation of datasets. Data co-creation would allow the Government to work with Canadians to identify and collect data that could be of high value to them. For example, the Ottawa Riverkeeper organization allows local residents to sign up to be Riverwatchers, who record data and information on aquatic phenomena and environmental concerns. This information is then available via an app. Riverwatchers have already met with officials from Environment and Climate Change Canada to hear about how Government of Canada practices can support their own data collection.

Co-creation of datasets is still a fairly new idea for the Government of Canada, as our focus so far has been on releasing datasets that already exist or are being created on a regular basis. This idea will be explored during the coming months to understand what possibilities might exist for building dataset co-creation into the current work of government departments.

Beneficial ownership

You told us that open government has an important role to play in the global fight against corruption. You suggested that, in order to demonstrate leadership on an issue that impacts every corner of the globe, the Government of Canada should implement specific commitments on beneficial ownership transparency, including the development of a public registry of open information on beneficial owners of Canadian corporations.

Currently in Canada, appropriate authorities have the ability to access data and information on beneficial owners to ensure corporations and individuals comply with Canadian laws. Protecting the privacy of Canadians, which is also important, limits our ability to publicly release data or information on beneficial owners. Additionally, beneficial ownership is a shared area of jurisdiction, implicating a number of different governments across the country.

We have tried to respect the spirit of the comments you provided by including a commitment on Improved Public Information on Canadian Corporations (commitment 12). Here, we have specifically committed to launch a pilot project to allow Canadians to search a number of existing federal and provincial business registries through a single, open search tool.

Open science

Open Science (commitment 14) is a commitment which aims to continue and grow the work we have started in recent years. You have told us that you expect open science to strengthen scientific integrity and help show how science supports government decision-making; that you value leveraging existing global open infrastructure and meeting international standards; and that in addition to a strong commitment for openness, you want government-funded scientific research and data to be made open and available to the Canadians whose taxes helped support it.

Likewise, the Government of Canada has committed to create a Chief Science Officer, to increase the public availability of data and publications produced from federal Science and Technology (S&T) activities, to develop and implement an open access policy for scientific research funded through grants and contributions, and to engage with Canadians to provide more information on scientific participation opportunities in support of federal S&T activities.

Science data and publications are increasingly being made openly available to Canadians. The supporting systems and policies are being developed. We recognize there is still a long way to go. Adopting Open Science won't fully be complete until it becomes part of our day-to-day business. This is a big task, given extensive and complex range of scientific activities funded by the federal government. We will work to put a plan in place that makes federal government science information open by default, and will implement a pragmatic approach to meet official language and accessibility requirements in line with international open science practices. We will work with our partners in science-based government departments to judiciously define the scope of this initiative, to ensure Canadians have the best access possible to the science their government uses to support evidence-based decision-making.

Open contracting

You told us that you are pleased with the level of breadth and detail in open data on government contracting and procurement activities. However, you think Canada can go further in its commitment to open contracting, ensuring all details of contracting processes are open by default, and requiring corporations working with the government to adhere to strong requirements related to openness and transparency.

Canada is working to strengthen openness and transparency of its contracting data. Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) is piloting the use of the Open Contracting Data Standard as a model to strengthen openness and transparency for their departmental contracting data. PSPC has also committed to collaborate with the Open Contracting Partnership to identify and publish important information on best practices and lessons learned from the department's work on this issue.

Whistleblower

You told us that you are concerned that whistleblower protection legislation in Canada has not been significantly updated since 2007. You have asked the Government of Canada to ensure that no federal public servant is made to feel that they cannot come forward when they have knowledge of wrongdoing in their workplace.

While the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act has not undergone recent, substantive changes, legal protections are in place. It is a crime to take disciplinary or retaliatory action against whistleblowers in the public service, and public servants are offered training on their rights and obligations in this regard.