Webinar - A Maturity Model for Public Participation

Quality Over Volume

Governments in Canada are consulting the public on more issues than ever—AI regulation, climate adaptation, housing supply, emergency management—yet the results too often feel cosmetic. The September 2025 launch of the Maturity Model for Public Participation marks the first systematic attempt to measure and lift that quality across institutions.

The timing is no coincidence. The OECD’s 2024 Trust Survey found 49% of Canadians hold moderate or high trust in the federal government, above the OECD average, but only 40% think input from public consultations actually influences decisions. Political agency—the belief that one’s voice matters—emerges as the dominant driver: those who feel heard are nearly four times more likely to trust government than those who do not. Inconsistent or tokenistic engagement therefore directly erodes the legitimacy needed to implement costly, contested policies.

The concrete stakes are measurable in time, money and political capital. Past consultations that failed to demonstrate responsiveness have triggered legal challenges, especially over Indigenous duty-to-consult obligations, delayed infrastructure projects by years and forced policy rewrites. With federal pilot cohorts launching this year and running through mid-2027, departments now face internal deadlines to assess capacity, set improvement targets and report progress. Inaction risks compounding fiscal pressure: every poorly executed round of engagement consumes staff time, consultant fees and public goodwill that governments can ill afford amid deficit concerns.

Less obvious is the structural tension inside bureaucracies. Ministers demand rapid responses to fast-moving crises, while meaningful participation requires time for informed deliberation and targeted outreach. Digital platforms expand reach but often amplify the loudest or most resourced voices, leaving equity gaps that the model explicitly flags. Standardising minimum practices across departments also collides with the reality that municipal and provincial engagement cultures differ sharply, raising questions about how a federal tool will translate—or whether it will simply create another layer of compliance theatre.