Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2015) , Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
ResourcesTri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2015) , Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
What is this about?
The Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2015), issued by CIHR, NSERC, and SSHRC, sets national expectations for open science in Canada. It requires federally funded research publications to be openly accessible—ideally immediately, or within a limited embargo—via repositories or journals, using clear licensing (e.g., Creative Commons) and persistent identifiers. The policy emphasizes responsible openness, balancing transparency with ethics, privacy, Indigenous rights, and security.
It outlines roles for researchers (rights retention, compliance, acknowledging funders), institutions (repositories, training), and funders (infrastructure support, monitoring compliance). It also encourages FAIR data, data management plans, and alignment with international initiatives like Plan S. Equity and inclusion are cross-cutting themes, with attention to affordability and multilingual access.
In short: the policy makes open access the default in Canadian research, linking it to quality, equity, and global interoperability, while providing practical guidance and accountability mechanisms for researchers and institutions.
