Canada’s federal research granting agencies – the 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) (“the agencies”) – have announced a review of the Tri-Agency Open Access (OA) Policy on Publications (“OA Policy”), with the goal of requiring that any peer-reviewed journal publications arising from agency-supported research be freely available, without subscription or fee, at the time of publication. The renewed OA Policy will be released by the end of 2025.

The agencies are committed to increasing the dissemination of research results and accelerating knowledge mobilization by ensuring peer-reviewed articles resulting from agency-funded research are freely and immediately available.  

Over the coming year, they will engage with a wide range of partners within the research community (e.g., researchers, research libraries, federal and provincial partners, scholarly associations, and publishers) to identify the key features of an effective, comprehensive, sustainable and equitable immediate OA Policy for peer-reviewed articles, and the incentives and supports required for the Policy’s successful implementation.  

As a first step, the agencies invite members of the community to complete a short, online survey to help inform the updating of the OA Policy. The agencies will continue to consult over the next year, as they revise the Policy to immediate OA for publications, as one component of advancing Open Science practices in Canada.

If you have any questions about the OA Policy review, please contact openaccess@sshrc-crsh.gc.ca.