Ontario Final IRM Report 2017

Daniel J. Paré, Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, Independent Researcher

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) is a voluntary international initiative that aims to secure
commitments from governments to their citizenry to promote 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, empower citizens, fight
corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. In 2016, OGP opened to subnational
participants in their own right as part of a pilot program. The OGP Subnational Pilot Program consists of 15
subnational governments who submitted Action Plans and signed onto the Subnational Declaration at the
Paris Global OGP Summit. This report summarizes the results of the development and implementation of
Ontario’s pilot subnational 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... from January 2017 to December 2017.

Summary of IRM Findings 

Ontario completed its three commitments in time, significantly improving access to information and civic participation among youthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical .... To strengthen future action plans, it is important to expand their focus to new sectors and establish inclusive, permanent dialogue mechanisms during the formulation of commitments.