Adapting to Shifting Realities: Co-Creating Canada’s 6th National Action Plan on Open Government

15 years ago, Canada made a commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... to open government, leading on reforms like inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More by joining the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP). To date, Canada has launched six national action plans, or roadmaps for ambitious reforms, built through a co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... where government and civil society collaborate to shape open government commitments.

The previous five action plans ran on a two–year implementation timeline. The sixth action plan marks a significant shift: it is Canada’s first action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... extending over four years. This transition created new opportunities while coinciding with new political and fiscal realities that required us to rethink how we approach co–creation and implementation.

Why a Longer Timeline Matters

The decision to adopt a longer implementation timeline was informed by long-standing feedback from departments, civil society, and members of Canada’s Multi–Stakeholder Forum on Open Government. Shorter timelines supported momentum, yet they often limited the ability to fully design, deliver, and demonstrate meaningful results, particularly for more complex or transformative commitments such as beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More and public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio.... The longer action plan gives us the opportunity to think and adapt  our commitments over time to ensure they remain relevant, responsive, and accountable. 

A longer action plan also supports stronger alignment with Canada’s Trust and Transparency Strategy, launched in 2024 as a whole–of–government framework to strengthen public trust. We have positioned the action plan as one of the Strategy’s core implementation pillars that allows open government reforms to be pursued with greater coherence and sustained impact over a longer cycle.

Unique Challenges During Co-Creation 

The co-creation period for the sixth action plan coincided with a federal election, introducing constraints under the Caretaker Convention, which limits activities to routine or urgent matters. As a result, many departments were unable to propose new open government initiatives until the election period had passed. 

With the arrival of a new administration, departments entered a period of transition shaped by tighter financial and resource parameters. Plans were paused and reassessed to ensure alignment with new priorities, which naturally limited the capacity to advance certain new initiatives. 

Adapting Our Approach

Faced with these realities, the approach to engagement, consultation, and securing commitments required fundamental rethinking. One domestic adaptation was introducing a mechanism to onboard commitments during the implementation of the action plan, a departure from how Canada’s past action plans worked. In Canada’s previous action plans, once a plan was published, its commitments were fixed; any new open government initiative that emerged later would fall outside the scope of the action plan itself.

However, for the sixth action plan, this approach was intentionally changed. To address challenges in securing the number and level of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... originally envisioned during the co-creation phase, a mechanism was created to onboard new commitments on an annual basis. This allows the action plan to evolve over time, making it possible to incorporate new priorities and initiatives as they arise.

Work is currently underway to finalize the details of this onboarding process. In the coming months, the process for onboarding additional commitments will be announced. New commitments will be integrated into the action plan framework and included for implementation and tracking, ensuring that Canada’s open government agenda remains dynamic and responsive to changing realities.

In addition, options are being explored to increase regular and ongoing engagement with the public and stakeholders beyond the traditional co-creation phases. These touchpoints will support the identification of new commitment ideas while enabling refinements to existing commitments, such as adjusting indicators and target outcomes to ensure they remain relevant and impactful over the longer implementation period.

Looking Ahead

Co-creating Canada’s first four-year action plan reinforced an important lesson. Open government is not just about transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More: it’s also about resilience and adaptability. Evolving priorities and public expectations are realities that many OGP members face.

By experimenting with a rolling national action plan model and expanding engagement across the implementation period, Canada aims to keep open government commitments active, responsive, and resilient. It is hoped that this experience—and the lessons learned along the way—will be useful to other members navigating similar shifts toward longer and more ambitious action plan cycles.