Search National Action Plan on Open Government Tracker
Issue to be addressed
Many Canadians find it difficult to understand how the government spends their tax dollars. Governments can improve financial transparency by providing tools and information to make their spending easier to understand and by releasing more detailed information to allow citizens to hold governments to account.
Commitment
The Government of Canada will continue to improve the transparency of its spending and its open contracting to make it easier for Canadians to understand federal budgets, track funding decisions, and examine government procurement and spending processes. We will:
- make government budget and spending information easier to find and understand
- publish an analysis of gender-based impacts for all Budget measures
- ensure Canadians have access to open data on Government of Canada procurement
- explore adoption of common contracting data standards across Canada
Milestones
2.1 Make government budget and spending information easier for Canadians to find and understand
2.1.1 Parliamentarians and Canadians are engaged in reviewing the Government’s progress in improving the timeliness, completeness, and transparency of the Budget and Main Estimates
2.1.2 Based on feedback received in the engagement above, recommendations are published on the approach to the Budget and Main Estimates for 2020 to 2021 and future years
2.1.3 The description and detail of budget spending plans is improved, including more detailed information on budget allocation by department
2.1.4 GC InfoBase is expanded to allow Canadians to easily follow funding and results, from announcement to implementation, for all Government of Canada programs
2.1.5 Government of Canada Guidelines on the Reporting of Grants and Contributions Awards are updated to ensure proactive disclosure of grants and contributions data continues to meet Canada’s legal and policy requirements
2.2 Publish the Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) for all new announced budget expenditure and tax measures in future budgets
2.2.1 Canadians and Parliamentarians have access to information on the gender and diversity impacts of budget measures.
2.3 Ensure Canadians have access to open data on Government of Canada procurement
2.3.1 Pilot data that tests the implementation of the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is undertaken, which includes a cross-section of at least 300 contract records for a variety of contracts, including major projects. Pilot data will include all stages of the procurement cycle (planning, tender, award, contract, and implementation).
2.3.2 3-5 public workshops on open contracting are held to analyze what types of contracting data are currently available and assess barriers to releasing open contracting data.
- The workshops consider the results of the open data pilot.
- Workshops include participation from civil society, procurement experts, and industry representatives.
- A report is developed outlining input received and recommendations developed during the workshops.
2.3.3 Tender, award, and contract data aligned with the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is published for all contracts for fiscal years 2016 to 2017 and 2017 to 2018. Data is published on open.canada.ca and is updated on a regular schedule.
2.3.4 PSPC’s new e-Procurement Solution (EPS) is designed to increase the release of open contracting data for all PSPC contracting records. A report is published on progress in developing the EPS, including reporting on progress in aligning open contracting data with the international Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
2.3.5 Government of Canada Guidelines on Proactive Disclosure of Contracts are updated to ensure proactive disclosure of contracts data continues to meet Canada’s legal and policy requirements
2.4 Explore adoption of common contracting data standards across Canada
2.4.1 Representatives of federal government and provincial and territorial governments have met to discuss potential adoption of common contracting data standard for tender notices
2.4.2 Government officials have further explored adoption of common contracting data standards across the broader procurement cycle