---
title: "Governments of Canada and the Pan Canadian Trust Framework"
description: "This framework is the next major step after the 2016 publication of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Overview by the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC)"
excerpt: >
  "The Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada (TBS) and Shared Services Canada (SSC) are seeking a standardized method to issue and rapidly verify portable digital credentials across many different contexts, thereby reducing human judgement error, increasing efficiency and ensuring digital credential veracity using cryptography." 
permalink: /public-sector/canada/
tags: ["Pan Canadian Trust Framework","Canada"]
categories: ["Government"]
header:
  image: /images/pctf-header.jpeg
  caption: "[Pan-Canadian Trust Framework - Tim Bouma](https://medium.com/@trbouma/pan-canadian-trust-framework-eb65eac6c683)"
updated: 2020-01-11
---

## Decentralized ID - Canada

[![](https://i.imgur.com/wdbN3Ld.png)](https://twitter.com/sboots/status/1070320318487584768)

* [User-Centric Verifiable Digital Credentials](https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/101.nsf/eng/00068.html)
  > The Treasury Board Secretariat of Canada (TBS) and Shared Services Canada (SSC) are seeking a standardized method to issue and rapidly verify portable digital credentials across many different contexts, thereby reducing human judgement error, increasing efficiency and ensuring digital credential veracity using cryptography.
* [USER AUTHENTICATION GUIDANCE FORINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS](https://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/en/system/files/pdf_documents/itsp.30.031v3-eng_0.pdf)
* [Directive on Identity Management — 10 Years Later](https://medium.com/@trbouma/directive-on-identity-management-10-years-later-9463fbb835f3)
  > On July 1st, 2019 the new [Treasury Board Directive on Identity Management](https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=16577) (DIDM) went into effect, 10 years to the day when it was first issued under the revised Policy on Government Security back on July 1, 2009. The directive is issued under the new [Policy on Government Security](https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=16578) (PGS) and the [Directive on Security Management](https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/doc-eng.aspx?id=32611) (DSM).

[Canadians expect government, private sector to develop digital ID framework](https://www.biometricupdate.com/201910/canadians-expect-government-private-sector-to-develop-digital-id-framework)
  > Some 70 percent of Canadians would adopt digital identity and think the government should join forces with the private sector to implement a Digital ID framework for better access to government benefits, healthcare, e-commerce, and financial services, [found](https://diacc.ca/2019/10/15/canadians-are-ready-to-embrace-digital-identity/) a survey conducted by non-profit Digital ID and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC).

## Pan Canadian Trust Framework

* [Looking Ahead in 2020](https://medium.com/@trbouma/looking-ahead-in-2020-830afa372878)
  > I believe it will be a breakout year for digital identity, and for the underlying technical infrastructure that we need to achieve our goals. I see the work progressing on two fronts: 1) Pan-Canadian Trust Framework, and, 2) Verifiable Credentials/Decentralized Identifiers Deployment.
* [Public Sector Profile of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Version 1.0 Recommendation Draft](https://medium.com/@trbouma/public-sector-profile-of-the-pan-canadian-trust-framework-version-1-0-4baf8ff0cfa0) — Now [available on GitHub](https://canada-ca.github.io/PCTF-CCP/)
  > The public sector profile of the PCTF reflects:
  > - Evolution of the Identity Management Sub-Committee (IMSC) efforts. 
  > - The Need to Apply the PCTF for Assessments. 
  > - Policy Alignment.
* [IMSC Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Executive Summary](https://medium.com/@trbouma/imsc-pan-canadian-trust-framework-executive-summary-5c89a72e06b5)
  > This [document](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Xmjh8QJZKWmRkaTtE2f43ISntD7jE6D5) describes Version 1.0 of the IMSC Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF). This framework is the next major step after the 2016 publication of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Overview by the Digital Identification and Authentication Council of Canada (DIACC), in collaboration with the Canadian public sector Identity Management Sub-Committee (IMSC) of the Joint Councils (JC).
* [IMSC Pan-Canadian Trust Framework](https://medium.com/@trbouma/imsc-pan-canadian-trust-framework-1f68134e338a) - A summary of the latest iterations before our final version to be delivered on March 31st, 2019. The near to final document is [here](https://drive.google.com/open?id=1P8kFJZfUV7PX25KEkZKk0XftrqqQp9FI)
* [The Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Using Prolog](https://medium.com/@trbouma/the-pan-canadian-trust-framework-using-prolog-e62ffa911ff5)
  > A ‘declarative framework’ (such as [Prolog](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/prolog-an-introduction/)) focuses on the ‘what’ needs to be done, satisfied, relied on (i.e., proven to be true) versus ‘how to do it.’ In our case, with the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (PCTF), it’s the question of ‘Can we rely on or accept a digital identity originating from a province or territory?’


![](https://miro.medium.com/max/687/1*gWHaw0K1e_S4Ts4EIzEhoA.png)

{% include video id="sg8qM9D_vqU" provider="youtube" %}
* [A Quick Video Tour of the PCTF Trusted Processes and Cross-Referencing](https://medium.com/@trbouma/a-quick-video-tour-of-the-pctf-trusted-processes-and-cross-referencing-3c892a012edd)

* [Treasury Board Identity Management Policy and Pan-Canadian Trust Framework — Identity Management Policy Workshop](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/189DxjNv7EE7KtjkidB6EpwuvO2lIy7kEL-3DWtMAiQg/edit) 
* [Pan Canadian Trust Framework - Overview](https://diacc.ca/2016/08/11/pctf-overview/)
* [Pan-Canadian Trust Framework](https://diacc.ca/pan-canadian-trust-framework/)
* [Pan-Canadian Trust Framework (Draft for Discussion) — deck, ...](https://medium.com/@trbouma/pan-canadian-trust-framework-draft-for-discussion-deck-video-and-site-724b5aa3acf0)
Here is a link to the discussion deck of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework. One of the slides is depicted below.
* [White Paper: Canada’s Digital ID Future - A Federated Approach](https://www.cba.ca/embracing-digital-id-in-canada)
In this brief, we highlight why Canada needs a digital identity system, how other countries have made progress in this area and the lessons we can learn from those experiences to build a system in Canada.
* [canada-ca/PCTF-CCP](https://github.com/canada-ca/PCTF-CCP) - Public Sector Profile of the Pan-Canadian Trust Framework | Cadre de Confiance pancanadien
  > Public Sector Profile of the [Pan-Canadian Trust Framework Version 1.0 Recommendation Draft (July 4th, 2019)](https://github.com/canada-ca/PCTF-CCP/blob/master/public-sector-profile/recommendation-draft/Readme.md)
  > A quick video overview of the document (this video is of a previous version will be updated shortly)
* [ssimeetup- Overview of Proposed Pan Canadian Trust Framework](https://ssimeetup.org/overview-proposed-pan-canadian-trust-framework-ssi-tim-bouma-webinar-19/) 1\2019 [Slideshare](https://www.slideshare.net/SSIMeetup/overview-of-the-proposed-pancanadian-trust-framework-for-ssi-tim-bouma) 
  > The Government of British Columbia and the Government of Ontario have already rolled out a production system using the Sovrin Network for business registration and licensing; together they've issued over 6 million credentials, according to Windley. - [How Blockchain may Kill the Password](https://www.computerworld.com/article/3329962/blockchain/how-blockchain-may-kill-the-password.amp.html)

<iframe src="//www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/hwUlr34zkyfGvm" width="595" height="485" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe>

{% include figure image_path="/images/canadian-digital-identity-history.png" alt="canadian-digital-identity-history" caption="[Annex E - 2014- 2017 Federating Identity: Milestones and Initiatives](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/189DxjNv7EE7KtjkidB6EpwuvO2lIy7kEL-3DWtMAiQg/edit)" %}
