Better Public Policy Through Collaboration
Canada 2020 Policy Labs are collaborative sessions deployed on emerging public policy issues that require creative thinking, across and outside of the traditional silos of policy development. Their intent is to leave the politics behind, by creating an open space for sharing information and perspectives.
What is a Policy Lab?
A Canada 2020 Policy Lab is a half-day or full day-long retreat at the Canada 2020 Studio in Ottawa, Ontario. The goals of a Policy Lab are to make connections between the participants, to share information and resources, and to make progress on complex public policy issues affecting Canadians.
Policy Lab Process
Prior to the lab, 20-60 relevant subject matter experts are invited to participate.
Each participant is encouraged to submit a resource list of publicly available materials: reports, news articles, videos, etc. that they feel are relevant to the topic. These will be compiled into a master resource list, which will be distributed to all participants a week before the Lab.
Participants may also submit additional perspectives, which will be distributed to all participants a week before the Policy Lab. A week before the Policy Lab, a schedule of the day’s activities will be released to all participants, along with a final list of questions that will be discussed.
Policy Lab Outcomes
A short summary document will be written by Canada 2020, which details what was discussed, points on which there was consensus, points where there was disagreement, and recommended next steps.
At the end of the Policy Lab, the resource list will be made available to the public.
A successful Policy Lab should lead to further exploration of a topic by participants or Canada 2020 – through original research, stakeholder meetings, larger conferences or events, or public engagement.
Each Policy Lab will have spots reserved to the public. You can tell us why you think your input would be valuable to the discussion by filling out an online questionnaire. Applications will be specific to Policy Labs and will be posted on Canada 2020’s website.
Upcoming Canada 2020 Policy Labs
- Canada 2020 Policy Lab on Open Banking in Canada (May 7th, 2018) – Open Banking Report on Findings and Resolutions
- Canada 2020 Policy Lab on the National Pharmacare Initiative (May 29th, 2018) – report coming soon
- Canada 2020 Policy Lab on Tax Competitiveness (June 19th, 2018) – report coming soon