Prime Minister's Mandate for Trusted Digital Identity
Well, there you have it. After almost two decades of policy and strategy efforts, digital identity (formerly known as identity management) is now officially part of the Minister’s mandate. Issued yesterday, the mandate letter to the President of Treasury Board of Canada, the honourable Mona Fortier now contains the following directive:
“Working towards a common and secure approach for a trusted digital identity platform to support seamless service delivery to Canadians across the country.”
While the finish line to create this trusted digital identity platform is still well into the future, we are far beyond the starting line. The Treasury Board policy instruments are in place to accept trusted digital identities, two provinces are on-boarded (Alberta and British Columbia) and the Public Sector Profile of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (soon-to-be-released Version 1.4) is underpinning the confidence in this nascent platform that will serve all Canadians in an inclusive, non-discriminatory manner and in a way that guarantees their rights consistent with Canada’s Digital Charter.
As well, the public sector (provincial, territorial, municipal and indigenous governments) are working with the private sector and standards bodies to develop national standards and certification schemes that align the public sector to leverage private sector solutions so that they work together for all Canadians and earn their trust.
In closing, all I can say, “Well done, everyone!” The next chapter is about to begin! Canada