Making government services more digitally accessible

Objective

Our goal is to make government programs and services more accessible, reliable, and convenient for people. That is why we are building on the latest digital technology to provide best-in-class, user-centric, secure digital solutions to the people and businesses of Ontario.

We’re focused on delivering 4 priorities:

  1. Making more of our most widely used services available to you online

  2. Increasing the percentage of online interactions for common services

  3. Achieving a 75% satisfaction rate from citizens and businesses, based on customer experience assessments

  4. Ensuring government services are available on platforms that meet your needs: online via Ontario.ca, in-person at ServiceOntario and through our call centres

Learn more about our projects and explore our progress on the Plan.

Innovation story

Meet Johnny

Johnny wants to apply for a government service. He learns that instead of coming into a government office, he can download an app and apply online. The app helps him validate his identity using his driver’s licence and health card and creates a secure, digital version of his identity. When the ontario.ca website asks to enter his name and date of birth, Johnny allows the app to access his digital identity. From now on Johnny can use his digital wallet any time a website or service is set up to accept it — online, in an office or from his mobile phone. The service is more efficient, and his personal information is fully protected.

The Police Association of Ontario (PAO) commends the Ontario government for their commitment to further modernizing our province’s justice system. Today’s announcement will increase our members’ ability to efficiently enforce probation orders in communities throughout Ontario, regardless of whether the original order is physically present. The PAO looks forward to working with the provincial government on future modernization initiatives for the policing and justice sectors on behalf of our 18,000 local sworn and civilian police personnel.

Bruce Chapman President of the Police Association of Ontario

As the province seeks to leverage leading digital technologies, including machine learning, to improve public services, we look forward to sharing our community’s expertise around adoption. Given our vision to realize benefits for the economy and society, we are encouraged by the province’s plans to create a digital wallet for Ontarians and give clinicians secure access to patients’ records online. Projects like these, that aim to consolidate data and give Ontarians greater control and security over their digital identities, are foundations of innovation in the public sector.

Garth Gibson President & CEO, Vector Institute

When governments embrace a digital agenda with a foundational focus on security and privacy, significant benefits can accrue, such as improved efficiency and productivity and better collaboration between government departments. The Government’s Ontario Onwards Action Plan demonstrates that when a digital agenda is combined with a human-centered approach, the benefits to citizens are potentially enormous, and include increased public participation and higher-quality services in areas such as healthcare and justice, as well as greater convenience that supports work, family and community. We look forward to working with the government to make this plan a reality.

Dr. Gillian K. Hadfield Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society at the University of Toronto

Ontario has a tremendous opportunity to expand on our education system’s world-renowned reputation and also become a world leader in virtual learning. We are thrilled that the government has announced its plan to establish a virtual learning strategy so that Ontario can provide the best possible student experience for all learners, no matter what their learning style or where they live.

Linda Franklin CEO and President of Colleges Ontario

Reducing red tape and simplifying policies, while protecting public health and safety

Objective

Our goal is to simplify policies to make life easier for the people and businesses of Ontario while ensuring the appropriate standards, regulations, and processes are in place to protect health and safety. This starts with removing unnecessary red tape to make government more effective and efficient for you.

Our priorities are:

  1. Saving people and businesses money

  2. Reducing regulatory compliance burden

Learn more about our projects and explore our progress on the Plan.

Innovation story

Meet Liam

Liam is a small business owner frustrated with the number of hoops he needs to jump through to maintain and expand his business. He has had to halt services multiple times a year for various inspections. Now that the government is streamlining regulatory enforcement, Liam will be able to run his company with fewer interruptions, all while maintaining the same health and safety standards the people of Ontario expect.

The Residential Construction Council of Ontario applauds the bold and innovative ideas within the Action Plan released by Minister Bethlenfalvy and Treasury Board. Digitizing the development and construction approvals process will provide positive measurable results both in terms of increasing housing supply and fostering economic competitiveness. Construction will play a major role in Ontario’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and adopting a more streamlined system that reduces the development and approval processes is a much-needed game changer.

Richard Lyall President, RESCON

Red tape reduction is a critical part of COVID-19 economic recovery. Kudos to the Ontario government for taking even more steps to responsibly reduce red tape across government. Measures like coordinating all inspectors’ visits to a business — a CFIB recommendation — will save valuable time, allowing business owners to get quickly back to business and work on reviving and growing the economy.

Julie Kwiecinski Director of Provincial Affairs (Ontario), Canadian Federation of Independent Business

Improving government purchasing

Objective

Our goal is to transform how the Ontario government purchases goods and services by leveraging its combined bulk-buying power, while supporting local Ontario businesses, promoting job creation and economic growth.

We’re prioritizing improvements in 4 areas:

  1. Sourcing high-quality goods at scale to save taxpayer money

  2. Stabilizing access to a high-quality supply of critical products (such as personal protective equipment)

  3. Stimulating job creation and economic growth by supporting the production of made-in-Ontario goods

  4. Supporting innovation of emerging technologies, removing barriers, and connecting small businesses and entrepreneurs to government and its customers

Learn more about our projects and explore our progress on the Plan.

Innovation story

Meet William and Kristen

William works in a hospital that needs to buy more personal protective equipment (PPE). Kristen works in a nearby school board that needs to buy the same PPE. By combining their purchasing processes, Kristen and William are both able to acquire cost-effective PPE. With their combined bid, they can now enter a new pricing category for higher quantities and reduce the price per person. They now have the safety equipment they need, when then need it at a savings to taxpayers.

Creating more responsive and flexible public services

Objective

Our goal is to build better government services that work for you. Whether you’re interacting with our frontline staff or accessing our services online, we want to improve your experience when dealing with government.

We’re focusing our efforts to achieve the following outcome:

  1. Building faster and more efficient government processes

Learn more about our projects and explore our progress on the Plan.

Innovation story

Meet Tanisha

Tanisha does shift work as a medical professional and finds it difficult to get away to renew her Accessible Parking Permit. When she does find the time, she needs the process to be quick and easy. Because of productivity improvements made inside government through the utilization of lean process management, Tanisha is now one of 200 more people every day having their Accessible Parking Permit processed. That means that she is getting the services she needs faster. By reducing lead times and eliminating backlogs, these types of changes often result in a 20% improvement in productivity and better customer service, saving staff time and costs. By using tools like lean to continually pursue improvements across government, more people like Tanisha and the rest of Ontario will be able to get what they want, when they want it, correctly — the first time.

We are pleased to see the Government of Ontario’s plan to modernize how it delivers programs and services in a way that is customer-centric, business-friendly, and measures outcomes. Now, more than ever, we need responsive government services to support Ontarians and Ontario businesses. Approaches like Ontario Onwards can contribute to the long-term fiscal responsibility of the Province. We look forward to working with government to bring detail to these important public policy initiatives.

Rocco Rossi President and CEO, Ontario Chamber of Commerce

Other projects

In addition to the four main pillars of the Action Plan, the government has developed the following projects:

  1. Making it easier for people to interact with government

  2. Maximizing the value of the government’s real estate portfolio to achieve the best value for taxpayer money

  3. Improving customer experience by completing a comprehensive review of government agencies with a focus on improving the customer experience, and offering more services virtually and online.

    • Identified initial changes at more than 150 provincial agencies that will improve processes and offer more customer-focused, digital- and data-driven services for Ontarians.

  4. Improving infrastructure planning and enable data-driven decision-making using new technologies

Learn more about our projects and explore our progress on the Plan.

Innovation story

Meet Janessa

Janessa is a teacher who wants to make sure her students are keeping up with their science studies while learning remotely. Thanks to a partnership between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, the Ontario Science Centre and Science North, Janessa and students now have online access to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) resources that align with the school curriculum. These government agencies moved quickly to provide high quality, convenient virtual education options for students while Ontario schools were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.