Public governance

This policy brief was developed by the Secretariat of the OECD Network of Economic Regulators (NER) and is based on examples of practice submitted by members of the NER. It reviews emergency measures taken by economic regulators during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure continuity of services in network sectors, as well as to adjust regulatory practices and adapt governance arrangements. It identifies long-term questions and implications of the crisis with regard to market structure, infrastructure investment and the role of regulators.

COVID-19 has led to a labour market shock in Canada and is likely to generate a profound reflection on production and consumption habits. COVID‑19 is also likely to accelerate automation as firms look to new technologies to pandemic proof their operations. While automation offers the opportunity to boost productivity, it can also create losers as vulnerable workers who lose jobs may not have the skills needed in a changing labour market. This OECD report examines the potential impacts of automation on people and places across Canada with a special focus on the Province of Ontario. It also sheds light on policies and programmes that can help regions and cities to prepare for the future of work.

Behavioural insights (BI) has become widely used by public bodies around the world, mostly towards improving the way policies are implemented and influencing individual behaviour. As the field of BI evolves to tackle more complex policy issues, there is widespread perception that BI can and should go beyond the study of individual-level decision processes for higher impact. This report presents research on applying BI to changing the behaviour of organisations, with a focus on fostering elements of a safety culture in the energy sector. It presents comparative findings from experiments with energy regulators in Canada, Ireland, Mexico and Oman, as well as guidance for applying BI to safety culture going forward.

This paper presents and discusses the general findings and key policy messages of the 2019 OECD Open, Useful and Re-usable data (OURdata) Index, and provides a detailed analysis of the results for each pillar and sub-pillar. Additionally, it assesses the main advancements and challenges related to the design and implementation of open government data (OGD) policies in OECD member and partner countries by comparing the results for 2019 with those of the 2017 edition. This policy paper contributes to the OECD work on the digital transformation of the public sector, including digital government and data-driven public sector and open government data.

Canada’s Constitution Act (1982) recognises three Indigenous groups: Indians (now referred to as First Nations), Inuit, and Métis. Indigenous peoples make a vital contribution to the culture, heritage and economic development of Canada. Despite improvements in Indigenous well-being in recent decades, significant gaps remain with the non-Indigenous population. This study focuses on four priority issues to maximise the potential of Indigenous economies in Canada. First, improving the quality of the statistical framework and the inclusion of Indigenous peoples in the governance of data. Second, measures to improve the fairness and transparency for how Indigenous peoples can secure land tenure and the use of tools and such as land use planning to use it to promote community economic development. Third, promoting entrepreneurship so Indigenous peoples can use assets and resources in ways that align with their objectives for development. Fourth, implementing an approach to governance that adapts policies to places, and empowers Indigenous institutions and communities.

Canada has a long-standing commitment to gender equality and an increasingly ambitious agenda to create a truly inclusive society. Recently, the Government of Canada has been strengthening the federal framework for the governance of gender equality policies by developing institutions, policies, tools and accountability structures. This OECD review of gender equality in Canada makes a number of recommendations to further develop this governance framework. It also assesses Canada’s progress in gender budgeting and provides recommendations for developing a more comprehensive, systematic and sustainable approach.