Open Contracting (CA0037)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Canada, Second Action Plan, 2014-2016
Action Plan Cycle: 2014
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Public Works and Government Services Canada
Support Institution(s): NA
Policy Areas
Anti Corruption and Integrity, Public ProcurementIRM Review
IRM Report: Canada End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Canada Progress Report 2014-2015
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): High
Implementation i
Description
The Government of Canada will coordinate single-window access to a broad range of
open contracting information from across federal departments.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
Commitment 8. Open Contracting
Commitment Text:
The Government of Canada will coordinate single-window access to a broad range of open contracting information from across federal departments.
The federal government spends millions of dollars every year on procurement activities, and Canadians need to understand how this money is spent and what is being received in return. Access to this information is essential to ensuring accountability for the stewardship of public money. In addition, parties involved in public contracts must understand that open, proactive disclosure of contracting data is a condition of doing business with the Government of Canada.
The Government of Canada has demonstrated global leadership in this area through its robust disclosure regime for contracting data. Since 2004, federal departments and agencies have been required to proactively disclose information on contracts awarded over $10,000 on their websites. Furthermore, the Government of Canada's buyandsell.gc.ca website for procurement data has been influential in the design of the Open Contracting Partnership's (OCP's) draft international Open Contracting Data Standard. Canada supports the steps taken by the OCP to strengthen the openness and transparency of procurement processes in the international community through the establishment of Open Contracting Global Principles.
By improving upon the disclosure of contracting data, the Government of Canada will strengthen the openness and transparency of its procurement processes and increase Canadians' knowledge of how their tax dollars are being spent.
Deliverables to be completed in 2014-16:
- Release data on all contracts over $10,000 via a centralized, machine-readable database available to the public.
- Increase the level of detail disclosed on government contracts over $10,000.
- Provide guidance to federal departments and agencies to increase consistency in open contracting.
- Pilot the Open Contracting Data Standard ‚ 0.3.3 on the BuyandSell.gc.ca website for federal contracts awarded by Public Works and Government Services Canada.
Responsible institution: Treasury Board Secretariat, Public Works and Government Services Canada
Supporting institution(s): None
Start date: November 2014 End date: 30 June 2016
Commitment Aim:
The purpose of this commitment is to improve transparency around procurement practices within the Government of Canada.
STATUS
Mid-term: Substantial
At the mid term mark, a new “Search Government Contracts” feature had been built into and launched with the new open.canada.ca portal in November 2014, and the government had started planning toward the fulfillment of the second milestone under this commitment to define the scope and the schedule for releasing more detailed information on government contracts over $10,000. The Open Contracting Data Standard had been applied on a pilot basis to one government department—Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC).
End of term: Substantial
Progress was made toward increasing detail on disclosure, with 31 December 2016 set as the date for increased level of detail disclosed on contracts over $10,000. According to documentation provided to the IRM researcher in preparation for this report, “guidance has been drafted and presentations were provided to departments and agencies” in an effort to fulfill that third milestone. While this is a step forward, work remains to move the guidance from draft to final form - the government noted that it will be necessary to continue with “periodic guidance and training.” For the fourth milestone, the update provided to the IRM researcher by the Canadian government was identical at both the mid term and end term periods.
Did it open government?
Access to information: Marginal
This commitment does provide users with the ability to download and work with contracting information via the Open Government Licence. However, civil society actors noted during the public comment period for the mid term progress report that the .JSON schema it uses might be difficult for some to work with. Summary of public comments: http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/IRM_Canada_PubComms.pdf However, .JSON is the recommended format set by the international Open Contracting Data Standard.
Public Accountability: Marginal
The government has a proactive disclosure policy for contracts over $10,000 that predates the second national action plan, but it indicated that it will be increasing the level of detail provided on contracts over that size threshold awarded after 31 December 2016. Given that it has yet to be applied, it is difficult to determine the extent to which this commitment “opened government.” However, the ‘search government contracts’ feature added to the open.canada.ca portal does facilitate the retrieval of existing contract information, which enhances accountability.
Carried forward?
Commitment 9 of the new national action plan is to enhance information on government spending and procurement. Among milestones that seek to enhance information on government spending more generally, there are two milestones that relate specifically to procurement:
- Pilot updating the buyandsell.gc.ca site to record the full details of contracts (in addition to awards), contract amendments, and the final termination of contracts.
- Participate in a case study to share best practices from Public Service and Procurement Canada’s pilot of the Open Contracting Data Standard on BuyandSell.gc.ca. Government of Canada, Third National Action Plan, http://open.canada.ca/en/content/third-biennial-plan-open-government-partnership