GO-ITS 572TES Electronic Communications and Networking SMTP Electronic Mail

1. Introduction

Government of Ontario Information Technology Standards (GO-ITS) are the official publications on the IT standards adopted through the Office of the Corporate Chief Information Officer (OCCIO) and IT Executive Leadership Council (ITELC) for use across the government’s information and information technology  (I&IT) infrastructure.

These publications support the responsibilities of the Treasury Board Secretariat for coordinating standardization of I&IT in the Government of Ontario. In particular, GO-IT Standards describe where the application of an IT standard is mandatory and specify any qualifications governing the implementation of the IT standards.

2. Summary

2.1 Standard Name and Description

This document defines the Simple Mail Transport Protocol which constitutes the electronic mail interface between the Government of Ontario and external business partners on the internet.   

2.2 Background and rationale

This GO-ITS is established to mandate the use of “Ontario.ca” as approved standard domain by the Ontario Modernization Committee chaired by Secretary of Cabinet and implemented as part of Cluster and Ministry transition to Enterprise E-Mail Service (EES).

The expected benefits and results of the GO-ITS are to provide the necessary centralized routing facilities for unified e-mail addressing.

2.3 Target audience

The target audience for this document includes, but is not limited to:

• developers
• technical implementers
• program managers

When implementing or adopting any GO-ITS standards or their updates, ministries and I&IT Cluster must follow their organization's pre-approved policies and practices for ensuring that adequate change control, change management and risk mitigation mechanisms are in place and employed.

For the purposes of this document, any reference to ministries or the Government includes applicable agencies.

2.4 Scope

2.4.1 In scope

The scope of this document is to implements the Government of Ontario specification for SMTP Internet e-mail addressing format.

2.4.2 Out of scope

N/A – anything not specified in Section 2.4.1

2.5 Applicability statements

Compliance with this standard is mandatory.

The standard should be applied in conjunction with any other relevant requirements related to governance, management, digital services, information and data assets that are outlined in Ontario Government directives, policies, standards, memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and service level agreements (SLAs).

This standard applies to Ontario ministries and provincial agencies that consume IT services or products from the Ontario Public Service (OPS) or seek technology investment approval/procurement approval from Treasury Board/Management Board of Cabinet.

2.5.1 Organization

All Ministries and I&IT Clusters are subject to Government of Ontario IT Standards.

All adjudicative and advisory agencies are subject to Government of Ontario IT Standards.

All other agencies that are using OPS information and information technology products or services are required to comply with Government of Ontario IT standards if they are subject to either the Governance and Management of Information Technology Directive OR Government of Ontario IT Standards by memorandum of understanding.

As new GO IT Standards are approved, they are deemed mandatory on a go-forward basis (go-forward basis means at the next available project development or procurement opportunity).

When implementing or adopting any Government of Ontario IT standards or IT standards updates, Ministries and I&IT Clusters and applicable agencies must follow their organization’s pre-approved policies and practices for ensuring that adequate change control, change management, and risk mitigation mechanisms are in place and employed. For the purposes of this document, any reference to Ministries or the Government includes applicable agencies.

2.5.2 Other applicability

GO-ITS 572TES is an OPS mandatory standard. Modifications during the life of the standard must be approved by the organizational owner of the document. 

The organizational owner of GO-ITS 572TES is the Service Owner, Enterprise E-Mail Services, Infrastructure Technology Services (ITS), Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (MPBSDP)

ITS will submit revised documentation to Architecture Review Board (ARB) for endorsement, and Information Technology Executive Lead Council for approval and publication.

2.5.3 Requirement levels

Within this document, certain wording conventions are followed. There are precise requirements and obligations associated with the following terms:

Must - This word, or the terms "REQUIRED" or "SHALL", means that the statement is an absolute requirement.

Should - This word, or the adjective "RECOMMENDED", means that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore the recommendation, but the full implications (e.g., business functionality, security, cost) must be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course.

3. Technical specification

The following requirements apply to all I&IT assets and operations within the scope of the Governance and Management of Information Technology Directive.

The Government of Ontario specification for SMTP Internet e-mail addressing [Based on Internet Engineering Task Force Secretariat (IETF) RFC2822 Internet Message Format] as following:

3.1 Individual SMTP Address Format

3.1.1 Standard individual email address:

First.(i.)Last(n)@Ontario.ca

Where Ontario.ca is the standard domain for all email addresses and other fields are defined as:

First     – First Name (required)

i           – Initial (optional)

Last     – Last Name (required)

n          – Tie-Breaker

The requirements for these fields are given in the table below:

Due to technical limitations with active directory, no special characters are permitted in individual SMTP address. All punctuation and spaces must be removed. Some tie-breaker format/rule examples are given below for how these format/rule and requirements should be applied:

Tie Breaker 1

Firstname.<MiddleInitialFirstChar.>Lastname@Ontario.ca

John.L.Smith@Ontario.ca

Tie Breaker 2

Firstname.<MiddleInitialFirst..Second..third.>Lastname@Ontario.ca

John.La.Smith@Ontario.ca

John.Lar.Smith@Ontario.ca

Maximum 6 characters for initials *

Tie Breaker 3

Firstname.Initial(s).Lastname#@Ontario.ca

John.L.Smith1@Ontario.ca

Firstname.Lastname#@Ontario.ca

John.Smith1@Ontario.ca 

Individual user email address examples:

John Larry Smith

E-Mail Address:  John.L.Smith@Ontario.ca 

Nick D’Alesandro

E-Mail Address: Nick.DAlesandro@Ontario.ca  (Note: special characters and spaces removed) 

John Smith

E-Mail Address: John.Smith@Ontario.ca 

John W, Smith

E-Mail  Address: John.W.Smith@Ontario.ca   (Note: the tie breaker used in the initial) 

John Smith

E-Mail Address: John.Smith1@gov.on.ca (Note: one tie breaker digits are required)

3.1.2 Individual email address with singular/single name format:

SingularName(n)@Ontario.ca

or

SingleName(n)@Ontario.ca

Where Ontario.ca is the standard domain for all email addresses and other fields are defined as:

SingularName  – User chosen or given name (required)

/SingleName

n                      – Tie-Breaker

The requirements for these fields are given in the table below:

* Singular name examples: First Nation, Metis and Inuit etc names, given name at birth, name change due to religion or transitioning.

Tie Breaker example:

Singularname@Ontario.ca

Singularname1@Ontario.ca

* Note: Technical limitation in Active Directory                                                                                                                         

3.1.3 Generic SMTP address format:

GenericName(.MinCode)@Ontario.ca 

No special characters are permitted in Generic SMTP address. All punctuation and spaces must be removed.

Generic SMTP addresses are used for business specific purposes where individual names are not preferred and allow e-mail communications to business areas based on business function.  

The Ministry code element is required where generic address is to be distinguished by ministry, for example, Resumes.MOHLTC@Ontario.ca.  Ministry code is optional where generic address is representative of a business function at the Government of Ontario level, for example Resumes@Ontario.ca (See Section 3.1.2 for singular or single name requirements).

Usage of Generic address without Ministry code must adhere to the format outlined in this section and the implementer must also provide notification to the Infrastructure Management Committee (IMC). 

Examples:

Resumes.MOHLTC@Ontario.ca 

ServiceDesk.MTO@Ontario.ca

Resumes@Ontario.ca

JobMart@Ontario.ca

4. Related standards and impacted infrastructure

4.1 Impacts to existing standards

Identify any standards that reference or are referenced by this standard and describe the impact.

4.2 Impacts to Existing Infrastructure

Identify any applications, systems, solutions and technology platforms that could be affected by this standard and describe the impact.

5. Compliance requirements

In order to manage the effectiveness and implementation of this standard, Ministries, I&IT Clusters and applicable agencies are expected to adopt and monitor compliance.

6. Roles and responsibilities

Accountable Role (Standard Owner) Definition

The individual or committee ultimately accountable for the effectiveness of a standard and for its full life-cycle, including development, reviews, revisions, updates, evaluations, and rescindment. Where a committee owns the standard, the committee Chair is accountable for the standard. There must be exactly one accountable role identified.

Accountable Role:

Ministry/I&IT Cluster: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (MPBSDP) 
Division: Infrastructure Technology Services (ITS) 
Title: Director, Desktop Services
         Name: Greg Shaw
         Phone: 647-640-2523                
         Email: Greg.Shaw@ontario.ca

Responsible Role Definition

The organization(s) responsible for the development of this standard. There may be more than one responsible organization identified if it is a partnership/joint effort. (Note: the responsible organization(s) provides the resource(s) to develop the standard).

Responsible Organization(s):

Ministry/I&IT Cluster: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (MPBSDP)   
Division: Infrastructure Technology Services (ITS)   
Branch:  Workplace Technology Services

Support Role Definition

The support role is the resource(s) to whom the responsibility for maintaining this standard has been assigned. Inquiries, feedback, and suggestions should be sent to this resource.

Support Role (Editor):

Ministry/I&IT Cluster: Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (MPBSDP)  
Division: Infrastructure Technology Services (ITS)  
Job Title: Manager, Enterprise Email Services
         Name: Jessica Keats
         Phone: 647-248-6681                
         Email: Jessica.Keats@ontario.ca

2nd Support Role:

Job Title: Sr. Manager, Enterprise Planning & Architecture
         Name: Alan Matsumoto
         Phone: 416-994-7322                
         Email: Alan.Matsumoto@ontario.ca

3rd Support Role:

Job Title: Director, Workplace Technology Services
         Name: Zelko Holjevac
         Phone: 647-640-2523                
         Email: Zelko.Holjevac@ontario.ca

7. Consultations

Areas consulted as part of the development of this standard. Include individuals and committees, councils and/or working groups:

8. Document history

9. Appendices

9.1 Normative references

Governance and Management of Information Technology Directive

GO IT  Standards: Information technology standards

Internet Message Format: This document specifies a syntax for text messages that are sent between computer users, within the framework of "electronic mail" messages. 

RFC2822: P. Resnick. "Internet Message Format." The Internet Engineering Task Force 2001/04/01 

• local link (for RFPs): rfc2822.txt
• remote link: RFC 2822

Note:  a normative reference specifies a supporting document or GO IT  Standard (in the case of the Government of Ontario's I&IT infrastructure, often another OPS I&IT authorized publication) that must be read to fully understand or implement the subject matter of the main GO IT  Standard. Such authoritative or de facto references may be external and may, or may not be, owned/controlled by the GO IT  Standard owner.

9.2 Informative references

Many useful naming acronyms are published by ONTERM. For more information see Ontario government terminology

Note: an informative reference is not normative; rather, it provides only additional background information.