National Action Plan on Open Government Commitment

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C01.7.3 - Inclusive and meaningful public participation

Commitment:
Inclusive and meaningful public participation
Milestone:
Establish an internal working group at VAC to identify and act on opportunities to promote open government at VAC
Indicator:
C01.7.3 - Ensure that twice annually, open government awareness activities are highlighted (once during Open Government Week and once during “Right to Know” week), with the goal of raising awareness at VAC. Success would be measured through participatory activities like employee knowledge challenges.
Lead Organization:
Veterans Affairs Canada
Deadline:
Annually, by March 31; to be reported as part of VAC's access to information and privacy annual reports

Updates

2026-06
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

VAC celebrated both Right to Know Week and Open Government Week in the past year. In May 2026, for Open Government Week, VAC posted an internal feature story about the new Open Government Working Group, highlighting the membership, the two meetings held so far, and goals of the working group. The article, published on May 27, included details about VAC's commitment to the National Action Plan and invited all employees to share their ideas for improved access to information.

The article was shared on the intranet, as well as in the weekly internal newsletter, reaching all VAC employees.

VAC also published a VAC-wide lock screen for the entirety of Open Government Week which every employee viewed each time they logged into their work-computer. The screen highlighted Open Government as a way to support transparency and collaboration.

Evidence:

An internal Carillon article about Open Government was posted on the intranet for all VAC employees, and a link to the article was circulated via an internal VAC newsletter. The VAC-wide lockscreen was implemented for Open Government Week 2026, and was viewed by all VAC employees each time they logged into a VAC computer.

Challenges:

VAC is building an Open Government program and is still in the early stages. At this time, the focus is on education and raising awareness about the value rather than showcasing successes.

2025-12
Status:
Limited progress
Evidence of progress:
  • Right to Know Week was celebrated in September and included VAC-wide internal learning moments and trivia, shared messaging from the Office of the Information Commissioner and an article outlining transparency in the Government of Canada.
Evidence:

Email was circulated to all VAC employees
Article was posted internally

Challenges:
  • Only a few months has passed since the commitment was made; measure will be improved with time