Directive on Proactive Publication under the Access to Information Act

Date modified: 2023-06-28

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1. Effective date

  • 1.1This directive takes effect on June 28, 2023.

2. Authorities

  • 2.1This directive is issued pursuant to subsections 79(2) and 89(2) of the Access to Information Act (the Act) and section 2.2 of the Policy on Access to Information.
  • 2.2This directive specifies the form of the publications pursuant to subsections 79(1) and 89(1) of the Act.

3. Objectives and expected results

  • 3.1In addition to the objectives indicated in section 3 of the Policy on Access to Information, the objective of this directive is to establish consistent practices and procedures for implementing proactive publication requirements that apply to ministers (sections 74 to 78) and government institutions (sections 82 to 88) under Part 2 of the Act.
  • 3.2The expected results of this directive are that government institutions consistently provide Canadians with complete, accurate and timely government information in the form of proactive publications available in a central location.

4. Requirements

  • 4.1Heads of government institutions or their designate(s) are responsible for:

    Decision-making

    • 4.1.1Ensuring that all decision-making related to Part 2 of the Act is undertaken in a fair, reasonable and impartial manner with consideration of the following:
      • 4.1.1.1The purpose of the Act, which is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions;
      • 4.1.1.2The core principle of the Act that government information should be available to the public, subject to limited and specific exceptions; and
      • 4.1.1.3Sections 80 and 90 of the Act, concerning information that is not required or not permitted to be published;

    Procedures and systems

    • 4.1.2Ensuring that procedures and systems established within their institution for meeting proactive publication requirements for ministers and government institutions align with the requirements of this directive. Appendix B: Table of Proactive Publication Requirements lists the relevant proactive publication requirements and timelines for ministers and government institutions;

    Roles and responsibilities

    • 4.1.3Ensuring that procedures and systems for meeting proactive publication requirements clearly identify the positions with obligations for proactive publication and the roles and responsibilities for each position; and
    • 4.1.4Ensuring that officers or employees in positions with obligations for proactive publication are aware of their roles and responsibilities under Part 2 of the Act;

    Official languages and accessibility requirements

    • 4.1.5Ensuring that proactive publications respect, as appropriate, the requirements of the Official Languages Act, the Accessible Canada Act, and associated Treasury Board policies, directives and guidelines listed in subsections 7.2 and 7.3;

    Alignment with Treasury Board policy requirements

    • 4.1.6Aligning proactive publications with other relevant Treasury Board policy instruments with respect to publication of information in accordance with the policies, directives and guidelines listed in subsections 7.2 and 7.3;

    Use of prescribed platforms

    • 4.1.7Publishing proactive publications using the prescribed platforms, listed in Appendix C: Prescribed Platforms for Publishing Proactive Publication Requirements under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act when platforms have been prescribed;

    Tracking system

    • 4.1.8Establishing and maintaining an internal management system or systems to track the processing, approval and publication of proactive publications;

    Retention and disposition

    • 4.1.9Incorporating the underlying records that support proactive publications into institutional retention and disposition schedules, with consideration to the retention period for the publications and the factors set out in Appendix D: Retention and Disposition; and

    Monitoring and reporting

  • 4.2Employees of government institutions are responsible for:
    • 4.2.1Providing information required to be proactively published to the head of government institutions, or their designate(s), in an accessible format;
    • 4.2.2Providing recommendations and contextual information to the head of government institutions, or their designate(s), about information that is not required or not permitted to be published pursuant to sections 80 and 90 of the Act, consistent with exemptions or exclusions under Part 1 of the Act, when appropriate, taking into account the purpose of the Act; and,
    • 4.2.3Contributing to the development of web resource discovery metadata for information resources available to the public on the worldwide web in accordance with the Standard for Managing Metadata.

5. Roles of other government organizations

  • 5.1The roles and responsibilities of other government organizations with respect to this directive are identified in section 5 of the Policy on Access to Information.

6. Application

  • 6.1This directive applies as described in section 6 of the Policy on Access to Information.
  • 6.2This directive also applies to any government institutions, as described in section 6 of the Policy on Access to Information, that support ministers in the implementation of their proactive publication requirements pursuant to sections 74 to 78 of the Act.
  • 6.3This directive does not apply to senators, members of the House of Commons, parliamentary entities, the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Courts Administration Service or the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.

7. References

8. Enquiries

Appendix A: Definitions

accessibility (accessibilité)
Accessibility is the degree to which a product, service, program or environment is available to be accessed or used by all.
government entity (entité fédérale)
A government institution that is a department named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act, a division or branch of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 to that Act, or a corporation named in Schedule II to that Act (section 81 of the Act).
memorandum (note d’information)
A formal memorandum or briefing note seeking a decision, or signature, or providing information to the minister or deputy head.
underlying records (documents sous-jacents)

Records that support the creation of proactive publication requirements but that are not themselves required to be published under Part 2 of the Act.

Additional definitions are listed in Appendix A of the Policy on Access to Information.

Appendix B: Table of Proactive Publication Requirements

Legislative requirement Section Publication timeline (in calendar days)
All government institutions as defined in section 3 of the Access to Information Act
Travel expenses incurred by a senior officer or employee of a government institution 82 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Hospitality expenses incurred by a senior officer or employee of a government institution 83 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Any report tabled in Parliament under an Act of Parliament 84 Within 30 days after the day on which it is tabled
Government entities or departments, agencies and other bodies subject to the Act and listed in Schedules I, I.1 or II of the Financial Administration Act
Contracts over $10,000 86

Quarters 1 to 3: within 30 days after the quarter

Quarter 4: within 60 days after the quarter
Grants and contributions over $25,000 87 Within 30 days after the quarter
Packages of briefing materials prepared for new or incoming deputy heads or equivalent 88(a) Within 120 days after appointment
Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared for a deputy head, or equivalent, that are received by their office 88(b) Within 30 days after the end of the month received
Packages of briefing materials prepared for a deputy head’s or equivalent’s appearance before a committee of Parliament 88(c) Within 120 days after appearance
Government institutions that are departments named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act or portions of the core public administration named in Schedule IV to that Act (that is, government institutions for which Treasury Board is the employer)
Reclassification of positions 85 Within 30 days after the quarter
Ministers
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for new or incoming ministers 74(a) Within 120 days after appointment
Titles and reference numbers of memoranda, prepared by a government institution for the minister, that are received by their office 74(b) Within 30 days after the end of the month received
Package of question period notes prepared by a government institution for the minister and in use on the last sitting day of the House of Commons in June and December 74(c) Within 30 days after the last sitting day of the House of Commons in June and December
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for a minister’s appearance before a committee of Parliament 74(d) Within 120 days after appearance
Travel expenses incurred by a minister, any of his or her ministerial advisers, or any member of his or her ministerial staff 75 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Hospitality expenses incurred by a minister, any of his or her ministerial advisers, or any member of his or her ministerial staff 76 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Contracts over $10,000 77

Quarters 1 to 3: within 30 days after the quarter

Quarter 4: within 60 days after the quarter
Expenditures of ministers’ offices 78 Within 120 days after the fiscal year

Appendix C: Prescribed Platforms for Publishing Proactive Publication Requirements under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act

This appendix provides details on the requirements set out in section 4.1.7 of the Directive on Proactive Publication under the Access to Information Act.

C.1 Effective date

  • C.1.1This list was updated on June 28, 2023.

C.2 Prescribed platform

  • C.2.1Publishing information that must be proactively published under Part 2 of the Act:
    • C.2.1.1The prescribed platform is the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Open Government Portal;
    • C.2.1.2Information published on the Open Government Portal is published under an open and unrestrictive licence designated by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat;
    • C.2.1.3Information published on the Open Government Portal must be published in both official languages and conform to the requirements of the Official Languages Act; and
    • C.2.1.4Information published on the Open Government Portal must be published in an open and accessible format that complies with the Standard on Web Accessibility.
  • C.2.2In order to request an exception from the prescribed platform, government institutions must contact the Access to Information Policy and Performance Division for further information.

Appendix D: Retention and Disposition

This appendix provides details on the requirements set out in section 4.1.9 of the Directive on Proactive Publication under the Access to Information Act.

  • D.1All information published pursuant to Part 2 of the Act must be maintained online for a minimum of 10 years.
  • D.2Institutions are responsible for establishing, implementing and maintaining retention periods for all information, including underlying information used to support proactive publications under Part 2 of the Act, as appropriate, according to format in consistency with the requirements for strategic management of information in section 4.3.1.7 of the Directive on Service and Digital.
  • D.3When establishing retention periods for underlying information that supports proactive publication pursuant to Part 2 of the Act, heads of institutions or their designate(s) should consider the following factors:
    • D.3.1That the purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions;
    • D.3.2That underlying information that supports proactive publications should be retained for an appropriate amount of time to ensure that members of the public can exercise their right of access and request supporting records through the access to information request process under Part 1 of the Act; and
    • D.3.3Guidance provided in Library and Archives Canada’s Generic Valuation Tools.
  • D.4As a best practice, metadata records for proactive publications should clearly indicate the retention period of each publication.

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2023,
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