# Federalism and Digitalization: Canada Minisode

An episode of [ForumFedCast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1518317784), 18 Mar 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/reykukf5tks25xvk/Fed_Dig_Canada_Minisode_FINAL_25_02_2026_128_kbpsb3oa4.mp3

Canada has embraced open government. And digitalization is crucial to achieving the "transparency, accountability, citizen engagement, and socio-economic benefits" open government is designed to bring. In the first of our federalism and digitalization country minisodes, we're joined by Eric Champagne to discuss what challenges - and opportunities - there are in implementing digital open government in Canada's decentralized federal system. Read the full chapter on Canada by Eric Champagne, Silvana Gomes & André Lecours! Download the complete Forum of Federations Handbook on Digitalization of Public Administration in Federal Countries for free! Check out the Forum's other work on digitalization and federalism. Follow the Forum on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and YouTube for more great content on federalism and multilevel governance! Get in touch with the podcast! Send us your thoughts on this minisode, as well as ideas for future topics you’d like us to cover to podcast@forumfed.org. Written and hosted by Jamie Thomas & Liam Whittington. Produced by Liam Whittington.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Intro
- 2:20 Canada’s Digitalization Journey So Far
- 6:22 What is Open Government in Canada?
- 8:34 The Federal Government Approach to Digital Open Government
- 14:50 Ontario and Quebec: Differing Approaches
- 17:58 Advantages and Disadvantages of Canada’s Federal Structure
- 20:04 Fragmentation & the Prospect of a Pan-Canadian Digitalization Framework
- 23:11 Wrapping Up

## Transcript

[0:09] Open government has become increasingly digital.
[0:11] The digital era has transformed the possibilities for government
[0:16] transparencies and accountability.
[0:17] This is Forum Fedcast Miniso.
[0:21] Digitalization and federalism in Canada.
[0:25] Welcome listeners to the first ever Forum Fedcast Miniso.
[0:35] Coming to you from the studio at Forum HQ in Ottawa.
[0:39] I'm Liam Whittington, Senior Program Manager at the Forum, and
[0:43] I'm joined by my co -host, Jamie Thomas, Program Manager at the
[0:45] Forum.
[0:46] Hi Jamie Hi, Liam.
[0:47] It's great to be here for this inaugural mini -sode, and we've
[0:51] got a fantastic guest joining us today to talk about digitalisation
[0:53] in Canada.
[0:53] As we mentioned in our previous
[0:55] episode, in this series we're highlighting some of the cases
[0:57] from the Forum's book on digitalisation of public
[1:00] administration in federal countries.
[1:00] And our guest today is both one of the editors of the book, and one
[1:05] of the authors of the Canada case study.
[1:06] That's right, Jamie.
[1:07] So without further ado, Eric,
[1:08] would you please introduce yourself to our listeners?
[1:10] Hello, I'm Eric Champagne.
[1:11] I'm a full professor in public
[1:14] administration at the School of Political Studies and the director
[1:17] of the Centre on Governance at the University of Ottawa.
[1:20] I'm also one of the co -authors of this book and co -author of the
[1:25] Canada chapter on open government with André Lecourt and Sylvana
[1:27] Gomes.
[1:28] Most of our research work focuses
[1:30] on understanding how governments can effectively manage complex
[1:33] challenges in multilevel governance systems.
[1:35] So the Canada chapter in the book explores how federal structures
[1:39] shape the development and implementation of open government
[1:43] initiatives, revealing both the opportunities for innovation and
[1:46] the challenges of fragmentation that characterize Canada's very
[1:50] decentralized approach to this issue.
[1:52] Thanks, Eric, and welcome to the podcast.
[1:56] We're going to touch on a range of different topics in this minisode,
[2:02] open government, fragmentation, digitalization, and how it
[2:06] intersects with Canada's quite distinct federal culture.
[2:08] And I think we'll start with talking a little about the
[2:11] Canadian digitalization experience overall so far.
[2:12] Given Canada's federal structure, what do you think have been some
[2:17] of the features of its digitalization journey?
[2:20] And what do you think have been some of the key milestones, the
[2:23] dynamics, the ways in which governance has affected
[2:26] digitalization and vice versa? The big picture, so to speak.
[2:28] Thank you, Liam, for the question.
[2:31] As you know, any federal structure
[2:32] tends to create a decentralized setting.
[2:32] As you also know, Canada is a highly decentralized federation,
[2:35] which means that the federal government, the 10 provinces, the
[2:38] two territories, and a number of municipalities have independently
[2:41] developed their own digitalization policies and open data portals
[2:44] over time i would say that this context has created a patchwork of
[2:49] different practices with data collection digital formats and
[2:52] data availability across jurisdictions so each level of
[2:54] government has some level of autonomy to enact its own policies
[2:59] leading to experimentation but also to fragmentation so Over
[3:04] time, the lack of strong institutional mechanism for
[3:06] coordination has resulted in the fragmented development of open
[3:09] government policies across levels of government.
[3:13] For instance, the federal government began its
[3:16] digitalization journey in the mid -1990s with a blueprint for
[3:20] renewing government services using information technology.
[3:22] But meanwhile, the provinces took much longer to start working in
[3:27] this area.
[3:27] developing their own initiatives
[3:29] independently, and their own time and manners.
[3:33] At the end, we can observe that there is a disconnect between
[3:38] digital government and open government policies across
[3:41] jurisdictions.
[3:42] So the question is, why
[3:44] intergovernmental coordination and harmonization matter?
[3:46] Well, first of all, data comparability and consistency are
[3:50] important.
[3:51] Different data collection methods,
[3:52] formats, and Availability across jurisdictions make data difficult
[3:55] to compare and use effectively.
[3:57] Without standardization, the same
[3:59] type of data in different sectors, such as health, economic, social
[4:02] indicators, may be collected differently in each province,
[4:05] making national analysis impossible across the country.
[4:09] So without some levels of coordination, each jurisdiction
[4:14] may develop separate systems.
[4:15] portals, and standards,
[4:17] duplicating efforts and wasting public resources, let alone that
[4:22] citizens and business must navigate multiple portals with
[4:26] different interfaces, search functions, and data formats.
[4:31] For all these reasons, it's really essential to have some level of
[4:35] coordination and harmonization between jurisdictions.
[4:38] And in the book chapter, we describe the efforts of the
[4:43] federal government to encourage a coordination and harmonization
[4:47] infrastructure between the different jurisdictions across
[4:50] Canada.
[4:50] It started around 10 years ago in
[4:55] 2016 when the Government of Canada convened a Canadian Open
[4:59] Government Leaders Summit to explore potential
[5:02] intergovernmental collaboration and joint initiatives.
[5:05] And as a result, the Canadian government created the Canada Open
[5:09] Government Working Group, which is very important.
[5:11] in our chapter, which includes representatives from federal,
[5:15] provincial, and territorial governments to support standards
[5:17] and rule to guide digital practices across Canada.
[5:20] Thanks, Eric, for that fantastic introduction to Canada's
[5:24] digitalization experience so far, and also for setting the scene for
[5:29] the topic of open government that we're going to talk more about
[5:34] after this short break.
[5:36] And we're back with FormFedcast
[5:39] speaking with Eric Champagne about digitalization in Canada.
[5:42] Before the break, you mentioned open government, and I think we'd
[5:47] like to dive into this topic a little bit more now.
[5:51] Your chapter in the book explores digitalization dynamics through
[5:56] the case of open government in Canada.
[5:58] But could you please explain maybe for our international listeners
[6:03] what open government means in this context and why it's so important
[6:07] for overall digitalization efforts in the Canadian case?
[6:09] Open government represents a fundamental shift in how
[6:10] governments relate to their citizens.
[6:18] Basically, it's about adopting a culture of openness where
[6:21] governments recognize that the information they hold, the data
[6:24] they collect, the document they produce, the decision they make,
[6:26] ultimately belong to the public.
[6:27] In this context, what we call
[6:29] openness means governments proactively share information with
[6:31] citizens rather than waiting to be asked.
[6:33] It's the commitment to transparency that makes openness a
[6:35] reality.
[6:36] According to this principle,
[6:37] unless there are legitimate reasons like privacy or security
[6:40] concerns, government data should be freely accessible.
[6:42] And what makes this relevant to digitalization is that open
[6:48] government has become increasingly digital.
[6:50] While the principles of transparency and citizen
[6:53] participation existed way before the Internet, has transformed the
[6:56] possibilities for government transparencies and accountability.
[6:58] Government can now make vast amount of data available instantly
[7:01] through digitalization and create interactive platforms for
[7:04] engagement and enable citizens to access information anytime and
[7:08] anywhere.
[7:08] That's interesting, Eric.
[7:09] And I think it's important because one of the purported benefits of
[7:15] digitalization is this transparency.
[7:16] and the idea of bringing information closer to people.
[7:21] For example, you don't have to travel to Ottawa or to the capital
[7:26] of your province to sift through information in a library.
[7:31] That information can be made available to you online.
[7:34] And speaking of provinces, along with the federal level, your
[7:39] chapter explores digital open government at the constituent unit
[7:43] level in Canada's two most populous provinces, Quebec and
[7:48] Ontario.
[7:49] I was wondering if you could
[7:53] explain how different governments and how different levels of
[7:57] government in Canada approach the question of open government.
[8:02] and what effect this has had for citizens.
[8:06] Because in the Canadian case, these things are not the same
[8:09] across provinces and levels of government.
[8:11] Oh, absolutely, Jamie, and you're absolutely right.
[8:13] Our research actually revealed important differences in how the
[8:16] federal and the provincial governments approach open
[8:17] government.
[8:18] And these differences have
[8:19] important implications for citizens.
[8:19] I would like to start by describing the federal government
[8:22] approach, which has been characterized by... three key
[8:24] roles, I would say.
[8:25] First, strong international
[8:26] engagement and leadership towards open government initiatives.
[8:29] Secondly, the creation of an open government portal as a federated
[8:32] platform that is also used by other jurisdictions.
[8:35] And third, I would like to talk about its role in coordination and
[8:38] harmonization between jurisdictions.
[8:39] So let me first talk about the international engagement.
[8:41] Well, the federal government has positioned Canada as a global
[8:43] leader in open government through its active international
[8:45] engagement.
[8:46] Let's start in 2012, when Canada
[8:47] joined the Open Government Partnership, which is also called
[8:50] OGP, which is an international initiative created in 2011 by
[8:55] eight founding governments to promote transparency, citizen
[8:57] empowerment, and stronger governance worldwide.
[8:59] As an OGP member, Canada has published five consecutive
[9:04] national action plans on open government between 2012 and 2024,
[9:07] demonstrating its commitment to international standards and
[9:10] accountability.
[9:10] So beyond membership, Canada has
[9:12] also taken on some leadership roles as well.
[9:16] In 2015, for instance, Canada hosted the third international
[9:20] open data conference.
[9:21] the country co -chair, the
[9:24] international OGP, during the 2018 -2020 cycle and hosted the sixth
[9:29] OGP Global Summit in Ottawa in 2019, bringing together government
[9:31] and civil society from around the world.
[9:34] This international engagement has been strategic and it's provided
[9:38] Canada with access to best practices, created external
[9:40] accountability mechanism through OGP reporting requirements, and
[9:42] certainly helped maintain momentum for domestic open government
[9:47] reforms.
[9:47] The second important role of the
[9:50] federal government it is playing is the creation of the Open
[9:55] Government Portal as a federated platform.
[9:57] So the Open Government Platform was launched as a pilot in 2011
[10:04] and formally announced as the www open
[10:08] canada ca platform, so you can access
[10:11] this at any time.
[10:13] It's available online right now.
[10:17] It was created in 2014, and a portal initially provided access
[10:24] to federal government data sets with advanced browsing and search
[10:27] functions.
[10:28] However, The portal's most
[10:31] significant evolution came after 2016, when it was transformed into
[10:36] a multi -juridictional platform.
[10:37] So today, the Open Government
[10:40] Portal serves as a one -stop shop where Canadians can access open
[10:46] data not just from the federal government, but from provincial,
[10:52] territorial, and even municipal governments across the country.
[10:56] This federated approach means that instead of navigating dozens of
[11:00] separate portals across the country, citizens, researchers,
[11:04] businesses, and the civil society organization can access data from
[11:09] multiple levels of government through a single platform.
[11:14] So this represents one of the most significant achievements of
[11:17] intergovernmental collaboration in Canada's open government
[11:18] approaches.
[11:18] And thirdly, The federal
[11:20] government plays a coordination and harmonization role between
[11:24] jurisdictions.
[11:24] Recognizing that autonomous
[11:25] development across provinces and municipalities was creating
[11:29] fragmentation, the federal government took on a coordination
[11:34] role to foster harmonization.
[11:35] The key turning point came in
[11:37] April 2016 when the federal government convened the Canadian
[11:41] Open Government Leaders Summit.
[11:43] bringing together representatives
[11:45] from federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal
[11:47] governments to explore collaborative possibilities.
[11:49] This led to the creation of the Canadian Open Government Working
[11:55] Group that I've talked about in 2017, which still exists today.
[12:00] The working group is supported by the Treasury Board Secretariat and
[12:04] serves as the platform for collaboration and information
[12:07] sharing among jurisdictions.
[12:08] It includes representatives from
[12:09] the federal government, of course, all provinces and territories, and
[12:14] also municipal organizations.
[12:16] So through this working group, the
[12:19] federal government has facilitated common technical standards to
[12:22] allow datasets to be shared and communicated across jurisdictions,
[12:27] developing criteria for identifying datasets with the
[12:30] greatest potential for public use and prioritize their open data
[12:34] efforts.
[12:34] It's also providing a forum where
[12:37] jurisdictions share tools, platforms, best practices, and
[12:40] policies to increase data availability and improve
[12:44] implementation.
[12:44] So the federal government has also
[12:47] used this working group to support Canada's participation in
[12:52] international initiatives, ensuring that subnational
[12:54] contributions are recognized and that domestic open government
[12:57] forums can learn and share learning.
[13:01] It's important to note that this coordination role is rather
[13:05] facilitative than directive, given the nature of Canadian federalism.
[13:08] And this approach has allowed for gradual progress while navigating
[13:14] the political realities of Canadian federalism.
[13:17] You also mentioned the two provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
[13:21] We did some research of their distinctive approaches.
[13:23] So the province of Ontario approach opened government.
[13:27] primarily through an economic growth and competitiveness lens.
[13:29] The province's ambition is to position itself as a world leader
[13:33] in digitalization.
[13:34] Open government is embedded within
[13:38] Ontario's broader economic development strategy, which has a
[13:41] strong focus on making the province attractive for business
[13:45] investment, supporting small businesses and fostering
[13:47] innovation, and efficiency in service delivery.
[13:49] The Province of Ontario Digital and Data Strategy, which was
[13:53] adopted in 2021, identify five strategic areas like digital
[13:59] skills, privacy protection, cybersecurity, open data, and user
[14:02] -centered services, all oriented towards economic prosperity and
[14:06] positioning Ontario as a global digital leader.
[14:09] On the other hand, the Province of Quebec's approach emphasizes
[14:14] transparency, accountability, and data governance, with a strong
[14:17] focus on consistency across public sector organizations.
[14:19] The distinctive features of Quebec's approach include detailed
[14:22] standards and guidelines, so Quebec has published comprehensive
[14:27] guidance for data publication, ensuring quality, integrity, and
[14:30] reliability across all government entities.
[14:32] In this context, each public organization must nominate an
[14:36] information manager to oversee technology and open government
[14:40] implementation.
[14:40] There is a central, very strong
[14:43] central coordination of the Treasury Board Secretariat in
[14:45] Quebec, which serves as a hub of expertise and as the liaison
[14:51] between central agencies and departments.
[14:52] And Quebec also applies an open by default principle, which means
[14:56] that public entities cannot withhold a data from public access
[15:01] unless justified by privacy or security concern.
[15:04] And to sum up, I would like to say that Ontario views open government
[15:09] as a tool for economic competitiveness and digital
[15:13] leadership, while Quebec sees it more as a fundamental to
[15:17] transparent governance and accountable public administration.
[15:20] Thanks, Eric, for highlighting a lot of the nitty -gritty dynamics
[15:25] of open government in Canada and how in some ways it really mirrors
[15:31] Canada's political culture.
[15:33] I find it really interesting how
[15:37] the federal government and the provinces have tried to integrate
[15:43] their approaches with international frameworks, which is
[15:47] something that I think we'll talk more about in the comparative
[15:52] episode at the end of this series.
[15:55] And with that, let's take a short
[16:00] break.
[16:00] Forum Fedcast is brought to you by
[16:03] the Forum of Federations.
[16:06] The Global Network on Federal and
[16:09] Evolved Governance.
[16:10] And we're back with Forum Fedcast,
[16:12] discussing digitalisation in Canada with our guest, Eric
[16:16] Champagne.
[16:17] So far, Eric, you've given us a
[16:22] really great in -depth overview of Canada's approach to
[16:25] digitalisation and open government.
[16:27] And I think one thing that really strikes me is this dichotomy
[16:34] between the federal government's initiatives to enhance
[16:36] coordination in open government, but also the very distinct
[16:39] approaches taken by Ontario and Quebec.
[16:41] And I think this issue of fragmentation is something that
[16:45] really comes through strongly in your chapter.
[16:47] This fragmented approach to open government with different
[16:51] governments focusing on different priorities, it raises a question
[16:55] that I'd really like to hear your thoughts on.
[16:59] Do you think this approach is an advantage or a disadvantage in the
[17:02] Canadian context? Or maybe potentially both?
[17:04] Well, despite a very decentralized setting in Canada, we can say that
[17:10] some advantages exist.
[17:11] For instance, decentralization can
[17:13] create experimentation and learning, so different provinces
[17:16] can test various models like Ontario's economic framing
[17:18] approach versus Quebec's standardization approach, allowing
[17:20] Canada to experiment and compare what works better and share these
[17:23] experiences.
[17:24] So each jurisdiction can tailor
[17:25] policy to local needs and political context in Canada.
[17:27] But our research also reveals that the disadvantages are substantial
[17:31] in digitalization and open government.
[17:31] You can think about data comparability, where different
[17:33] collection methods and formats make data sometimes incomparable
[17:35] across provinces.
[17:35] Without comparable data, citizens
[17:36] cannot assess whether their government performs well relative
[17:39] to others, defeating a core democratic purpose of open
[17:42] government.
[17:42] Each jurisdiction's developing
[17:43] separate systems, portals, and standards is a waste of public
[17:48] resources through duplication instead of shared solutions.
[17:51] And citizens may need to navigate multiple portals with different
[17:53] interfaces and formats.
[17:54] So, bottom line, our chapter
[17:56] argues that when every government does things differently, you can't
[17:59] compare data or achieve consistency.
[18:00] And that situation undermines the whole point of open government.
[18:03] Thanks, Eric.
[18:04] I think this issue of
[18:06] fragmentation is a key dynamic in Canada, which maybe wouldn't exist
[18:09] in quite the same way in a unitary governance structure.
[18:11] It seems that this really highlights the importance of
[18:14] coordination in federal systems to make progress in digitalization.
[18:16] You spoke earlier about some steps that have been taken in Canada to
[18:20] address fragmentation, this Canada Open Government Working Group you
[18:22] mentioned.
[18:22] But I was wondering if you think
[18:24] that even greater coordination, for example, a truly effective pan
[18:29] -Canadian framework on open government or on digitalization,
[18:32] would be beneficial, or would it even be possible in the current
[18:38] Canadian context? Well, in our research, we can
[18:41] observe that at least Canada has made some significant efforts to
[18:47] address fragmentation.
[18:48] You mentioned the Canada Open
[18:51] Government Working Group that was established in 2017.
[18:54] This group brings together the representatives of all the
[18:58] jurisdictions, in an effort to collaborate on open government
[19:02] initiatives.
[19:02] In our research, we also found
[19:05] interesting examples of sector -specific coordination, like the
[19:08] Pan -Canadian Health Data Strategy, developed in response to
[19:12] the COVID -19's exposure of health data inconsistencies, as an
[19:16] attempt to build common standards for health information across the
[19:22] country.
[19:23] But despite these positive steps,
[19:25] our research also revealed that significant coordination gaps
[19:29] persist.
[19:29] There's many silos that remain
[19:33] across and within governments.
[19:35] Progress in open government remain
[19:37] uneven across jurisdictions.
[19:38] The working group facilitates
[19:40] cooperation but lacks some binding authority to enforce some
[19:44] standards.
[19:45] and the intergovernmental
[19:46] coordination mechanism in Canada are poorly institutionalized and
[19:50] primarily focused on information sharing rather than through
[19:53] coordination.
[19:54] Now, to answer your question, will
[19:57] the true pan -Canadian framework be beneficial?
[20:00] Absolutely.
[20:00] Of course, the benefits will be
[20:04] substantial in terms of data comparability, reduced
[20:05] duplication, improved citizen experience, maximized public
[20:07] value.
[20:07] But the question here isn't
[20:09] whether Canada needs better coordination.
[20:10] It clearly does.
[20:10] But would it be possible?
[20:12] The question is whether Canadian political leaders have the will to
[20:16] build the necessary coordination mechanism while respecting the
[20:18] federal structures that makes Canada what it is, which is a very
[20:21] decentralized federation.
[20:22] So the working group shows it's
[20:25] somewhat possible to coordinate.
[20:26] Whether it's sufficient remains to
[20:27] be seen.
[20:28] I agree, Eric.
[20:29] And I think in a way, this issue of digitalization and open
[20:33] government in Canada really highlights some classic issues of
[20:36] Canadian federalism through a very modern challenge.
[20:37] You can see this unfolding in real time when you speak about the will
[20:43] of Canadian leaders and the challenges of working within the
[20:47] Canadian federal structure.
[20:48] Is progress a political will
[20:50] question? Is it a political reality
[20:53] question? Is it a little bit of both?
[20:56] I think that it's a tricky fish to fry in a lot of ways.
[21:02] And with that...
[21:03] We'd like to thank you, Eric, for
[21:06] joining us today and giving us some real insight into the
[21:11] dynamics of digitalization in Canada.
[21:13] And you were our first in -person podcast recording in our studio,
[21:18] so thanks for joining us here today.
[21:21] Thank you very much for the invitation.
[21:24] Join us next time for another mini -sode, where we'll be on the other
[21:30] side of the Atlantic, looking at digitalization in maybe the most
[21:36] decentralized federation in the world, Switzerland.
[21:39] We'll catch you next time on Forum Fedcast.
[21:43] That was Forum Fedcast.
[21:45] Thanks to our guest, Eric
[21:48] Champagne.
[21:49] Check out the Forma Federations
[21:51] online at formfed .org.
[21:53] That's formfed .org.
[21:54] And follow us on social media at formfed on X and at Forma
[22:00] Federations on LinkedIn.
[22:01] This mini -show was written and
[22:05] hosted by...
[22:05] Jamie Thomas.
[22:06] Thomas.
[22:07] And me, Liam Whittendrell.
[22:09] Thanks for listening.

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