National Action Plan on Open Government Commitment
C02.3.2 - Protecting civic space and democracy in the digital era
- Commitment:
- Protecting civic space and democracy in the digital era
- Milestone:
- Increase Canadians' access to government information
- Indicator:
- C02.3.2 - Proactively remove access barriers to GC archival records and have 30% to 50% of the archival GC records held at LAC open and readily available for Canadians to access either in person or online.
- Lead Organization:
- Library and Archives Canada
- Deadline:
- By 2029
Updates
2026-06
Proactively removed access barriers to 37,638 pages of Government of Canada archival records, making them available to Canadians for onsite or online consultation, without the need to submit an access to information request. Examples of topics of records opened during the reporting period include:
• Audio visual records from the Canadian delegation International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) (Indochina). ICCS was responsible for monitoring the 1973 ceasefire between North and South Vietnam and the United States, as well as ensure all sides adhered to the conditions set out in the Paris Peace Accords.
• Administrative records related to the St. George’s Residential school in Lytton, British Columbia. As of June 30, 2026, 30.02% of the Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) textual collection is open and free of access barriers.
Library and Archives Canada, like many other federal institutions, is currently undergoing an organizational re alignment. Within this context, the Proactive Review and Opening of GC records team is also refining its structure and operations. Progress on opening records was slowed during this period due to staffing cuts and a subsequent reorganisation of the division.
2025-12
Proactively removed access barriers to 3,457,315 Government of Canada archival records, making them available to Canadians for onsite or online consultation, without the need to submit an access to information request.
Examples of topics of records opened during the reporting period include:
• Technical drawings from the National Research Council's Radio and Electrical Engineering Division, which included the drawings for the electronic sackbut, an early electronic synthesizer, and radio telescopes used in astronomical observations.
• Weather station forms from weather stations across Canada, which consist of over 100 years of weather data starting in 1858!
• Records related to how Indigenous information was collected, managed, and preserved by the federal government. They help Indigenous researchers understand what kinds of records were kept, why they were created, and how decisions were made about organizing and maintaining them. Created by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, these administrative records provide insight into the information management practices that shaped how records about Indigenous peoples and communities were handled.
• Canadian Penitentiary Service photographs collection (1898 - 1966) covering institutions across six provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick