Open government means the government is transparent with information and accountable for decisions. It also means people are involved in making decisions. To do this, the government works with people, communities, businesses, and civil society. 

Open government is based on the principles of transparency, accountability and public participation. 

Transparency: The government makes available relevant information on policies, programs, services and decisions in a complete, accurate and timely manner – while protecting privacy, security and confidentiality – so the public can access, understand and monitor the activities and decisions of government. In short, the public has access to information they want and need.

Accountability: The public can exercise its right to hold the government to account for its activities, performance and decisions through timely access to information. In other words, the public should be able to see and question how their government is being managed.

Participation: The public can influence the activities and decisions of the government through meaningful and targeted consultation and engagement. That is, the public should find it easy to be involved and participate in government decisions and initiatives.

The Government of Canada is committed to being open. 

National Action Plan on Open Government

The Government of Canada has been a member of the international Open Government Partnership (OGP) since 2012. The OGP brings together national and sub-national governments from around the world who are committed to advancing transparent, participatory, inclusive and accountable governance.

To remain a member of the OGP, the Government of Canada must work with civil society and the public to develop and carry out a National Action Plan on Open Government every two to four years.

Themes for the 6^th National Action Plan on Open Government

1) Inclusive and meaningful public participation is about how the Government of Canada gets people involved in the decisions it makes, by giving them the chance to take part in these decisions. 

2) Protecting civic space and democracy in the digital era is about citizen collaboration, funding communication about government actions, protecting freedoms, seeing more citizen involvement and stronger civil society organizations – at a time when these freedoms are at risk all around the world. 

3) Anti-Corruption, public confidence and corporate transparency is about ensuring Government and corporations are honest and fair, abiding by the anti-corruption rules and adopting integrity measures. 

4) Designing inclusive government programs and services is about ensuring that programs and services are barrier free; that diverse groups, such as persons with disabilities, women, Indigenous Peoples, including First Nations, Inuit and Metis, and members of racialized groups and of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities, have a seat at the table, and feel welcome and included. 

Contributions Closed – Canada’s 6^th National Action Plan on Open Government! 

Thank you for your participation in helping us shape Canada’s 6^th National Action Plan on Open Government. Contributions and submissions are now closed. We are finalizing your feedback and submitting the Final Draft for approval. 

For questions or feedback, feel free to email us at [email protected]. 

The TBS Open Government Team