To release a record or publication on the Open Government Portal, you will need an Open Government Registry account.
On this page
Standardized proactive publications are published using an Excel template that can be downloaded from the Open Government Registry.
Note: The process to upload proactive publications differs between the two types:
Standardized proactive publications include:
- access to information summaries
- contracts over $10,000
- departmental audit committees
- briefing note titles and numbers
- grants and contributions
- hospitality expenses
- travel expenses
- position reclassification information
- acts of founded wrongdoing
Non-standardized proactive publications include briefing packages for:
- new or incoming ministers
- new or incoming deputy heads
- parliamentary committee appearances for ministers
- parliamentary committee appearances for deputy heads
Upload standardized proactive publication
In this section
Selecting your standardized proactive publication
You can select the type of standardized proactive publication that you want to upload by:
- selecting the appropriate link on the Open Government Registry home page or
- selecting Proactive Publication in the drop-down MENU found at the top left-hand side of the page
Creating a single record
Before you decide how you will upload a standardized proactive publication, consider whether you have a little data or a lot of data to upload.
If you have a small amount of data to upload to the Open Government portal, consider using the Create Single Record button to upload your data. The Create Single Record button allows you to upload small amounts of data quickly without using a template.
If you have a large amount of data to upload, follow the instructions on how to access and use a template to upload data to the Open Government portal.
After you select the type of proactive publication, select the Create Single Record button in the Import tab.
After you select Create Single Record, you will be prompted to complete the required fields in Create Record. The following figure is an example of what you might encounter.
Once you have completed the required fields, select Save and your data will be uploaded. If the upload is successful, you will receive a confirmation message like below.
Accessing the template
If your account is linked to more than one organization, select which organization you would like to upload the file for from the drop-down menu.
After you’ve selected your organization from the drop-down menu, you’re ready to download your template. Download the template by selecting the Template Excel spreadsheet link and save the template to your hard drive.
Note: Do not alter the file name when you save it. The template is named for your organization, and you will not be able to upload the completed template if you change the file name of the template.
Completing the template
Now that you’ve saved your organization’s template to your hard drive, you can begin filling out the template.
Note: Every line item must have a unique Reference or Request Number as this number allows you to modify or delete items.
If you require any additional information about any field in the template, refer to the reference tab in the template.
The reference tab includes a detailed description of each field.
If any of the cells or columns are highlighted while you are completing the template, it means that an incorrect value has been entered or that a value is missing. For example, if you do not fill out a required field, such as a reference number, the empty cell will be highlighted. Refer to the following figure for an example of what you might encounter.
Note: If the template tells you there are errors and you don’t know why, refer to the reference tab in the template. You can find information about the required formats, languages, and obligations for all the fields in the template in the reference tab.
Uploading the template
Now that you’ve completed your template, you’re almost done.
Log back into the Open Government Registry and return to the page where you downloaded the template.
You will find Upload beside the Template Excel spreadsheet link. Select Choose File and find your completed template on your hard drive. When you’ve found the template, select Submit.
Once you’ve selected your completed template from your computer, you will see the file name in the Upload field. Remember that the file name for the template that you upload must be the same as the file name of the template that you downloaded from the Open Government Registry.
You can check your template for errors by selecting Check for Errors, but doing so is for your own reference as the system will not upload your data if it contains errors.
Resolving template errors
If there is an error in the template, the system will not upload the template. You will receive an error message with details about the error. The following figure provides an example of an error message that you might encounter.
To correct your errors, refer to the reference tab in the template. The reference tab provides the full requirements for each field in the template.
Once you have addressed the error, try uploading the file again. If you have trouble resolving the error, download a fresh template from the Open Government Registry, and paste your data into the template again by selecting the Paste Special... option as shown in the following figure.
In the Paste Special pop-up, select Text. Doing so will erase any formulas or formatting issues that might be causing your errors.
If the problem persists, contact the support team at open-ouvert@tbs-sct.gc.ca and we will be happy to assist you.
Deleting or modifying a record in the template
To delete a record in the template, select the Delete tab.
In the Delete tab, you will be prompted to enter the reference number. Refer to the figure below for an example of what you may encounter.
Once you select Delete, the system will prompt you to Confirm Delete.
To modify a record in the template, correct the data in the template and upload the template again. Make sure that the reference number for the data that you corrected matches the existing reference number. The system will automatically overwrite the old data once the new data has been uploaded.
Note: All changes made to data will not be reflected on the Open Government portal until the next morning, but you will be able to preview the changes in the Preview section.
Previewing your data
Standardized proactive publications uploaded to the Open Government Registry are harvested overnight. As a result, you’ll see the data that you uploaded on the Open Government portal on the following morning.
The Preview section in the Open Government Registry allows you to view your data right away if you want to review the data before it is released. The following figure is an example of what you might encounter in the Preview section.
Upload non-standardized proactive publication
In this section
Selecting your non-standardized proactive publication
You can select the type of non-standardized proactive publication that you want to upload by:
- selecting the appropriate link on the Open Government Registry home page or
- selecting Proactive Publication in the drop-down MENU found at the top left-hand side of the page
Selecting the type of non-standardized publication will bring you to the Create Dataset: Add Asset Metadata page. Fill out the metadata for your publication. Under each field is a description of the field in blue font.
As with the template for standardized publications, not all fields are required, but we recommend that you fill out as much information as possible. The more information you assign to the record of your proactive publication, the more discoverable the publication will be for users on the Open Government portal.
Government of Canada organizations must obtain approval to release a new non-standardized publication on the Open Government portal. Organizations do not have to obtain approval for standardized proactive publications, but organizations may have their own approval process for standardized proactive publications.
You must select Yes in the Approval drop-down menu to release the non-standardized publication. By selecting Yes, you confirm that the necessary approvals have been obtained and that your organization takes full responsibility for the release of the dataset or information in the non-standardized publication.
Has approval been obtained? By selecting yes, you have ensured that the following statements are true:
- Confidentiality - The data or information resource is not subject to confidentiality restrictions, such as Cabinet confidences, solicitor-client privilege, classified or protected information, advice or recommendations, third party information, or information obtained in confidence.
- Authority to Release - The institution has the mandate, legislative authority or permission from a third party provider to release the data or information resources under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
- Formats - The data or information resource is in an open and accessible format that complies with the Standard on Web Accessibility.
- Privacy - The data or information resource does not contain personal information, as defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act, unless the individual to whom it relates has consented to its release or unless it meets criteria outlined in section 8(2) of the Privacy Act.
- Official Languages - The data or information resource is available in both official languages and conforms to the requirements of the Official Languages Act.
- Security - The data or information resource does not increase security risks to the institution, to other institutions, or to the government as a whole and conforms to the requirements of the Policy on Government Security and its related instruments.
- Other - Legal / Regulatory / Policy / Contractual - The release of data or other information resource complies with all other relevant legal, regulatory, contractual, and policy requirements (e.g., it is confirmed that there are no relevant legal, contractual, or third party, policy restrictions or limitations).
Adding a resource to a non-standardized publication
You can describe each resource assigned to a non-standardized publication on the Create Dataset: Add Resource Metadata page. A resource represents an individual file in a non-standardized publication. You can add as many resources as necessary.
For example, an additional resource could be the same document in a different format or an additional dataset to support the non-standardized publication.
Note: All resources added to the Open Government Registry must be available in both official languages.
To upload a resource to a non-standardized publication, follow these steps.
- Enter the title of the resource in English and French, the language of the resource, and the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) where the resource can be downloaded.
- Expand the Metadata Fields for Resources Only (Not for Related Items) section, which is shown in blue font, and complete the relevant fields. Do not enter any information in Metadata Fields for Related Items Only.
- Select Submit to finish adding the resource. Select Save and add another Resource or Related Item if you wish to submit the resource and add another resource or related item.
Note: A bilingual resource must be added once only. Select and hold the Shift key to select both English and French when adding a bilingual resource. If a resource exists separately in English and in French, then both the English and the French versions of the resource must be added by following the instructions above.
Once you’ve finished adding resources, select Finish. Doing so will save your non-standardized publication. You will receive a confirmation that a resource has been added. The following figure shows what you should encounter.
Releasing a non-standardized publication to the Open Government portal
If the non-standardized publication is ready to be released on the Open Government portal, select Yes from the Ready to Publish drop-down menu on the Create a Dataset: Add Asset Metadata page. Doing so will flag the non-standardized publication and it will be reviewed by an Open Government Registry Administrator. If your non-standardized publication is not ready to be released, select No.
Only Open Government Registry Administrators can release non-standardized publication records to the Open Government portal. Once your non-standardized publication has been reviewed and approved, the publication should be available on the portal within 15 minutes.
If the publication must be released urgently, send an email to open-ouvert@tbs-sct.gc.ca to let us know.