Canada’s digital government journey at a crossroads

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When Canada’s Ontario Digital Service (ODS) was shut down in 2024, it rocked digital government conversation. The regional digitalisation agency was known for its innovative approach to government transformation and was a forerunner of many similar agencies.

The surprising shutdown followed several changes within Canada’s digital government, including the appointment of a Minister of Citizen Services, the abolishment of the Minister of Digital Government post, and the rehousing of the Canadian Digital Service (CDS) from the Treasury Board into Service Canada within Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

CDS co-founder, Ryan Androsoff, says the unexpected closure of ODS shows that despite the promise of the “digital government movement” to make public services more agile, such principles may have yet to take root across governments, both in Canada and globally.

Today, Androsoff runs Let’s Think Digital, one of the best platforms to stay updated with the changing face of digital government in Canada. The podcast supplements his company, Think Digital, which supports agencies in their modernisation journey by providing training and advisory services.

He is part of a growing wave of digital leaders providing advisory services to government transformation efforts, which include Digital Nation, helmed by the Estonian government’s former CIO, Siim Sikkut and Public Digital, which was co-founded by the pioneers of the United Kingdom’s Government Digital Services (GDS).

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Infusing change across government

Androsoff notes that there’s a broader acceptance [among government leaders] of being user-centred and taking agile approaches, “but it’s still coming up against the rules of the road”. These include long cycles of funding and traditional approval and development processes.

“The basic operating principles of how government works have not necessarily evolved at the same pace as those on the digital side who are trying to update these practices,” he notes.

For instance, agile means being comfortable with uncertainty and not always knowing what the end-product of a project would look like. Products should be based on user research and iteration, rather than being determined by goals set out in a five-year plan, he says.

As a result, many organisations may adopt “agile theatre” while retaining traditional methods to mitigate perceived risks. The next big frontier is to adapt the way government works and demonstrate how agile can derisk projects and deliver better services, Androsoff observes.

“It’s not enough to just have good digital apps or user-friendly websites if it’s going to be sustainable over time. You have to change the way the bureaucracy works at a much deeper level.”

Digital government the “culture change engine”

When the digital government movement started in the 2010s, there was optimism that such teams would attract digital talent, bring in ways of working that was appropriate for the digital era, and be the “culture change engine”.

But time has shown these units may not be sufficient for change at a deep level, he says. ODS, for instance, seemed to have been shut down prematurely.

“There seems to be a large consensus that the culture that they were trying to build hadn't necessarily taken hold across the government… It is a concerning sign to see an organisation like that get dissolved because we're in a time where that mission is as important as ever.”

There is a “natural tension” between digital teams and traditional government bureaucracy, he adds. Change management requires long-term relationship building and it can take a long time to move the needle.

The question for similar organisations is how they can “strategically position themselves for the long-term,” he explains. Many such teams will soon reach the 10-year mark. As leaders and political priorities change, they will need to make the case that they can be part of the future of government.

As Canada’s first digital services team, ODS leaves behind a strong legacy, having introduced digital approaches and policy and legislative work that have enabled other agencies to adopt such practices, he says.

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Balancing federal and state innovation

Speaking more broadly about Canada’s digital government landscape, he shares that the country faces challenges in driving whole-of-government projects due to its federal landscape, echoing similar concerns in other countries with more fragmentation.

This “patchwork” of who’s responsible for what means that it is difficult to introduce nationwide digital public infrastructure, such as universal digital identity and digital credentials, that are “core” to seamless services, he says.

Governments are also facing the challenge of adapting to rapidly evolving trends, such as the emergence of AI, while modernising legacy systems, he notes.

However, he says that CDS’ new strategic plan, which emphasises building platforms and products that different departments and jurisdictions can adopt, is encouraging. These include GC Notify, a system for sending out notifications to residents.

The federal system means that many key innovations take place at the level of provincial government, he says, noting the efforts of leaders in British Columbia and Nova Scotia.

“It’s almost a natural laboratory where different jurisdictions can experiment with different approaches and we can see what works and what doesn’t,” he explains.

“Ideally, policymakers can keep track of what’s happening, find those ones that really work, and scale them up at a national level.”

During the pandemic, regional governments collaborated to build a repository of reusable open-source pandemic management tools – one example of collaboration he would like to see more in Canada.

Digital no longer about IT alone

As our conversation draws to a close, he shares that his advisory hopes to support leaders stay on top of digital transformation trends and understand how they better manage digital teams, engage vendors, and ultimately be change agents.

This is why they have been running an intensive digital executive leadership programme with Canada’s Institute on Governance covering topics such as user centricity, design, agile, and AI to support leaders who may not have a background in technology.

“Digital is no longer just about the CIOs. Digital impacts everybody’s jobs. No matter what you do in government, there is some kind of technological implication,” he shares.

The podcast, Let’s Think Digital, aims to bring in subject matter experts to spark conversations and spur public dialogue about what the future of government can look like in the age of digital, he says.

Over the past year, he has spoken to Terry Beech, Canada’s Minister of Citizens’ Services, Hillary Hartley, first Chief Digital and Data Officer for the Ontario Government, and Aaron Snow, the first CEO of CDS.