Canada 59% open

Canada is ranked #22 in the 2014 Index
Canada's overall Index ranking is down from #12 in 2013

Rank Dataset Breakdown Location (URL) Format Info Prev. (2013) Score
1 National Map
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http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/... Multipl ... #1  100% 100%
1 National Map
URL: http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/index.html
Format: Multiple (shape file, kml, gml)

Multiple national scale framework data are available from Natural Resources Canada in the following portals: a) Geobase - http://www.geobase.ca/geobase/en/index.html b) GeoGratis - http://www.geogratis.gc.ca/geogratis/search?lang=en c) GeoConnections Discovery Portal - http://geodiscover.cgdi.ca/web/guest/home No clear information on the scale of the maps.


1 Government Budget
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http://data.gc.ca/data/en/data... Excel #1  100% 100%
1 Government Budget
URL: http://data.gc.ca/data/en/dataset/a42a7598-13c3-4226-be1d-499278a5b4a4
Format: Excel

The data for the most recent year is updated monthly. The annual budget data is avaible back to FY 2009. The data is available grouped in three ways: - Authorities and Expenditures by vote - Expenditures by Program Activity - Expenditures by Standard Object The data is available in Excel and xHTML formats. (No change from 2013)


1 Election Results
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http://data.gc.ca/data/en/data... CSV #1  100% 100%
1 Election Results
URL: http://data.gc.ca/data/en/dataset/b1fabdfd-72c5-42b0-a07e-a04e0148f7a4
Format: CSV

Elections Canada is the elections authority at a national level. Its terms and conditions prohibit commercial reproduction of materials on its website (http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=ele&document=index&lang=e). However, data.gc.ca publishes many of the same materials under an open license. Elections are also held in the provinces and territories as well as municipalities. Each jurisdiction would need to be contacted to assess the degree of openess. Regarding the conflicting licences we have sent a question to the respective authorities but we have assessed that data is available under an open licence.


11 Pollutant Emissions
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http://www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri/... Excel, ... #7  80% 80%
11 Pollutant Emissions
URL: http://www.ec.gc.ca/inrp-npri/
Format: Excel, KML, KMZ, MDB

The National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) is not released in a timely fashion. The preliminary, unreviewed 2012 data cannot be downloaded in bulk. The reviewed data of prior years can be downloaded in bulk. Environment Canada's website's terms of use prohibit commercial reproduction. However, data.gc.ca publishes many of the same datasets under an open license. The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) HTTP data server is a source of several raw meteorological data types and forecast data. This service is aimed at specialized users with good meteorological and IT knowledge, and is mainly meant to be accessed in an automatic manner via the internet (e.g. with scripts). The server's URL is: http://dd.meteo.gc.ca/. Also, in Canada provinces and territories also have monitoring sensors, data would need to be acquired from them as well. (No change from 2013, added License URL)


22 Legislation
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http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca... XML, ... #16  60% 60%
22 Legislation
URL: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/
Format: XML, HTML, PDF

The data from the cited website is available in a good variety of formats including machine-readable XML but is not available in bulk (you cannot download the entire code at once easily). In terms of open licensing the Terms and Conditions at http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/terms-avis/index.html indicate that non-commercial use is permitted but commercial use is not (you must apply for specific permission).

There is also the Parliamentary website at http://www.parl.gc.ca/LegisInfo/ which contains HTML and XML on legislation before Parliament. This material is not openly licensed - the Copyright's Page http://www.parl.gc.ca/ImportantNotices.aspx?Language=E states "The contents of this Web site are covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act and related regulations and international agreements. Permission to reproduce in whole or in part or otherwise use content on this Web site may be sought from the appropriate source." It also links in turn to Speaker Permission page http://www.parl.gc.ca/SpeakerPermission.aspx?Language=E which states "Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain".


15 Postcodes / Zipcodes
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http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/m... Fixed-w ... #14  55% 55%
15 Postcodes / Zipcodes
URL: http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/business/productsservices/mailing/pcdp.jsf
Format: Fixed-width text file

Canada Post is a Crown corporation of the Government of Canada. Commercial use of Canada Post's Postal Code Address Data (PCAD) product has been quoted at $50,600 per year. Canada Post claims copyright in its database of postal codes. It has recently defended its claim by filing a lawsuit against Geolytica: https://cippic.ca/en/copyright/geolytica-statement-of-defence.


26 Company Register
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https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/c... HTML #16  45% 45%
26 Company Register
URL: https://www.ic.gc.ca/app/scr/cc/CorporationsCanada/fdrlCrpSrch.html?locale=en_CA
Format: HTML

Because Canada is a federation of provinces and territories, these data would be considered incomplete, as companies are also registered, sometimes exclusively at those jurisdictions. A complete picture would require going to each jurisdiction and assessing their degree of openness. This response is solely for the federal / national level. These data are however generally incomplete, are destroyed every 7 years as per the tax act and are inconsistently managed. They are also not easily available to the public. While these national scale data meet many of the OKFN criteria, the fact that they are incomplete, inaccurate and destroyed every seven years is problematic, especially regarding transparency and investigations into money laundering. Furthermore, they are not readily accessible by the data producer, you can find a company but not a list of all the companies. Also, the Corporations Canada database "does NOT include corporations created under financial legislation (such as financial institutions, insurance companies or loan and trust companies) or those created under provincial/territorial legislation or corporate legislation from another jurisdiction." See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_registers#Canada (No change from 2013)


85 National Statistics
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n/a multiple #50  40% 40%
85 National Statistics
Format: multiple

The National Statistical Agency is Statistics Canada - http://www.statcan.gc.ca/start-debut-eng.html. Some of the data it produces are free and under and open licence, many are not and are under a cost recovery program. Statistical data are also available from many federal agencies and they are released intermittently. Administrative health data are available from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI). Health, education and so on are administered by provinces and territories and these are available by contacting all 13 jurisdictions. Revenue data are available from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) while housing data are available from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). Unemployment, bankruptcy data are available from Human Resources and Development Services canada (HRSDC), immigration from Citizen Immigration Canada, and so on. Some data are for fee, some are for free, some are difficult to find as there is no central repository, many of the agencies are not well organized and not all are in the open data portal. Also some of these are administrative data while others are official national statistics. There is a unified open data licence in progress but this is not yet in practice for all federal level data and this is most certainly not the case for provinces and territories. Municipal statistical data are available at that jurisdiction. An up to date list of open data portals is available here - http://datalibre.ca/links-resources/. (No change from 2013)


16 Government Spending
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n/a n/a #19  10% 10%
16 Government Spending


The Government of Canada released a pilot sample dataset matching the criteria for this category, which has since been discontinued: http://data.gc.ca/data/en/dataset/2eed2fba-1626-4d2e-a511-389cc6b51ddf . The Government of Canada also has a tool for searching expenditure data, but data availability varies by ministry and department. Data is not month to month - it is aggregated by fiscal year - and it is not very detailed. Data cannot be downloaded. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/ems-sgd/edb-bdd/index-eng.html


65 Transport Timetables
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n/a n/a #52  0% 0%
65 Transport Timetables


NOT APPLICABLE WOULD BE THE BEST RESPONSE HERE. There is no national public transit system in Canada. Public transportation data are only available at the jurisdiction where the service is delivered. Canada as a federation of provinces and territories delivers transit at the level of the city or municipality or other local authority which fall under the jurisdiction of provinces and territories. Cross provincial and territorial transportation would be federally administered but this is not a transit system. (No change from 2013)


Contributors

Reviewers

  • Rufus Pollock
  • James McKinney
  • Daniela Mattern
  • Tracey Lauriault

Submitters

  • Adam Hill
  • Diane Mercier
  • Daniela Mattern
  • Cameron Wilson
  • Miguel Tremblay
  • Zile Ozols
  • Rufus Pollock
  • Andrew Smith
  • Tracey Lauriault
  • Mor Rubinstein
  • Caitlin Myles
  • James McKinney
  • Frank Hangler
  • Ted Strauss
  • Tracey P. Lauriault
  • Michael Mulley