Open Standards
Open standards refer to file formats, protocols and application interfaces that can be implemented by everyone.The standard specification is publically available and the standardization is open and transparent.
Search the catalog for open standards that are used by different levels of Canadian public administrations.
You may also add a standard or update its data using the Open Standards Form.
Need help? Check our user guide on how to use the Open Resource Exchange platform.
Filter Options
| Standard | Description | Standard Setting Organization | Tag | Level of government | Administration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business Process Model and Notation | BPMN is a notation and graphical representation for specifying business processes. | Object Management Group | Process | federal | tbs-sct |
| HyperText Markup Language 5 | HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the Web. It is the fifth and current major version of the HTML standard. | W3C | Web | federal | tbs-sct |
| Date and time format | An internationally accepted way to represent dates and times using numbers. | International Organization for Standardization | Date Time | federal | tbs-sct |
| Language codes | Internationally recognized codes for the representation of languages. | International Organization for Standardization | Languages | federal | tbs-sct |
| JSON Data Interchange Syntax | Text-based, language-independent syntax for defining data interchange formats. | Ecma International | Data | federal | tbs-sct |
| Unicode Transformation Format 8 | UTF-8 is a variable width character encoding capable of encoding all valid code points in Unicode using one to four 8-bit bytes. The encoding is defined by the Unicode standard. | IETF | Web Text | federal federal | tbs-sct lac-bac |
Business Process Model and Notation
Description:
BPMN is a notation and graphical representation for specifying business processes.
| Is being used by: | Status | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | mandatory | 2018-12-01 | Mandatory Procedures for Enterprise Architecture Assessment |
HyperText Markup Language 5
Description:
HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the Web. It is the fifth and current major version of the HTML standard.
| Is being used by: | Status | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | mandatory | 2018-01-23 | Standard on Web Interoperability |
Date and time format
Description:
An internationally accepted way to represent dates and times using numbers.
| Is being used by: | Status | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | mandatory | 2010-07-01 | Standard on Metadata |
Language codes
Description:
Internationally recognized codes for the representation of languages.
| Is being used by: | Status | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | mandatory | 2010-07-01 | Standard on Metadata |
JSON Data Interchange Syntax
Description:
Text-based, language-independent syntax for defining data interchange formats.
| Is being used by: | Status | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | mandatory | 2018-12-01 | Mandatory Procedures on Application Programming Interfaces |
Unicode Transformation Format 8
Description:
UTF-8 is a variable width character encoding capable of encoding all valid code points in Unicode using one to four 8-bit bytes. The encoding is defined by the Unicode standard.
| Is being used by: | Status | Date | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat | mandatory | 2018-01-23 | Standard on Web Interoperability |
| Library and Archives Canada | preferred | 2018-01-23 | Guidelines on File Formats for Transferring Information Resources of Enduring Value |
Data is also made available in JSON format for open data and use in other applications.