Code for Canada

According to a January 2017 interview with Gabe Sawhney, Code for Canada Executive Director and Co-founder of NOW Magazine, Code for Canada is modeled after Code for America and its "chapters in Australia, Germany, Mexico and Pakistan."^[2] Sawhney said that their target audience included committed tech innovators, inside and outside government, willing to partner to find technological and design solutions for civic issues.^[2] Code for Canada, is similar to the civic technology movement in the United States, Code for America and Code for Australia.^[3]

In April 2017, Deb Matthews, the Ontario minister for digital governance announced that the Province of Ontario was co-founding Code for Canada with a contribution of $700,000. Code for Canada's designers and coders work with government to improve and/or create "high-technology" coding that is "simpler, faster and easier to use", resulting in the provision of better government services that cost less.^[4]

Since 2021, founding board member Dorothy Eng has acted as the organization’s CEO.

Code for Canada works with communities and government in Canada to improve digital technologies.^{[5][Notes 1]}

To achieve their mission, Code for Canada offers four services,

"Digital Solution Co-Development" involves problem scoping, recruiting and deploying a team of digital talent, and then enabling an hands-on learning experience for internal staff and stakeholders to "ensure you have total ownership over the final product, avoid vendor lock-in, and leave our work together with increased digital skills and capacity."^[6]

"Options Analysis" is similar to ‘build/buy/partner analysis’ commonly leveraged in the private sector. Code for Canada "conduct[s] an in-depth assessment of your digital product or service" to find the option best fit for an organization’s capacity, needs and resources.^[7]

"Inclusive User Research" connects teams with users ("residents from across Canada with a wide range of backgrounds, lived experiences and abilities") to test digital products and services. The user feedback is incorporated in product design and development to create "best-in-class digital solution[s] that meet user needs."^[8]

"Civic Tech Marketplace connects public-benefit organizations with digital professionals who are ready to volunteer their skills towards a cause they care about."^[9]

Through their fellowship program, Code for Canada, fellows who are digital technology and design experts, spent 10 months working collaboratively with public servants in government departments to improve services.^[10] Fellows demonstrated the most recent "methods in software development, design thinking, user experience research and product management,"^[5][10] and examine how the "Internet and data can support and serve Canadian civil society, and our values of fairness and inclusivity."^[11]

In 2017 Code for Canada ran the fellowship with the Canadian Digital Service (CDS) and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).^{[11][Notes 2]} By January 2017, Code for Canada had already received 300 applications for their first team of six Fellows.^[2]

Leon Lukashevsky, a 2017 fellow with "web development skills", described how Code for Canada fellows work to make "Canadian civil services" more "digitally savvy".^[12] In his 2017 article in Medium, Lukashevsky wrote that, "Modern governments need to understand and leverage the Internet to actualize public policy and meet residents’ expectations."^[11] He described the Fellows as "democracy-driven" and compared it to the process behind the creation of e-Estonia, and its underlying digital platform X-Road.^{[Notes 3]} Estonia, tagged the "Digital Republic" by The New Yorker, launched e-Estonia in 2017 to improve interactions between citizens and government through electronic solutions.^[13] He noted that X-Road architects had "turned to democratic ideals for guidance."^[12] Lukashevsky described the goal of this collaboration with CDS and VAC, was to "improve Canadian veterans' awareness of — and access to — benefits and services ... to improve their quality of life."^[11]

In 2018, Christine Lee, Product Strategy, Design, and Management expert and Code for Canada fellow with the Government of Ontario’s Ministry of Advanced Education & Skill Development, led a team "building products collaboratively using discovery sprints".^[10] Lee's professional background is in "digital product management, development, and finance".^[10]

Code for Canada sunsetted its fellowship program in 2021.^[14] It now works with government and non-profit partners on a project-to-project basis, helping them create digital products and services for the public good.

• Code for America
• Code for America Commons (CfA)
• Civic Commons