About Open Government

The Government of Canada is implementing a blueprint for the future of open information sharing and citizen and stakeholder engagement known as Canada's Action Plan on Open Government. The Action Plan sets out our Open Government commitments to Canadians that we will achieve over the next three years.

This comes a year after the Government announced its commitment to enhance transparency and accountability in a statement about the expansion of Open Government. The Government continues to work to give Canadians the opportunity to access public information in more useful and readable formats, enable greater insight into the inner workings of the Government and empower citizens to participate more directly in the decision-making process.

The Government of Canada held consultations between December 6, 2011 and January 16, 2012, to explore Canadians' views on how to increase government openness, transparency and accountability. In addition, the Government formed an Advisory Panel on Open Government in February 2012 to seek experts' views on developing and implementing our Open Government activities moving forward.

Together, these efforts informed the development of Canada's Action Plan on Open Government and contributed to Canada's participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP). The OGP is a global initiative to secure concrete commitments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance.

Canada has historically led the way in providing accessible information to citizens. We were one of the first countries to enact access to information legislation almost three decades ago, and we significantly expanded coverage through the 2006 Federal Accountability Act. Canada has also demonstrated leadership in proactively disclosing information about contracts, grants and contributions, and posting hospitality and travel expenses on the Web. The Action Plan on Open Government builds on Canada's long history in enhancing transparency and accountability.

How do we achieve this?

The expansion of Open Government is being pursued through these three main streams:

• Open Data offers Government data in a more useful format to enable citizens, the private sector and non-government organizations to leverage the data in innovative and value-added ways.
• Open Information proactively releases information, including on government activities, to Canadians on an ongoing basis. By proactively making government information available, it will be easier to find and more accessible for Canadians.
• Open Dialogue gives Canadians a stronger say in Government policies and priorities, and expands engagement through Web 2.0 technologies.

Through this expansion, the Government is delivering on its commitment to greater openness and accountability, strengthening our Democratic Reform agenda and driving innovation and economic opportunities for all Canadians.