Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Government On-Line Report
January 31, 2003

Overview | GOL at DFO | Portals and Clusters | GOL Foundation | Key External Services | Future Plans | Contact Information

Overview

The mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is to ensure safe, healthy and productive waters and aquatic ecosystems for the benefit of present and future generations.  Through its mandate, the Department affects the livelihoods and safety of thousands of Canadians in oceans and freshwater industries throughout Canada, from fishing and marine transportation to tourism and recreation. 

The Government On-Line initiative is the Government of Canada's project to provide information and services on the Internet by 2005.  By providing information and services on-line, the government aims to serve Canadians better and become the government most connected to its citizens.  For DFO, the Internet offers numerous possibilities for improving the way that the Department delivers its services to Canadians.  While various technologies already play a major role in the day-to-day work of the Department, DFO is working toward taking full advantage of the benefits offered by the Internet for delivering services and information to Canadians.

GOL at DFO

Service to Canadians is an important part of the Department’s vision, and DFO continues to work hard toward improving its relationship with clients and Canadians alike, including developing new mechanisms to deliver programs and information to the public.

"Access DFO", for instance, is a departmental initiative to provide Canadians with "one-stop" access to DFO information and to improve responses to in-person, telephone and on-line inquiries. Through a diversified network of 50 sites across the country, the public can choose how they want to get information from DFO. Each site has core DFO publications on display and a direct-line telephone to contact a bilingual general inquiry service. Computer kiosks to provide citizens with access to DFO and Government of Canada web sites, have been installed at 14 of these sites. DFO recognizes that the Department’s clients are at widely varying levels of Internet familiarity making the full-range of delivery channels especially important.

The Department’s vision for GOL is to "provide easy access to high-quality, integrated information and services required by Canadians to ensure sustainable fisheries management; sustainable development of oceans and freshwater; and safe and accessible Canadian waters". DFO recently has adopted a GOL strategy that will move the GOL agenda forward in the Department.

Portals and Clusters

The Department recognizes the importance of making a strategic contribution to the Government of Canada’s portal. DFO continues working in partnership with Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and Health Canada to expand the single-window cluster for sustainable development. Launched April 2002, The Environment, Natural Resources, Fisheries and Agriculture cluster on the Canada site brings together environmental, social and economic information to explain and illustrate how the overall quality of life of Canadians can be improved without sacrificing Canada's rich natural legacy. Currently, Canadians can find information and services on the topics of air, water, climate change and sustainable development.

DFO has also been working with Transport Canada and Environment Canada to develop the Marine Services Portal, a single access point to government services for marine services clients. DFO will continue to pursue opportunities with government and non-government partners to develop "portals" of information and services, consistent with DFO’s business goals, strategic objectives and available resources. Further examples include the National Fishing Web Site, a gateway to federal, provincial and territorial fishing information for anglers and tourists, and the Ocean Forecasting web-site for the Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence, another interdepartmental effort between DFO and Environment Canada.

GOL Foundation

DFO is committed to developing a solid foundation for GOL and an efficient approach to shared requirements across the Department and across the Government. The Department recognizes the need to enhance the management of its vast information holdings, and significant effort is being made in this area to support the effective management of electronic documents and records.

To provide citizens with a secure and trusted on-line environment, the Department is ensuring that privacy and security issues are addressed for all GOL initiatives. In addition, DFO is adopting the government-wide guidelines and standards developed by the Strategic Infrastructure Initiative (SII), as it implements its information technology infrastructure to support the electronic delivery of DFO’s services.

Key External Services

DFO will continue to enhance existing on-line services, while ensuring that progress is being made on projects leading to new on-line DFO services.

   DFO Portal

Like other science-based departments, the provision of information and knowledge is one of DFO’s key external services. DFO’s many Internet web sites are entry points or "gateways" to a wide range of departmental information and services. DFO’s web sites collectively contain over 60,000 pages of information ranging from safe boating issues to scientific data about Canada’s waters and aquatic resources. The Department’s goal is to provide the citizens with a single point of access to the wide range of information and services offered by the Department. The Department’s web presence, or structure, will be less about how the department is organized internally and more about how clients seek and use information and services, making information and services easier for clients to access.

The Department is currently working to ensure that published materials will also be available in electronic formats on the Internet, and that information on web sites is recorded and archived to preserve institutional memory. To ensure that information is timely, accurate, relevant and complete, the Department is also improving the overall management of its web sites.

The Department is committed to ensuring that its web pages meet the Common Look and Feel Standards established by Treasury Board. These standards are designed to ensure that all Canadians, regardless of ability, geographic location or demographic category, are given equal access to information on the Government of Canada’s web sites.

   Marine Navigation Information Services

The Department currently provides a wide range of information on-line to help mariners safely and efficiently navigate Canadian waterways. For example, mariners are able to retrieve information, such as localized changes to navigation aids and events, navigational hazards, and changes to navigation routes and charts, through notices to mariners and notices to shippers. The Department’s Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) provides tidal predictions for over 700 locations in Canada on-line. CHS also provides a map-based on-line catalogue of nautical charts, and plans to introduce a service to help clients find one of the more than 700 chart dealers nearest to them.

Consult:

National Notice to Mariners at http://www.notmar.com/eng/index.php

Canadian Hydrographic Service at http://www.chs-shc.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/chs/en/

   Understanding Canada’s Waters and Aquatic Resources

DFO is keenly interested in meeting increasing public expectations for greater involvement in the decisions being made about the management and use of Canada’s waters and aquatic resources and environments. DFO has developed several web sites to increase awareness of sustainable development and provide more accurate data for better resource management. As well, DFO offers a wide range of scientific and socio-economic data information and reference material on Canada’s waters and aquatic resources. While much of the information is static and textual, there are plans to make the information more dynamic and interactive by 2005. This will include foundation interactive maps which will display departmental data, such as North Atlantic Fisheries Organization zones and sub-zones, fishery regulation zones and DFO statistical areas, geographically.

The following list provides a sampling of the diverse information sources available on the Department’s web sites.

MEDS manages and archives ocean data collected by DFO, or acquired through national and international programmes conducted in ocean areas adjacent to Canada, and disseminates data, data products, and services to the marine community. Using a common web access point, MEDS provides various types of scientific data such as tide and water levels, remote sensing and physical and chemical oceanographic profiles. MEDS is in the process of developing databases with web applications for aquaculture related data.

Consult:

Marine Environmental Data Service at http://www.meds-sdmm.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/meds/Home_e.htm

This service provides on-line statistical information on a wide range of fisheries data, including Canadian landings, fisheries products and stocks and aquaculture. Various reports are also available such as the Annual Statistical Review of Canadian Fisheries and Recreational Fisheries in Canada.

Consult:

Fisheries and Oceans Statistical Service at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/communic/Statistics/stat_e.htm

The St. Lawrence Observatory (OSL) Portal is dedicated to the exchange, dissemination and presentation of scientific data and marine information collected in the St. Lawrence marine ecosystem. Key accessible information includes real-time oceanographic data, tides, and ocean forecasts (sea ice, surface currents and temperature). The OSL features the results of collaborative endeavours such as: the Sentinel Fisheries Program, which uses data collected by fishers through a partnership between scientists and the fishing industry; the CDEENA Program (Comparative Dynamics of Exploited Ecosystems in the N-W Atlantic) that illustrates the predator-prey interactions in marine ecosystems; and the Shipboard Thermosalinographs Project that presents oceanographic data collected and transmitted by scientific equipment installed onboard commercial vessels sailing on the St. Lawrence. The OSL continues to serve a wide-ranging audience including academics, industry, government and non-government organizations both in Canada and abroad.

Consult:

St. Lawrence Observatory at http://www.osl.gc.ca/en/index.html

The CSAS web site provides a wide range of scientific information on commercial fish stocks, including stock-status reports and research documents, to help evaluate Canada’s fisheries resources. The web site also provides a series of publications on decisions, recommendations and major points of discussion at DFO-sponsored meetings.

Consult:

Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/csas

The Oceans Program Tracking Activity System (OPAT)

The Oceans Program Tracking Activity (OPAT) system is designed to increase national and international awareness of activities related to DFO’s ocean-related programs. Geographically referenced on a map of Canada, clients can simply click and zoom to pull up detailed information including specific project objectives, partners, achievements, background studies and key contacts

Consult:

Oceans Program Tracking Activity System at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/canwaters-eauxcan/oceans/opat-orapo/index_e.asp

WAVES, DFO’s on-line catalogue of library holdings, contains bibliographic information about the published and unpublished literature relating to fisheries, aquatic sciences, and nautical sciences available in the Department’s libraries. The catalogue provides links to full-text documents for many of the Department’s recent publications. In addition, as frequently requested or out-of-print departmental publications are digitized, links from WAVES are established to provide access to these older documents.

Consult:

WebWaves at http://inter01.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/wavesdocs/waves_mainmenu.html

   Licensing

The Department will be introducing a pilot project to enable 250,000 recreational fisheries applicants in British Columbia, to apply, pay and receive their recreational fishing licences on-line. The project, to be piloted in 2003, is expected to become the basis for a national service. In conjunction with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), a pilot project is also planned for 2003, in the Quebec region, to allow commercial fishers the ability to pay for their commercial licences through on-line banking services and through telephone banking.

Future Plans

DFO is committed to meeting the Government of Canada’s GOL objectives. The GOL initiative represents an exciting new way for the Department to connect more effectively with Canadians, and serves as a powerful tool for meeting the Department’s mandate and vision. It represents not only a new channel for service delivery, but a new way of doing business. It also offers significant opportunities to better engage Canadians in policy-making and decision-making processes, and to collaborate with partners and stakeholders in the effective management of Canada’s fisheries and oceans resources.

There is no doubt that GOL initiatives will be instrumental in shaping the DFO of the future.

Contact Information

For more information, please contact:

Bill Lumsdon
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6
Telephone: (613) 991-4936

E-mail: lumsdonb@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Last updated : 2004-09-09

Important Notices