Strengthening Citizen Participation in Public Policy-Making: A Canadian Perspective

Citizen participation has a longstanding history in Canadian policy-making. Recently, strengthening citizen participation in national policy issues has been a priority. Most noteworthy is the introduction of citizen engagement which integrates deliberation-based methods into participatory policy initiatives. To enhance participation in other jurisdictions, we analyse efforts to transform participation in Canada. Also, to extend efforts to improve participation in Canada and beyond, we analyse specific developments related to institutionalising participation and fostering government accountability. We offer recommendations that we believe can contribute to future efforts to foster meaningful public participation around the world.