Q&A

One Ontario is a non-profit organization bringing together all levels of government, industry, experts, and academic leaders. We invite you to join us to drive meaningful change by creating faster, greener, and better building solutions for society. Learn more here.

The One Ontario platform is a software solution that connects disparate systems and organizations (authorities having jurisdiction) to aggregate and structure data for improved accessibility, communication, and insights. It is a data exchange platform improving inter-agency communication and agency-applicant communication.

We are approaching this challenge from a software perspective by putting infrastructure in place that will facilitate data exchange and enable streamlined collaboration between all parties involved in the development approval process. One Ontario is the software platform.

We have been involved in researching the development approval process challenge for almost a decade, including a four-year project examining development approval systems around the world. Our staff has experience as academics, industry applicants, and municipal government officials. Our coalition partners are all involved in the development approval process and represent various levels of government, regulatory agencies, and industry groups.

No. One Ontario is a software infrastructure that facilitates data exchange. Currently data is siloed in many systems including e-permitting systems, GIS systems, paper file folders, faxes, and email inboxes. One Ontario provides a mechanism to structure and standardize the data to allow for more efficient collaboration. By enabling streamlined data flow municipalities and provincial governments can run important reports and enable more data-informed decisions. Our goal is to connect to, and extend existing software systems to move data and allow more streamlined inter-agency communication. e-Permitting systems remain an important part of municipal operations.

No, One Ontario is a non-profit and is not a mechanism to sell data. We ensures that the control and ownership of data remains with the jurisdiction responsible for it. Authorities having jurisdiction, such as municipalities, will have the sole discretion to decide which portions will be commercialized or made publicly accessible, much like municipal e-permitting systems.

We take concerns about privacy and security seriously and ensures that their software solution meets or exceeds all relevant data protection and privacy regulations. They also maintain strict security measures to protect the data from unauthorized access or breaches.

One Ontario will be transformational for government and applicants. One Ontario will help bring clarity to a complex process for governments and regulatory agencies. By facilitating the exchange of data, it will support applicants by bringing transparency, consistency, and clarity to the development approvals process which ultimately benefits municipalities and the citizens of Ontario.