Get the results of our July 2017 survey

Overview

Our Open Government initiative, launched in October 2013, aims to make Ontario the most open and transparent jurisdiction in Canada by creating increased opportunities for civic dialogue, sharing government data, and providing citizens with information they need to better understand how their government works.

We are also working hard to embed open government principles into the development of programs and policies across the Ontario Public Service. Our culture change strategy includes a comprehensive educational initiative to increase the organizational capacity, knowledge and skillsets required to make Ontario more open.

Introduction and background

Our commitment to creating a more open and transparent government has positioned the province as a leader in open government, in Canada and globally. Our participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) subnational pilot program is an opportunity to advance our commitment and collaborate more closely with the public and civil society.

We joined the OGP in 2016, and are the only province in Canada participating in the program and one of 15 jurisdictions worldwide to become part of the subnational pilot program. Our progress with becoming a more open and transparent government, has positioned the province to be a leader with subnational governments globally, and to provide important and beneficial learning for other jurisdictions.

We worked across 27 ministries, with the public and civil society to co-create an OGP action plan with three open government commitments for 2017. Commitments highlight the OGP principles of transparency, public participation, public accountability and technology and innovation for openness and accountability, and are focused on advancing open government in the areas of open data, open dialogue, open information and open culture. These commitments are embedded within the overall Open Government strategy for Ontario and will have an impact on our longer term open government approach.

This self-assessment report looks at the co-creation of open government commitments and our progress six months into the implementation of our one-year action plan. A survey to gather feedback is included with the self-assessment to help us identify ways we can improve and prepare for our final assessment in late Fall 2017. Feedback received will be reviewed and analyzed at meetings with our advisory groups in Summer 2017, followed by broader public engagement in an open government online forum. A report describing the public feedback received on the self-assessment will be posted online in Fall 2017.

Subnational action plan process

Developing the Action Plan

Our open government process is designed to utilize the most effective and efficient engagement strategy to maximize public participation. This includes a range of social media applications, websites, and online and in-person engagements. These engagement methods were utilized throughout the co-creation of the OGP action plan and continue to be used for the implementation.

Our co-creation process for the OGP subnational action plan development, included information dissemination via multiple online platforms; a combination of online and in-person dialogue opportunities; and joint decision-making between government, civil society, and other relevant stakeholders.

Idea generation

Outreach began with a news release inviting Ontarians to submit ideas online in four key areas: transparency, accountability, public participation, and technology and innovation. Internal communications to Ontario public servants, and direct invitations to over 230 academic, civil society and private institutions, supported the news release in encouraging participation. Direct invitations were sent to:

  • 23 academic institutions
  • 95 civil society organizations
  • 32 not for profit
  • 42 private sector stakeholders
  • 44 public sector organizations
  • 297 Ontario government partners, including researchers, executive and staff leads, and ministry contacts
  • 210 people who subscribe to the open government mailing list

Online voting

Ontario’s Treasury Board Secretariat, ministries, and other internal departments assessed over 270 ideas received, and edited for clarity and plain language prior to presentation to the public. The assessment included determining relevancy to our criteria requirements for the Open Government Partnership and a high-level assessment on achievability by 2017.

Of the 270 ideas received, there were 46 ideas presented by the public that fit the action plan criteria of being relevant, achievable within a year, and a new activity or initiative. The ideas were posted online and the public voted on their favourite idea in each key area. The ideas received almost 800 votes and identified 15 top ideas. The results of the voting process were posted on the Open Government Consultation page for the public to review.

Workshops

To ensure in-depth participation from stakeholders, our Open Government Office scheduled three workshops. Workshop locations included two in-person sessions in different geographic locations and one online session for those who could not attend in person. The workshops were promoted on t our website and through direct invitation to over 200 participants on the stakeholders list and to participants who had indicated an interest during the voting phase.

Approximately 100 stakeholders representing civil society (32), ministry representatives (42) and individual citizens (19) attended workshops. Participants ranged from youth engagement coordinators and program planners, to education researchers, design and technology specialists, learning specialists, public administration, data and engagement experts. Many of the participants had a moderate to high level of understanding of open government and previous experience in engaging with Ontario’s process.

In addition to Open Government Office staff, other government participants included the Deputy Minister of Treasury Board Secretariat, President of the Treasury Board, and other political staff.

The workshops focused on prioritizing and refining the top voted commitments. Workshop facilitators led participants through a series of activities and provided participants with an in-depth understanding of the top voted commitments and leveraged their collective wisdom to prioritize and refine them for inclusion in the action plan.

Consultation while developing the Action Plan

The co-creation process was designed to seek a diverse range of views by engaging the maximum number of Ontarians in providing input into potential areas of commitment.

The online idea generation and voting phases allowed for simultaneous engagement and awareness building throughout the province, and provided opportunities for new people to engage.

The workshops expanded this engagement, by allowing for in-person/online dialogue with people across the province.

As a result of these engagement efforts, the province’s stakeholder database now includes over 200 contacts and continues to grow.

The process of co-creating our self-assessment is consistent with the approach employed for the subnational action plan development. The assessment began by conducting individual interviews with representatives from each of the commitment advisory committees to develop an understanding of their progress. The content of these interviews informed this draft self-assessment progress report. Feedback on our self-assessment report will help us improve for our final self-assessment report planned for late fall 2017.

Consulting during implementation

We continue to engage with civil society and other stakeholders throughout the implementation of commitments.

Advisory groups comprised of subject matter experts representing civil society, academia, business and community groups, OPS and political staff, have been established for each commitment. These groups meet regularly and are actively involved in the co-creation and implementation of commitments.

Input from the broader Open Government community and the public continues to be gathered through various channels, such as online notices on the Open Government webpages and online forums where the public can get involved and learn more about the work underway to implement the province’s open government commitments. A survey to gather feedback on the co-creation of our open government commitments and progress six months into the implementation of our action plan is also included with this self-assessment. The feedback we receive will help us improve for our final assessment in late fall 2017.

Implementation of subnational Action Plan commitments

In addition to its ongoing open government activities, we adopted three commitments through the OGP process. Implementation of these commitments is well underway with progress made on many milestones.

CommitmentCompletion Level
Strengthen Ontario’s commitment to making government data ‘open by default’ by adopting the International Open Data Charter.Substantial
Give young people more opportunities to contribute to the development of government programs and services by working in partnership with youth to implement a digital engagement toolSubstantial
Further embed open government principles in the day-to-day work of the Ontario public service through the development of a new guide and training.Substantial

As a result of the hard work of staff, civil society representatives and stakeholders participating in the advisory groups, the three commitments are on track to complete their respective year one activities.

For a detailed report on each commitment, please see the attached summaries in the appendix.

Peer exchange and learning

We recognize the value in peer exchange and learning with other levels of government and fellow OGP subnational members.

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada has provided guidance throughout the co-creation of our action plan and the initial stages of implementation. The relationship between the open government initiatives at the federal and provincial level has evolved to one of reciprocal benefit. Federal open government representatives are active members on the advisory committee of commitment 1 (Strengthen Ontario’s commitment to making government data ‘open by default’ by adopting the International Open Data Charter) and commitment 3 (Further embed open government principles in the day-to-day work of the Ontario public service through the development of a new guide and training).

Other provincial and municipal governments

Our initiative aims to establish working relationships with municipalities throughout Ontario who are actively engaging in open government projects. For example, the City of Toronto is active on the advisory committee for commitment 1 (Strengthen Ontario’s commitment to making government data ‘open by default’ by adopting the International Open Data Charter) as Ontario pursues full adoption of the International Open Data Charter.

We are also learning through peer collaboration with other provinces, through forums such as Canadian Open Data Summit and sharing experiences from adopting the International Open Data Charter. We are also working with international standards bodies such as the World Council on City Data to build capacity and support the creation of common standards. This Project is for the benefit of a broad range of stakeholders within the municipal sector, including municipalities, government ministries, citizens and other stakeholders, in which there is a need to build the capacity of Ontario municipalities to collect and host standardized data to establish benchmarks and targets, inform decision-making, and evaluate the impact of investments.

OGP subnational governments

We have participated in sub-national forums to exchange ideas, information and challenges. We have also had collaborated with other subnational partners through one-on-one discussions to discuss our action plan, commitments and progress.

Open and transparent government

Our commitment to open government has been demonstrated in numerous other initiatives throughout the year, including;

BudgetTalks – For the third year in a row, we launched an online consultation tool that allows the public to help shape policies and programs that will be part of our future. There were over 10,000 registered participants this year, with more than 400 ideas submitted. The top three ideas were included in this year’s Budget. One of those ideas was a project to improve digital services at libraries in First Nation, rural and remote communities. Budget Talks produced another great idea to access digitized health records. We will be developing a proof-of-concept digital registration and public authentication service that will allow parents or guardians to access their children’s immunization records using their banking information.

Our online Consultations Directory is helping improve the quality of the government’s public engagement and involving a more diverse range of Ontarians in the decision-making process. One way the province is using this tool is through collaboration with the public to develop a third-party accessibility certification program. This will promote greater accessibility of government services for people with disabilities and boost economic growth through enhanced access to services for all Ontarians.

We are regularly posting new data sets online, including as much publicly requested data as possible, so that researchers, non-profits, app developers and others can use it to create new and useful applications for Ontarians. A recent example is the launch of the Interactive Opioid Tracker, which is a web-based tool that makes available a wide range of data on opioid-related morbidity and mortality.

Making government work better for citizens by delivering simple and straightforward digital services and products is a core element of Ontario’s Digital Service . For example,  we have partnered with tech leaders to co-found Code for Canada, a not-for-profit organization that develops digital solutions to make government services more user friendly. Code for Canada connects coders and designers with governments to enhance data literacy and develop technology-based solutions to improve peoples’ lives.

OpenON Forums take place online and provide an opportunity for the public to get involved and learn about the types of initiatives  we have underway on open government. These forums are held regularly on a number of topics related to open government, and have included third-party, civil society presenters.

Culture change is recognized as a key pillar of the open government strategy. Each ministry develops and implements its own open government plan in support of the broader strategy, and to embed the principles of open government in daily work. The Open Government Team works closely with ministries to develop their plans and create linkages across initiatives through regular meetings, dialogue at internal events, and targeted sessions to support open government work.

Conclusions and next steps

Our Open Government initiative has made good progress in the first half of its participation in the Open Government Partnership subnational program. We have met a significant number of important milestones on all three OGP commitments. Achieving these milestones has led to important learnings within the Ontario Public Service:

Value of external input – by engaging citizens and stakeholders in co-creating and implementing commitments

Lasting relationships – through leveraging the communities/relationships created throughout the process

We will continue to pursue fulfilling our milestones to meet the commitments within the OGP. Throughout the process, we will continue to look forward and plan for long-term success in opening government processes for Ontarians. Each of the commitments within the OGP are foundational to sustainably embedding the principles of open government into the way the Ontario Public Service operates.

To ensure that citizens and stakeholders can monitor our progress on meeting our commitments, we will be compiling a report describing the public feedback and advisory committee responses, and engaging the broader public in an open government forum. We will also aim to share more broadly through online notices on our webpages, information and outputs we are co-creating with the advisory committees as well as the actors involved. An End of Term Self-Assessment Report will be published later in 2017, for the co-creation of commitments and implementation.

Survey results

From July 15 to 31, 2017, we asked for your feedback to help us identify ways we can improve and prepare for our final self-assessment in late Fall 2017. Here’s what you said.

Summary of results

We received 51 responses through the survey.

There were:

  • 31 responses from Ontario government ministries
  • 10 responses from the private sector
  • 4 responses from non-profit organizations
  • 3 responses from individuals interested in the topic
  • 2 responses from academics
  • 1 response did not self-identify

Involvement of non-governmental organizations, community groups and public servants

Participants felt that non-governmental organizations, community groups and public servants have been part of the Open Government Partnership process.

A small percentage of participants felt that these groups could have been more involved in the process.

Opportunity to provide feedback and receive timely information

Almost half of the participants felt they have been given opportunities to provide feedback and ideas, and received timely information about our Open Government Partnership process.

Several participants did not have an opinion.

Read the self-assessment or previously participated in any phase of our Open Government Partnership consultations

Most participants had either read the self-assessment or previously participated in an earlier phase of our Open Government Partnership consultations.

General comments

These focused on:

  • creating more opportunities for people to get involved and provide ongoing feedback
  • better use of plain language
  • focusing more on measurable outcomes
  • sharing feedback from earlier phases and identifying how feedback was incorporated
  • providing opportunities for input on draft products or materials

What’s next?

We’ll work with our advisory committees to review and assess your feedback.

We will continue to look for ways to incorporate what we heard into our ongoing work as we deliver on the milestones set out in our Open Government Partnership Action Plan, and prepare for our final self-assessment in Fall 2017.

We continue to seek input from our advisory groups, made up of civil society members, private sector, academia, and other levels of government to ensure we receive feedback on an ongoing basis from a variety of sources.

Appendix: Commitment implementation status

Strengthen Ontario’s commitment to making government data open by default by adopting the international open data charter

Commitment start and end date

January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2018

Lead implementing agency

Treasury Board Secretariat

Commitment description

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?

Adopting the International Open Data Charter was the top-voted commitment throughout the OGP co-creation process. Open data is essential to equipping Ontarians to participate in government decision-making and service design.

With its Open Data Directive, we began to transition to an ‘open by default’ philosophy, requiring all government data to be open unless it is exempted for legal, privacy, security, confidentiality, or commercially-sensitive reasons. While the directive is a strong foundation, there are concrete steps to be taken to enhance accountability and ensure a more robust implementation of the Open Data Directive.

Some of the gaps that will be closed by adopting the International Open Data Charter include (1) clear time-bound actions including timing for the release of datasets and inventories as well as concrete methods to demonstrate progress towards clearly defined and communicated targets. (2) Concrete measures for proactive civil society engagement with data and (3) Engagement with domestic and international standards bodies and other standard setting initiatives to increase the interoperability and comparability of our data.

What is the commitment?

The International Open Data Charter brings us into an emerging body of national and subnational governments that are releasing their data in a standardized and comparable format. It increases the inter-operability and standardization allowing for better internal ministerial coordination as well as with the federal government of Canada and local municipalities.

The International Open Data Charter provides us with a common foundation as well as continuing guidance for realizing the full potential of its open data.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem?

Each milestone contributes to solving the public problem this commitment is intended to address:

  • Milestone 1: Provincial announcement of the adoption of the International Data Charter

The announcement of our adoption of the IODC signals the commitment of the OPS to the ‘open by default’ philosophy. Joining an international oversight organization provides us with the support and guidance of an emerging number of national and subnational government authorities.

  • Milestone 2: Develop strategy for Ontario to further align its Open Data Directive with the Charter principles

The development of a strategy for aligning the Open Data Directive to the IODC provides a clear and timebound path for us to adhere to our commitments. The open data community has a baseline from which to evaluate our ongoing progress to open data.

  • Milestone 3: Publish Implementation Schedule and Plan

Publishing the implementation schedule and plan invites Ontarians in the open data community to hold their government accountable to their commitments.

  • Milestone 4: Provide updated tools and guidance (Open data guidebook) for ministries and provincial agencies

Developing the tools and guidance (open data guidebook) ensures that all OPS staff understand the philosophy of open data, how it relates to open government and builds their capacity for implementation.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?

  • Transparency – Enhancing Ontario’s open by default data policy by providing more timely access to data by our ministries and agencies.
  • Public Participation – Promoting more deliberate engagement with open data by specifying actions by ministries and provincial agencies that promote open data engagement such as partnerships with academic institutions and start-ups. As part of the regular open government planning and reporting process for ministries, they are identifying how their ministry is planning on engaging users and key stakeholders to prioritize the release of high-value data to meet their needs. Open and standardized data encourages civic participation and equips the public with the information they need to contribute to the decisions that impact them.
  • Accountability – The International Open Data Charter increases transparency by ensuring publication of our evidence informed decision-making process, including how decisions were made on policy development, contributing research and jurisdictional scans. With the implementation of the Open Data Directive and International Open Data Charter ministries are prioritizing high value data and identifying timely release of data.
  • Technology and Innovation – Enhancing the data catalogue on ontario.ca to ensure that data is more accessible and easily discoverable. Linking the data catalogue with civic engagement initiatives, and promoting the development of new, innovative technologies and applications using open data.

Completion level

Substantial

Description of the results

The official announcement of Ontario signing onto the International Open Data Charter (IODC) occurred on May 5, 2017 in London, Ontario at the Go Open Data conference. The announcement was met with significant excitement at the leadership role that we were taking in the open data aspects of open government.

The announcement was preceded by significant amounts of work on behalf of both the OPS staff and civil society representatives on developing a strategic plan for aligning the key components of the IODC with the existing Open Data Directive.

Since incorporating the Charter into its curriculum and guidebook, the open data team at the Treasury Board Secretariat has been actively engaged in training almost 500 public servants, through 20 sessions over 30 hours, on opening their data. Members of the advisory committee have attended and audited the training and are hands-on in using the learning to inform the development of the guidebook.

Ministries have also been asked to develop their open data plan in accordance to the IODC principles, which includes prioritizing and identifying the timely release of data.

The public has also directly been engaged through in-person and online forums, and engagement with local civic-tech groups. Our implementation schedule is available online, which demonstrates our commitment to transparency and openness. We’re also building a new beta feedback mechanism on our data catalogue to allow users to connect with us more easily, and help us improve existing open data and prioritize new open data for release.

Next steps

  • Provide guidebook and training for ministries and provincial agencies.
  • Engage in peer learning and sharing with other provinces at the Canadian Open Data Summit

Milestone status

MilestoneStart DateEnd DateCompletion level
Provincial announcement of the adoption of the International Data CharterJanuary 2017May 2017Complete
Develop strategy for Ontario to further align its Open Data Directive with the Charter principlesJanuary 2017May 2017Complete
Publish Implementation Schedule and PlanJanuary 2017June 2017Complete
Provide updated tools and guidance (Open data guidebook) for ministries and provincial agenciesJanuary 2017December 2017Substantial

Contact information

Name and contact information of responsible department/team

Nosa Ero-Brown
Open Government Office
Treasury Board Secretariat

Other actors involved
Government
  • Treasury Board Secretariat
  • Digital Services Ontario
  • Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
  • Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
  • Toronto Municipal Government, Open Government Office
Civil Society, Private Sector
  • Open Data Institute
  • Carleton University
  • International Open Data Charter
  • Iamsick.ca

Give young people more opportunities to contribute to the development of government programs and services by working in partnership with youth to implement a digital engagement tool

Commitment start and end date

January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2018

Lead implementing agency

Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Strategic Policy and Planning Division, Youth Strategies Branch

Commitment description

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?

Youth are Disengaged from Traditional Institutios

There has been a decline in youth involvement with traditional methods and institutions for civic engagement (e.g. in-person consultations, town halls). More than 20% of Ontario youth don’t feel a sense of belonging in their community. Only 16.7% of youth volunteer to support a group / organization in Ontario, with the volunteer rate dropping overall in the last decade.

At the Same Time, Youth Want to be Involved and Have Their Voice Matter

There is clear evidence of youth interest in local and global public policy conversations, as demonstrated by their support in movements such as Idle No More, Occupy and Black Lives Matter. A report by the Canadian Policy Research Network identifies that youth see direct action and participation as more likely to have an impact on a particular issue than joining a political party.

All Segments of Youth Rely on Technology to Stay Connected

In 2015, 9 in 10 Canadian millennials owned a smartphone. Youth are more digitally connected today than ever before, and are avid users of social media as it breaks down barriers to social inclusion. Indigenous, newcomer and homeless youth defy income, education and connectivity predictors to find a way to participate on social media. Rural youth report being more attached to their communities through digital engagement.

Youth Voice Has Impact

Our  current method for incorporating youth voice, the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities has had evidential impact. Advice by this youth advisory body has contributed to the reduction in barriers to accessing supports. For example, in 2013, advice led to the reworking of Ontario Disability Support Program and Ontario Works policy directives related to income thresholds for youth on both forms of supports.

What is the commitment?

To engage youth on implementing a cross-government digital engagement platform that harnesses their collective energy and existing ways of connecting (e.g. social media, mobile-focused, digitally) to contribute to government policy and program development processes on an ongoing basis. We will engage youth on how they currently participate civically, how they want to be engaged and how digital tool(s) can support that.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem?

Each milestone contributes to solving the public problem this commitment is intended to address:

  • Milestone 1: Engage the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and their youth networks on how young people currently engage in civic participation through digital means, as well as in-person, to develop insight on how they want to engage government.

Developing new methods to engage youth where they are: this commitment creates a new digital channel for the government to engage youth online and through social media. It reduces barriers to participation and enhances in-person youth consultations through the concurrent gathering of input from youth across the province. The process for addressing the commitment involves core steps, as detailed in the milestones below.

  • Milestone 2: Host design lab(s) with the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and their youth networks to inform the implementation of a digital engagement tool in a beta phase, for testing and evaluation

Enabling youth to have impact: As a first-of-its-kind tool in Canada, YouthVoiceON gives voice to the needs and experiences of Ontario youth. Through the use of social media, youth can amplify their perspectives with peers and government stakeholders. Each topic put online for input will provide youth with context on how their input can impact policy and program development, including resources for the policy and / or program. The YouthVoiceON tool will also report-back to youth online and on social media with respect to the impact their voice has had on policy and program decision-making. The ultimate result is to improve policies and programs in order to meet the specific needs of youth.

  • Milestones 3, 4, 5: Beta-launch a digital engagement tool, use feedback from beta testing to launch an updated version of the tool, and continue making updates:

Stay current with digital engagement / respecting privacy: The tool is designed to be dynamic and reflect the current state of youth engagement and digital engagement. As social media and digital engagement evolves, the tool will adapt alongside. The development of the tool was by youth and for youth, to foster a sense of ownership of its use and sustainability. At the same time, government recognizes the importance of respecting the privacy of youth, particularly in the digital age. The tool embeds a privacy protective platform and protocols, including an anonymous submission channel.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?

  • Public Participation – The tool aims to engage youth to gain an understanding of their needs, as well as lived and learned experiences, and how best to reflect their voice in decisions that impact their lives. This commitment specifically targets youth participation in government policy and program design. In the long-term, the intent for the tool is to shift the culture of civic engagement in the digital realm. This includes integrating the tool into school curriculum (e.g. Civics class), and sharing toolkits on privacy protective practices in the use of social media and digital engagement.
  • Technology and Innovation – Through a collaborative process, a digital engagement tool will be implemented and tested with youth to measure its impact on reaching youth populations underrepresented in traditional civic engagement methods. The tool will be designed to adapt and evolve as young people’s use of digital technology and social media evolves.
  • Accountability – Youth will have a digital platform to engage with youth-serving ministries in Ontario to voice their questions, concerns and opinions on current and emerging policies and programs. The tool also introduces and tests privacy protective protocols in order to be accountable to the privacy of young people.
  • Transparency – Youth in Ontario will have a live, digital record of their input on policy and / or program consultations. All input, research and the impact of youth voice on decision-making will be published for youth to review.

Completion Level

Substantial

Description of the results

Co-Creation: Subject Matter Experts Engaged

Design labs allowed members of the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and targeted subject matter experts of the broader public sector (e.g. Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario) to co-create the digital engagement tool and protocols, and work with staff of the OPS to design, test and evaluate its effectiveness.

  • To co-develop a privacy protocol, the following subject matter experts were engaged: the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services’ iNetwork; the Ministry of Children and Youth Services’ Legal Services Branch and Access and Privacy Office; the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
  • To co-develop the design of the tool, the following subject matter experts were engaged: members of the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities; youth attending the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities Listening Tour.
  • To co-develop the protocols behind the use of the tool, the following subject matter experts were engaged: Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities; Toronto Police Services; the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario; members of the Directors’ Working Group on Youth Opportunities (consisting of 20 youth-serving ministries).

Key process documents co-created

Engagement with key subject matter experts led to the co-creation of the following documents that guide the protocols behind the use of the tool:

  • Privacy Impact Assessment, Privacy Risk Assessment, Privacy Risk Design Assessment, Social Media Risk Spectrum Protocol, Ongoing Accessibility Assessment.

Launch of the co-developed tool

The beta-launch of the tool and protocols gathered feedback from youth and provided an opportunity for OPS staff to work through needed fixes and updates with a defined audience. This has served to ensure that the broader launch of the tool will be as user-friendly as possible for different segments of youth across Ontario.

  • The tool is web-based and currently uses Twitter as its initial engagement platform. The beta / test version has been online since March 2017 with an engagement topic (i.e. youth mentorship) consisting of four questions. The topic was developed with the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and launched with youth from the Mattagami First Nation and released with limited scope using existing youth mentorship stakeholders. Currently, the English version of the Twitter account has over 400 followers, and the French version has 35, both with daily increases
  • The web-based tool receives an average of 25 page visits a day. In early May 2017, targeted engagement of youth in Hamilton, Ontario, involved the sharing of 500 English and 250 French postcards for the digital tool and engagement topic.

Next steps

  • Use feedback from beta test to revise the engagement tool and launch an updated version to the public
  • Advertise launch of tool through all twenty youth serving ministries, promote on social media, and directly engage youth service organizations
  • Provide toolkit to frontline youth workers (e.g. Youth Outreach Workers) to support youth engagement in the field
  • Initiate monitoring and evaluation of engagements on the live platform, continuously update based on analytics and youth feedback
  • Initiate editorial committee for ongoing monitoring, updating and sustainability of the engagement tool
  • Provide toolkit to editorial committee to amplify this new approach to government’s youth engagement

Milestone status

MilestoneStart DateEnd DateCompletion level
Engage the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and their youth networks on how young people currently engage in civic participation through digital means, as well as in-person, to develop insight on how they want to engage government.January 2017February 2017Complete
Host design lab(s) with the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and their youth networks to inform the implementation of a digital engagement tool in a beta phase, for testing and evaluationJanuary 2017March 2017Complete
Beta-launch a digital engagement tool and establish a baseline for evaluating digital youth civic engagement, and identifying opportunities for improvements.January 2017March 2017Completed
Use feedback from beta testing to launch an updated version of the digital engagement tool and test/measure its impact on digital youth civic engagement, with concurrent evaluationJanuary 2017October 2017 Limited
Continue making updates to the digital engagement tool with the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities and their youth networks through design lab(s) or other open government tools (eg. PoliHack)January 2017OngoingOngoing

Contact information

Name and contact information of responsible department/team

Sean Twyford
Zoe VonNostitz-Tait
Tsz-Lung Cheung
Youth Strategies Branch
Ministry of Children and Youth Services

Other Actors Involved
Government
Advisory committee
  • MCYS, Youth Strategies Branch Staff
Subject Matter Experts
  • Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, iNetwork
  • Ministry of Children and Youth Services, Legal Services Branch/Access and Privacy Office
  • Cabinet Office
  • Directors Working Group on Youth Opportunities: consisting of all provincial youth-serving ministries (n=20) including;
    • Advanced Education and Skills Development
    • Education
    • Tourism, Culture and Sport
    • Citizen and Immigration
    • Health and Long-Term Care
    • Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation
    • Community and Social Services
    • Rural Affairs
    • Community Safety and Correctional Services
    • Government and Consumer Services
    • Labour
    • Municipal Affairs
Civil Society, Private Sector
Advisory Committee
  • All active members of the Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities
  • Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities alumni
Subject matter experts
  • Youth attendees of Premier’s Council on Youth Opportunities Listening Tour
  • Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
  • Toronto Police Services
Target audiences/users for feedback
  • Youth
  • Youth Allies
  • School Boards
  • School Councils
  • Post-Secondary Education Institutions

Further embed open government principles in the day-to-day work of the Ontario public service through the development of a new guide and training

Commitment start and end date

January 1, 2017 to January 1, 2018

Lead implementing agency

Treasury Board Secretariat

Commitment description

What is the public problem that the commitment will address

Currently, Ontario Public Service ( OPS) staff have differing levels of understanding and capacity to embed open government principles regarding accountability, transparency, and public engagement into their daily processes.

What is the commitment?

The commitment is to create an open government literate OPS to ensure a consistent experience for Ontarians when they interact with government. As open government increases in prominence it will change the way that public-sector employees engage with their responsibilities and embed the principles of accountability, transparency and public participation that are inherent in a government that is open by default.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem?

Creating an open government literate public service is a multi-staged journey requiring time, resources and commitment from all levels of staff. A learning framework and guiding principles was co-created with the advisory committee to help set out the path to building open government capacity and factoring in principles, such as how people learn, timeliness and feasibility of activities, and relevancy to learning objectives.

Each milestone in our action plan supports our multi-staged learning framework and begins to solve the public problem this commitment is intended to address:

  • Milestone 1- Develop (draft) guide with input from government ministries and agencies

Training tools, such as an Open Government guide, are key components to our learning framework and will lay the foundation to building open government capacity across the Ontario Public Service. The Open Government guide will be a centralized collection of new and existing guidebooks and toolkits for open dialogue (public engagement), open information, and open data. The guide will evolve over time with input from users and as new information and resources become available.

  • Milestone 2: Establish a community of practice

A community of practice allows open government representatives across ministries to discuss the successes, challenges and opportunities in open dialogue, open information and open data. Their experiences from using the guides and tools will be shared within this community (and with others) and lead to updates and clarifications in materials and cross-ministerial support.

  • Milestone 3: Undertake two ministry pilots

Engaging two diverse ministries to pilot the training guide and program will serve as a testing ground for the clarity and salience of the open government training. Through the Community of Practice, ministry champions will be engaged in the training and equipped to deliver training within their ministry. Learnings from the pilot will be crucial to finalizing the training and assessing its impact.

  • Milestone 4: Training of Trainers

Through the pilot initiative and community of practice network, training of ministry staff across the Ontario Public Service will expand the capacity of the open government office to support the culture change and capacity building required.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?

This commitment is relevant to each of the OGP values and is supporting the development of open government culture and competence within the OPS. In addition to OG resources and tools available to staff (e.g., guide, toolkits, community of practice), designated staff within each ministry will be equipped to lead OG training in their own organizations.

  • Transparency: The OPS training will work across ministries to promote the ‘open by default’ idea for information. Staff will be trained to begin with the idea that information should be released unless there are extenuating circumstances for reasons such as legal, security, confidentiality or privacy.
  • Accountability: The OPS training will work across ministries to promote the value of public accountability for government services and policies. By building the capacity of OPS staff to engage with the public on decision-making the training will reduce the barriers to co-creation.
  • Public Participation: The OPS training will work across ministries to build the capacity of staff to engage with the public effectively and efficiently. Training will include how to identify the best medium for engagement (in-person vs online) for the type of input required (feedback vs co-creation)
  • Technology and Innovation: The OPS training will work across ministries to build the capacity of staff to use technology and innovation to better accomplish effective public participation leading to transparency and accountability, such as identifying existing tools and using them more efficiently, or building new engagement processes and tools with the public.

Completion level

Substantial

Description of the results

Prior to developing a guide and assessing the other milestones for this commitment, the advisory committee came together to co-create a learning framework that maps out learning objectives, outputs and measurement in a phased approach. The elements and outputs of the framework were tested by the advisory committee against principles, such as learning styles, feasibility and timeliness. The result is a multi-staged framework that will act as a guide to building open government capacity over time, through activities that build a foundation, engage and enable people, and empower and sustain a shared open government space.

Develop (draft) guide with input from government ministries and agencies:

As part of the ‘foundational’ learning tools and resources identified in the framework, the open government team is working to develop a comprehensive guide for training OPS. The sections include:

  • Open Government Overview
  • Ontario’s Open Government Initiative
    • Open Dialogue
      • Public Engagement Guidebook
    • Open Information
      • Open Information Guidebook
    • Open Data
      • Open Data Guidebook
  • Ministry Specific Open Government Planning
  • SMART Assessment

The draft training guide is a result of numerous internal and public engagement events including:

  • Policy forums
  • Evidence-based decision making working group
  • Inter-ministerial dialogue
  • OpenON forums
  • Open government symposiums and presentations

Establish a community of practice:

The Open Government Team is building a Community of Practice by expanding the network through:

  • Online engagement forums are held monthly where open government work is showcased to the OG community and broader public.
  • Ministry Open Government Leads are engaged regularly and act as open government champions within their ministries.
  • Open Data Community of Practice which includes civil society representatives
  • Internal collaboration site which includes almost 900 members in the Open Government group.

Next steps

  • Engage with two ministries to pilot the draft guide and training within their ministry, to begin building open government culture within OPS
  • Work with open government leads from relevant ministries to build on the community of practice that has been established for training OPS staff within their respective ministries
  • Launch initial training of trainers for open government curricula

Milestone status

MilestoneStart DateEnd DateCompletion level
Develop (draft) guide with input from government ministries and agenciesJanuary 2017August 2017Substantial
Establish a community of practice networkJanuary 2017September 2017Substantial
Undertake two ministry pilotsJanuary 2017December 2017Limited
Training of TrainersJanuary 2017December 2017Limited

Contact information

Name and contact information of responsible department/team

Kelly Villeneuve
Open Government Office
Treasury Board Secretariat

Government
  • Ministry of Housing
  • Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
  • Center for Leadership and Learning
  • Ontario Digital Service
  • Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat
  • Ministry of Economic Development and Growth
  • Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development
Civil Society, Private Sector
  • Veracify
  • Canada2020