Prepared by the Information Management and Information Technology Directorate, Corporate Services Branch, Infrastructure Canada.
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of the Office of Infrastructure Canada, 2015
This document is issued under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
This document is available in alternate formats on request.
Please direct enquiries about this document to the following:
Communications Directorate
Infrastructure Canada
180 Kent Street, Suite 1100
Ottawa, Ontario K1P 0B6
National information line on infrastructure: 613-948-1148
Telephone toll free: 1-877-250-7154
TTY #: 1-800-465-7735
Email: info@infc.gc.ca
Table of Contents
Table
Figures
1. Executive Summary
Infrastructure Canada is pleased to present Infrastructure Canada’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) 2015-2016. This document presents the department’s plan to achieve transparent and accountable programs and services promoting open data and information and engaging the Canadian public through open government.
Canada has a longstanding commitment to openness and accountability as a cornerstone of a strong, modern democracy. From the passing of access to information legislation over 30 years ago to current open government and proactive disclosure activities, the Government of Canada has worked to ensure transparency on federal operations to enable Canadians to hold their government accountable. The commitments included in Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government 2014-16 will further progress on the delivery of transparent and accountable programs and services focused on the needs of Canadians.
The proactive release of data and information is the starting point for all other open government activity. Accordingly, the Government of Canada has firmly established an "open by default" position in its mandatory policy framework by issuing the Directive on Open Government.
Infrastructure Canada is a key funding partner, working with provinces, territories, municipalities, the private sector and non-profit organizations, along with other federal departments and agencies to help build and revitalize the infrastructure Canadians need and use every day. The department leads federal efforts to ensure that Canadians benefit from world-class, modern public infrastructure.
Infrastructure Canada’s main priorities are establishing open government governance structures and decision processes that support open government, including the approval process for the release of open data and open information resources; a summary of activities to meet the open government requirements; and outcomes providing positive impacts for Canadians.
Infrastructure Canada will publish more program data and information through the Open Government and continue to focus on ensuring program data and information is consistent and timely.
Infrastructure Canada will develop and update on an annual basis the department’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) to outline departmental direction, strategies, and initiatives undertaken to meet the requirements of this directive by . In addition, the department will post their implementation plan to a Government of Canada website designated by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
2. Approvals
Original signed by
Angus Howieson
Information Management Senior Official
Chief Information Officer and Director General
Information Management and Information Technology Directorate
Corporate Services Branch
Infrastructure Canada
Date
Original signed by
Yazmine Laroche
Associate Deputy Minister
Infrastructure Canada
Date
Original signed by
Jean-François Tremblay
Deputy Head
Deputy Minister
Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
Date
3. Purpose
This document describesInfrastructure Canada’s plan to complete activities and deliverables aligned to the requirements of the Directive on Open Government, in order to achieve full compliance by the implementation deadline.
The objective of the Directive is to maximize the release of government information and data of business value to support transparency, accountability, citizen engagement, and socio-economic benefits through reuse, subject to applicable restrictions associated with privacy, confidentiality, and security (Directive on Open Government, Section 5.1).
The expected results of the Directive on Open Government (Section 5.2) are that Canadians are able to find and use Government of Canada information and data:
- to support accountability;
- to facilitate value-added analysis;
- to drive socio-economic benefits through reuse; and,
- to support meaningful engagement with their government.
INFC reviewed the 12 commitments in the Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government 2014-16 See footnote 1 and will focus on one commitment – the foundation commitment of Open Government Directive. INFC has not been invited to lead or participate in the other 11 commitments however expects to incorporate resulting deliverables within its plans, as applicable.
4. Context
Infrastructure Canada Overview
Infrastructure Canada leads federal efforts to ensure that Canadians benefit from world-class, modern public infrastructure.
We achieve this by making investments, building partnerships, developing policies, delivering infrastructure programs, and fostering knowledge to address emerging priorities.
The department is a key funding partner, working with provinces, territories, municipalities, the private sector and non-profit organizations, along with other federal departments and agencies to help build and revitalize the infrastructure Canadians need and use every day.
Our investments address local and regional infrastructure needs, while advancing national priorities. This, in turn, helps make the water Canadians drink and the air they breathe cleaner, keeps people and goods on the move, and makes Canada’s economy stronger.
In 2015-2016, Infrastructure Canada will continue to oversee billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure investments. This includes projects being delivered through transfer payment programs under the New Building Canada Plan, programs under the 2007 Building Canada Plan, now in a later stage of their lifecycle, as well as earlier-announced sunsetting programs. Infrastructure Canada’s suite of transfer payment programs are organized according to the department’s Program Alignment Architecture (PAA).
Infrastructure Canada’s PAA has one Strategic Outcome, six Programs, and Internal Services in support of its activities.
Strategic Outcome: Public Infrastructure for a More Prosperous Canada
Programs:
- 1.1. Program: Funding for Provincial-Territorial Priorities;
- 1.2. Program: Permanent and Flexible Infrastructure Funding;
- 1.3. Program: Investments in National Infrastructure Priorities;
- 1.4. Program: Large-Scale Infrastructure Investments;
- 1.5. Program: Infrastructure Investments in Small Communities and Rural Areas;
- 1.6. Program: New Bridge for the St. Lawrence Corridor Project (NBSLC); and
- Program: Internal Services.
The department’s strong information management and recordkeeping foundation ultimately enables the department to be more responsive and accountable to Canadians.
INFC has 354 employees See footnote 2 and is based almost entirely in Ottawa (the only exception being 8 Federal Montreal Bridges staff in Montreal).
INFC Technological Environment
A key component of INFC’s main technological environment is the maintenance and enhancements of the Program Information Management System (PIMS), a single system that supports the delivery of all the department’s infrastructure funding programs – with the exception of the NBSLC. In conjunction with an Integrated Data Warehouse and enhanced reporting capability, INFC has the systems in place to support program delivery for current and future programs.
INFC also benefits from IT services provided by partners within the federal government and leverages common or shared IT assets and services wherever possible.
Challenges and Opportunities
The challenges and opportunities of this plan are not limited to IMIT. The program and policy areas have a key role in the successful implementation of the OGIP. For example, the Program and Policy branches have been participating in the work to inventory their current data assets and, any future design changes to programs or new programs will be done with the principle of being “open by default”. Although the technical delivery is through IT, the department will need to allocate business resources for each branch to Open Government activities.
Challenges
- Maximizing the release of open data and open information in accessible and reusable formats via Government of Canada websites and services designated by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat while contributing to current and future large scale whole-of-government IM/IT initiatives and ensuring timely delivery of Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) solutions and ongoing service availability within the department.
Opportunities
- Leveraging multi-jurisdictional resources to align data and information from other levels of government, e.g. provinces, territories, municipalities.
- Lessons learned from public use of INFC data and information.
5. Outcomes
Infrastructure Canada’s commitment to open government is founded on the strong history of transparency and accountability demonstrated by INFC from the moment the department was established.
INFC is currently providing Completed Access to Information Requests and Proactive Disclosure reports (e.g. Contracts over $10K, audits, and evaluations) in support of GC transparency.
The Directive on Open Government supports the Policy on Information Management by promoting information management practices which enable the proactive and ongoing release of government information. This directive is to be read in conjunction with the Directive on Recordkeeping.
INFC’s strong information management and recordkeeping (RK) practices and processes are the cornerstone of the department’s open government activities. These RK practices increase the department’s efficiency, reduce costs, improve service delivery, safeguard personal, classified and confidential information, and ensure the availability of high-quality, authoritative information.
This OGIP, which is to be updated annually, sets out INFC’s commitment for full compliance with the Directive on Open Government - by .
To further demonstrate INFC’s commitment to Open Government:
- INFC has created and populated its Data/Information Repositories Inventory for structured and unstructured data/information. INFC will align their inventory with the TBS Data Inventory template;
- INFC has released 13 datasets (see Annex D – Open Data Portal – Infrastructure Canada) to the GC Open Data Portal in early 2014. These datasets are being updated by INFC.
INFC will publish more INFC data and information through the Open Government and continue to focus on ensuring INFC data and information is consistent and timely.
The following table describes the outcomes that INFC is seeking to achieve through Open Government:
Changes sought | Desired state | Positive impact |
---|---|---|
Open by design To compliment compliance with the GC’s “open by default” requirement as a separate, and separately funded activity, the goal of “open by design” means INFC’s business processes and enabling technologies are to be designed and funded to be open from inception. |
Planned business initiatives will consider “open by design” as part of new program design and business evolution |
For Canadians: assurance that Open Government principles are part of standard practice For INFC: Business and technology specialists could focus on value-add activities rather than spending time and effort providing data and information in response to public and government queries for data and information |
Publishing standards to ensure reusability of data and information | One set of INFC publishing standards for all data and information resources based on comprehensive inventories of data and information resources of business value | For Canadians: Help broaden Canada’s objective to provide access to data and information, ensure transparency and accountability, and strengthen citizen engagement in the activities of government and in the democratic process. |
Common enterprise approach to the release of data and information | “Open” will be ingrained in our culture supported by consistent INFC processes and governance in planning the release of data and information | For Canadians: Provide INFC’s open data and information released in standardized, open formats, free of charge without restrictions on reuse |
Effective planning and monitoring of open government activities | Effective governance that will enable forward planning, proactive release and performance monitoring of new and/or expanded data or information managed by INFC | For Canadians: Proactive release of data and information on INFC’s projects and programs; data and information easier to find, access and use with confidence |
6. Governance Structures and Decision Processes
The following sub-sections describe the governance structures and decision processes that support open government and how those responsibilities are delegated and fulfilled within INFC.

Figure 1 - INFC Governance for OG Implementation Plan and Data/Information Releases - Text version
INFC Governance:
INFC Data Owners (image of 3 people sitting at a table with documents) consult with the Open Government Implementation Plan Working Group:
- Identify data and information
- Propose release schedules
Open Government Implementation Plan Working Group is based on commitments and requirements: Action Plan Foundation Commitment (image of the action plan), MAF requirements (image of the MAF framework), Directive of Open Government.
Open Government Implementation Plan Working Group to System, Data, Information Management Working Group:
- OG Implementation Plan: develop, update and endorse OGIP for approval.
- OG Data/Information Releases: establish prioritization criteria to consider datasets for scheduled publishing (e.g. planning criteria), establish publish decision criteria, recommend data and information release based on prioritization and publish criteria.
System, Data, Information Management Working Group to Horizontal Implementation Committee:
- OG Implementation Plan: endorse OGIP for approval.
- OG Data/Information Releases: confirm release criteria and readiness and evolve when necessary, endorse data and information for release.
Horizontal Implementation Committee to Horizontal Management Committee (INFC Open Government Implementation Plan OGIP):
- OG Implementation Plan: endorse OGIP for approval.
- OG Data/Information Releases: confirm release criteria and evolve when necessary, recommend data and information for release.
Horizontal Management Committee to Departmental Management Committee:
- OG Implementation Plan: recommend OGIP for approval.
- OG Data/Information Releases: inform of data and information for release.
OG Implementation Plan:
- IMSO approves OGIP (image of a person)
- Deputy Head approves OGIP (image of a person)
OG Data/Information Releases:
- IMSO approves data and information release (image of a person)
- Deputy Head informed of data and information release (image of a person)
Committee | Mandate |
---|---|
Departmental Management Committee (DMC) | To provide strategic direction, leadership and oversight of policy, programs and overall management at Infrastructure Canada by setting expectations, guiding the organization and managing performance. |
Horizontal Management Committee (HMC) |
To provide support to DMC by:
|
Horizontal Implementation Committee (HIC) | To support the effectiveness of HMC by discussing, sharing information, providing analysis, making recommendations and taking decisions on INFC horizontal management issues. HIC is a cross branch leadership forum that enables better communication at senior management levels in INFC. HIC also provides direction as needed to these working groups: Systems, Data and Information Management Working Group, Integrated Business Planning Working Group, Program and Policy Working Group and the Horizontal Initiatives Working Group. |
Systems, Data and Information Management Working Group (SDIMWG) |
To provide guidance and expertise by bringing perspective and recommendations in the following areas:
|
Open Government Implementation Plan Working Group (OGIPWG) | To focus on developing, updating and monitoring INFC’s approved OGIP and associated milestones/deliverables. |
6.1 Roles and Responsibilities – Deputy Head and Information Management Senior Official
The governance of Infrastructure Canada’s OGIP is informed by the responsibilities identified for the Information Management Senior Official (IMSO) and Deputy Head (DH) in sections 6 (Requirements), 7 (Monitoring and Reporting Requirements), and 8 (Consequences) of the Directive on Open Government.
Role | OG Responsibilities |
---|---|
Deputy Head - Deputy Minister |
|
Information Management Senior Official (IMSO) - Chief Information Officer |
Departmental information management senior officials, as designated by the deputy heads, are responsible for the following:
|
6.2 Roles and Responsibilities – Key Stakeholders
INFC is proposing the following Key Stakeholders with suggested Open Government responsibilities to be approved by the Governance as shown in 6 - Governance Structures and Decision Processes.
Role | OG Responsibilities |
---|---|
Chief Information Officer (CIO) |
The CIO is responsible for the following:
|
Data/Information Owners |
Business owners
Data stewards
|
Communications Lead (Comms) |
Director, Strategic Communications
|
Privacy, Security and Legal functional specialists (PSL) |
The overall responsibilities for the PSL are to:
The following responsibilities are specific to each functional specialist:
|
Departmental Open Government Coordinator (DOGC) |
The Departmental Open Government Coordinator would be a new role in INFC and is expected to manage the administrative function of Open Government including:
|
IM/IT Functional specialists (IMIT) |
Corporate IM/Functional Specialists are responsible for supporting the effective management of departmental information throughout its life cycle to:
IT functional specialist:
Web Publisher:
|
6.3 Communication, Awareness, and Engagement
INFC’s internal strategy to familiarize staff on the Open Government initiative as well as describe the work of INFC’s OGIP working group and the steps being taken to meet the requirements of the Directive on Open Government will include a variety of means such as INFC’s “INFRAmation” newsletter, Governance committee minutes, and possible mentions at senior-management-led all-staff events.
7. Open Government Implementation Plan
Key Planning Assumptions
- Dates are aligned based on OGIP update requirements rather than by fiscal year.
- It is expected that INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines and Standards will have several iterations as more information becomes available e.g. additional TBS standards and guidelines. This will not preclude the release of data and information resources.
- Time associated with the development of formatted datasets for release has not been considered in this plan.
Planning Table A: Directive on Open Government Requirements
Reference | Compliance Requirement | Deliverables / Milestones | Lead | Activities | Start Date | End Date | Resources (Human and Financial) | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOG 6.1 | Maximizing the release of Government of Canada data and information under an open and unrestrictive licence designated by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | INFC’s Data Release Plan | IMSO |
Develop and implement INFC’s Data Release Plan:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 2 Data Owners 1 Comms 3 PSL |
N/A | ||
INFC’s Information Release Plan | IMSO |
Develop and implement INFC’s Information Release Plan:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 2 Information Owners 1 Comms 3 PSL |
N/A | ||||
DOG 6.2 | Ensuring that open data and open information is released in accessible and reusable formats via Government of Canada websites and services designated by the TBS | Listing of accessible and reusable formats (for data and information) to be used at INFC | IMSO |
Develop INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines & Standards which include listing of accessible and reusable formats (for data and information) to be used at INFC:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 1 Comms |
N/A | ||
Conversion process(es) for data identified for release whose native format is not accessible and reusable | IMSO |
Develop INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines & Standards which include conversion process(es) for data identified for release whose native format is not accessible and reusable:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 1 Comms |
N/A | ||||
Conversion process(es) for information identified for release whose native format is not accessible and reusable | IMSO |
Develop INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines & Standards which include conversion process(es) for information identified for release whose native format is not accessible and reusable:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 1 Comms |
N/A | ||||
Release process to support the publication of INFC’s data | IMSO |
Develop INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines & Standards which includes release process to support the publication of INFC’s data:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 1 Comms |
N/A | ||||
Release process to support the publication of INFC’s information | IMSO |
Develop INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines & Standards which includes release process to support the publication of INFC’s information:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 1 Comms |
N/A | ||||
Open data and open information is released in accessible and reusable formats via GOC website and services designated by TBS | IMSO | Release INFC Open data and open information in accessible and reusable formats as they become releasable in accordance with INFC Open Data and Information Guidelines and Standards, via GOC website and services designated by TBS | TBD | N/A | ||||
DOG 6.3 | Establishing and maintaining comprehensive inventories of data and information resources of business value held by the department to determine their eligibility and priority, and to plan for their effective release (6.3) | Methodology for establishing a data inventory | IMSO |
Develop methodology for planning the establishment and maintenance of INFC’s data inventory in conjunction with the INFC structured and unstructured inventories:
|
1 DOGC 1 PSL (Privacy) 3 IM/IT 5 Data Owners |
N/A | ||
Methodology for establishing an information inventory | IMSO |
Develop methodology for planning the establishment and maintenance of INFC’s information inventory in conjunction with the INFC structured and unstructured inventories:
|
1 DOGC 1 PSL (Privacy) 3 IM/IT 5 Information Owners |
N/A | ||||
Data inventory (detailed, itemized list(s) that describe the volume, scope and complexity of the data held by INFC) | IMSO |
Establish and maintain INFC Data Inventory into supplied template as a part of the INFC Data and Information inventory integrated with the inventory of INFC’s structured and unstructured inventories:
|
1 DOGC 1 PSL (Privacy) 3 IM/IT 5 Data Owners |
N/A | ||||
Information inventory (detailed, itemized list(s) that describe the volume, scope and complexity of the information held by INFC) | IMSO |
Establish and maintain INFC Information Inventory as a part of INFC Data and Information inventory integrated with the inventory of INFC’s structured and unstructured inventories:
|
TBD | N/A | ||||
Renewal protocol(s) to maintain the currency of INFC’s data inventory | IMSO |
Develop and maintain INFC renewal protocol to maintain currency of INFC’s data inventory:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT |
N/A | ||||
Renewal protocol(s) to maintain the currency of INFC’s information inventory | IMSO |
Develop and maintain INFC renewal protocol to maintain currency of INFC’s information inventory:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT |
N/A | ||||
Assets included in the data inventory are evaluated to determine their eligibility and priority for release | IMSO |
Evaluate assets included in the data inventory against the publish criteria to determine their eligibility and base their priority for release (see details within measures) on the prioritization criteria used to plan the release of all data sets:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 2 Data Owners 3 PSL |
N/A | ||||
Assets included in the information inventory are evaluated to determine their eligibility and priority for release | IMSO |
Evaluate assets included in the information inventory against the publish/not publish criteria to determine their eligibility and base their priority for release (see details within measures) on the prioritization criteria used to plan the release of all information:
|
TBD | N/A | ||||
DOG 6.4 | Developing, posting to the designated website, implementing, and annually updating a departmental Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) | Governance structures are in place to oversee the implementation of INFC’s OGIP | IMSO | Review, validate and evolve INFC Governance to oversee the implementation of INFC’s OGIP | 1 DOGC | Complete | ||
INFC’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) | IMSO | Develop, review, validate, maintain and evolve the INFC OGIP |
Contractor $50k 1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 6 Data Owners 1 Comms |
Complete | ||||
Signatures in section 2 (Approvals) of INFC’s OGIP | IMSO | Obtain IMSO and DH approval of the INFC OGIP | 1 DOGC | Complete | ||||
INFC’s OGIP is staffed and funded | All affected INFC branches | Ensure sufficient funding and staff are planned to support the ongoing implementation of Open Government in INFC | TBD | N/A | ||||
Monitoring and reporting processes for assessing progress and maintaining the currency of the INFC’s OGIP | IMSO | Design, develop, implement and monitor implementation of the processes to Monitor and report progress on INFC OGIP | TBD | N/A | ||||
INFC’s first annual update to the OGIP | IMSO |
Update for Year 2 INFC’s OGIP Plan and post to the designated TBS website:
|
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 5 Data Owners |
N/A | ||||
INFC’s second annual update to the OGIP | IMSO | Update for Year 3 INFC’s OGIP Plan and post to the designated TBS website | TBD | N/A | ||||
INFC’s third annual update to the OGIP | IMSO | Update for Year 4 INFC’s OGIP Plan and post to the designated TBS website | TBD | N/A | ||||
INFC’s fourth annual update to the OGIP | IMSO | Update for Year 5 INFC’s OGIP Plan and post to the designated TBS website | TBD | N/A | ||||
INFC OGIP is fully executed and INFC is fully compliant with Open Government Directive | IMSO | Confirm and validate completion of the INFC OGIP implementation and transition to operational mode. | TBD | N/A | ||||
DOG 6.5 | Maximizing the removal of access restrictions on departmental information resources of enduring value prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada. | Methodology for the removal of access restrictions from data and information resources of enduring value prior to their transfer to the LAC | IMSO | Develop and maintain methodology to remove access restrictions from IREVs prior to transfer to LAC in accordance with LAC guidance on maximizing the removal of access restrictions on information resources of enduring value prior to transfer to LAC. | TBD | N/A | ||
Methodology for the removal of access restrictions from data and information resources of enduring value prior to their transfer to the LAC is integrated into INFC’s disposition plans and procedures. | IMSO | Integrate the methodology for removal of access restrictions on IREVs prior to transfer to LAC into INFC’s disposition plans and procedures. | TBD | N/A | ||||
DOG 6.6 | Ensuring that open government requirements in sections 6.1 to 6.5 of this directive are integrated in any new plans for procuring, developing, or modernizing departmental information applications, systems, or solutions in support of the delivery of programs and services | Governance structures are in place to ensure that the requirements of the Directive on Open Government are integrated into any new plans for procuring, developing, or modernizing departmental information applications, systems, or solutions | IMSO | Review and validate INFC Governance structures to ensure that the requirements of the Directive on Open Government are integrated into any new plans for procuring, developing, or modernizing departmental information applications, systems, or solutions |
1 CIO 1 DOGC 3 IM/IT 5 Data Owners 1 PSL (Privacy) |
N/A | ||
Directive on Open Government requirements are integrated into INFC’s procurement process(es) for information applications, systems, and solutions | IMSO | Integrate Open Government requirements into INFC procurement processes for application, systems and solutions | TBD | N/A | ||||
Directive on Open Government requirements are integrated into INFC’s development process(es) for information applications, systems, and solutions | IMSO | Integrate Open Government requirements into INFC development processes for application, systems and solutions | TBD | N/A | ||||
Directive on Open Government requirements are integrated into INFC’s modernizing process(es) for information applications, systems, and solutions | IMSO | Integrate Open Government requirements info INFC modernization process(es) for application, systems and solutions | TBD | N/A | ||||
DOG 7.1 | Departmental information management senior officials, as designated by the deputy heads, are responsible for overseeing the implementation and monitoring of this directive in their department. | Performance framework for the monitoring of INFC’s progress against the activities and deliverables / milestones in the OGIP | IMSO | Establish and maintain performance framework to monitor INFC’s progress against the activities and deliverables / milestones in the OGIP |
1 DOGC 3 IM/IT |
N/A | ||
Progress against the activities and deliverables / milestones in the OGIP is regularly reported to the governance structures in place to oversee the implementation | IMSO | Report on regular basis to the governance structures on the progress achieved against the activities and deliverables/milestones in the INFC OGIP | TBD | N/A | ||||
Performance framework for the monitoring of INFC’s ongoing compliance to the requirements of the Directive | IMSO | Monitor the ongoing compliance to the requirements of the Directive in accordance with the INFC Performance framework | TBD | N/A | ||||
Process to ensure significant difficulties, gaps in performance, or compliance issues are reported to the Deputy Head (DH) | IMSO | Report to INFC Deputy Head on any significant difficulties, gaps in performance, or compliance issues, if and as required. | TBD | N/A |
Annex A – Performance Measures
Beginning in Year 2 ( ) See footnote 3, institutions must perform annual updates to their Open Government Implementation Plans (OGIPs) by submitting values against pre-defined performance measures. These measures will gauge the institution’s performance as it relates to three key initiatives: implementation planning, establishing and maintaining comprehensive inventories of data and information resources of business value, and maximizing the removal of access restrictions on departmental information resources of enduring value prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC). The Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) will leverage other data gathering activities, where possible, to pre-populate the results for some of the measures.
Implementation Planning
Institutions must report on the status of their planning activities and deliverables / milestones.
Deliverable | Measure | Target Status | Target Date | End Year 1 Status | End Year 2 Status | End Year 3 Status | End Year 4 Status | End Year 5 Status | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOG 6.4 | Open Government Implementation Plan | The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is developed. | Yes | Year 1 | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No |
The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is approved by the Deputy Head (DH). | Yes | Year 1 | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is posted to the website designated by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). | Yes | Year 1 | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is updated for Year 2. | Yes | Year 2 | N/A | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Year 2 update of the Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is posted to the website designated by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). | Yes | Year 2 | N/A | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is updated for Year 3. | Yes | Year 3 | N/A | N/A | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Year 3 update of the Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is posted to the website designated by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). | Yes | Year 3 | N/A | N/A | Yes / No | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is updated for Year 4. | Yes | Year 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Year 4 update of the Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is posted to the website designated by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). | Yes | Year 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes / No | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is updated for Year 5. | Yes | Year 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Year 5 update of the Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) is posted to the website designated by the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS). | Yes | Year 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes / No | ||
The department’s or agency’s Year 5 update demonstrates that the Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP) has been fully executed. The department or agency is fully compliant with the Directive on Open Government. | Yes | Year 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes / No |
Maximizing the Removal of Access Restrictions
Institutions must report on the status of their transfers of non-electronic and electronic information resources of enduring value to Library and Archives Canada (LAC).
Deliverable | Measure | Target Status | Target Date | End Year 1 Status | End Year 2 Status | End Year 3 Status | End Year 4 Status | End Year 5 Status | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DOG 6.5 | Removing Access Restrictions | The department or agency’s methodology for removing access restrictions from information resources of enduring value (IREV) prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is complete. | Yes | Year 3 | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No |
The department or agency is maximizing the removal of access restrictions from information resources of enduring value (IREV) prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC). | Yes | Year 4 | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | ||
Number of non-electronic information resources of enduring value transferred to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) | N/A | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
Number of non-electronic information resources of enduring value analyzed to determine if access restrictions can be removed prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) | N/A | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
Number of non-electronic information resources of enduring value whose access restrictions were removed prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) | N/A | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
Number of electronic information resources of enduring value transferred to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) | N/A | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
Number of electronic information resources of enduring value analyzed to determine if access restrictions can be removed prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) | N/A | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | ||
Number of electronic information resources of enduring value whose access restrictions were removed prior to transfer to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) | N/A | N/A | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Annex B – Acronyms
- OGIP
- Open Government Implementation Plan
- OG
- Open Government
- INFC
- Infrastructure Canada
- GC
- Government of Canada
- TBS
- Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
- LAC
- Library and Archives Canada
- PAA
- Program Alignment Architecture
- NBSLC
- New Bridge for the St. Lawrence Corridor Project
- RK
- Recordkeeping
- DMC
- Departmental Management Committee
- HMC
- Horizontal Management Committee
- HIC
- Horizontal Implementation Committee
- SDIMWG
- Systems, Data and Information Management Working Group
- IM
- Information Management
- IT
- Information Technology
- IMIT
- Information Management and Information Technology
Annex C – Open Government Background
“As part of the global open government movement, governments seek to broaden access to data and information, ensure transparency and accountability, and strengthen citizen engagement in the activities of government and in the democratic process. Canada has a longstanding commitment to openness and accountability as a cornerstone of a strong, modern democracy. From the passing of access to information legislation over 30 years ago to current open government and proactive disclosure activities, the Government of Canada has worked to ensure transparency on federal operations to enable Canadians to hold their government accountable.
Canada joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP) in , and remains committed to the principles of the OGP’s Open Government Declaration. Canada’s membership in the OGP provides key opportunities to advance our open government agenda, share and learn from international best practices, and collaborate with our OGP colleagues on solutions that benefit citizens globally. As co-chair of the OGP’s Open Data Working Group, Canada works with governments and civil society organizations on defining shared principles for open data, including the use of common standards that will help align open data services offered around the world.
International leadership on open government is a priority for the Government of Canada. In , Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the other G8 leaders adopted the G8 Open Data Charter, which established open data principles for all member countries, and called for specific commitments to release core public sector data. The Sunlight Foundation, a key non-profit organization that advocates for open government globally, has ranked Canada’s plan for implementing the G8 Open Data Charter highest among G8 countries.
In its Canada’s Action Plan 2.0 on Open Government 2014-16 (“the Action Plan”), Canada is pledging to expand its open government activities to include a wide-ranging set of initiatives on open information and open dialogue, in addition to its ground breaking work on open data. These activities will help set the tone for open government in Canada moving forward”. See footnote 4

Figure 2 - Canada’s Action Plan 2.0 on Open Government 2014-16 - Text version
Circle 1 (in the middle): Open Government Directive
Circle 2 (around circle 1) divided in 3 sections: Open Info, Open Dialogue and Open Data.
Open Info:
- Open Science
- Mandatory Reporting on Extractives
- Open Contracting (PWGSC co-leads with TBS)
- Open Information on Budgets and Expenditures
- Digital Literacy
- Open Information Core Commitment
Open Data:
- Open Data Canada
- Canadian Open Data Exchange
- Open Data for Development
- Open Data Core Commitment
Open Dialogue:
- Consulting Canadians
Circle 3 (around circle 2): Availability of Information, New technologies, Citizen Participation and Professional Integrity.
The Action Plan’s foundation commitment is the Open Government Directive being led by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). The deliverables for this commitment are:
- “Issue a new Directive on Open Government to require federal departments and agencies to maximize the release of eligible government data and information of business value subject to applicable restrictions related to privacy, confidentiality, and security.
- Require federal departments and agencies to publish open government implementation plans that describe planned activities to meet the requirements of the directive, including the following:
- Establishing and maintaining inventories of data and information holdings;
- Prioritizing the publication of data and information based on public demand;
- Publishing data and information in accessible and open formats on federal open government websites under an open and unrestrictive licence; and
- Reporting annually on progress made.
- Establish tools and guidance for the publication of departmental data inventories, subject to privacy, security and confidentiality requirements”. See footnote 4
TBS published the Directive on Open Government with the effective date of . The OGIP describes Infrastructure Canada’s plan to complete activities and deliverables aligned to the requirements of the Directive in order to achieve full compliance by the implementation deadline starting in this OGIP 2015-2016. The OGIP will be updated annually in October (Directive on Open Government, Appendix C).
The objective of the Directive is to maximize the release of government information and data of business value to support transparency, accountability, citizen engagement, and socio-economic benefits through reuse, subject to applicable restrictions associated with privacy, confidentiality, and security (Directive on Open Government, Section 5.1).
The expected results state that Canadians are able to find and use Government of Canada information and data:
- to support accountability;
- to facilitate value-added analysis;
- to drive socio-economic benefits through reuse; and,
-
to support meaningful engagement with their government.
(Directive on Open Government, Section 5.2)
Departments must maximize the release of open data and open information by ensuring that all data and information resources specified below are considered for release.
Open Data:
All data resources of business value held by Government of Canada departments are to be open by default and released as open data unless subject to valid exceptions, such as ownership, security, privacy, and confidentiality, as determined by the department. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will support departments in the development of their decision-making and approval processes with regard to legal and policy issues by providing a release criteria checklist and other guidance tools.
Open Information:
At a minimum, the following information resources of business value are to be open by default and released, subject to valid exceptions, such as ownership, security, privacy, and confidentiality, as determined by the department. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat will support departments in the development of their decision-making process to evaluate the legal and policy issues by providing a release criteria checklist and other guidance tools.
- All mandatory reporting documents (e.g. reports to Parliament, proactive disclosure reports); and
- All documents posted online or planned for publication via departmental web sites or print (e.g., statistical reports, educational videos, event photos, organizational charts).
INFC reviewed the other 11 commitments in the Action Plan where the Leads have already been established. INFC had not been invited to offer any assistance or direction on any of the other 11 commitments. This being said, the results of these commitments, due by 2016, will have an impact on how INFC delivers open data, open information and open dialogue in future updates of INFC’s OGIP. For example, the Action Plan’s commitment Open Data – Open Data Canada has identified the Lead as Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat working with provinces, territories, and municipalities governed by a national Open Data Canada Steering Committee with representation from all levels of government with one of the deliverables, due by 2016, that states establish common open data principles for adoption by governments across Canada; when these principles are published they will have to be adopted by INFC.
Annex D – Open Data Portal – Infrastructure Canada

Screenshot of the Open Data Portal - Text version
Infrastructure Canada Datasets:
- Alberta Infrastructure Projects
- British Columbia Infrastructure Projects
- Manitoba Infrastructure Projects
- New Brunswick Infrastructure Projects
- Newfoundland and Labrador Infrastructure Projects
- Northwest Territories Infrastructure Projects
- Nova Scotia Infrastructure Projects
- Nunavut Infrastructure Projects
- Ontario Infrastructure Projects
- Prince Edward Island Infrastructure Projects
- Quebec Infrastructure Projects
- Saskatchewan Infrastructure Projects
- Yukon Infrastructure Projects
Open Data Portal - extracted (Order by – Name Ascending)