Open Government

The Council of the Town of Stratford, in its efforts to become more open and transparent, is adopting an open by default approach which means that there is a presumption that data, information and dialogue is open and should not be restricted unless there is a need to protect personal information and privacy. 

The open by default approach and the freedom of information and privacy protection requirements will be executed through a new Open Government Bylaw which seeks to: 

  • Improve the engagement of residents and other stakeholders in the town decision making process (which improves the quality and public acceptance of town decisions);
  • Improve the evidence upon which town decisions are made;
  • Improve the transparency of the town decision making process;
  • Improve the free and open access to town information and data for public and private use (which can lead to increased engagement of citizens and stakeholders, beneficial apps for the public good and innovation/economic development by the private sector); and
  • Improve the protection of personal information in the custody of the town.

In addition, based on the presumption that town information and data is public information, the town will also publish information and data, except for data that is private or confidential as follows:

  • public data is identified and published in an open data catalogue
  • the priority for the publication of datasets be based on the criteria of enhanced engagement, enhanced transparency, enhanced service delivery and enhanced economic development
  • new software be required to have an open data output
  • the Government of Canada Open Data license is adopted