publicly

Transparency, built from the public record.

Governments and courts publish far more data than anyone has time to read. Publicly uses AI to analyze that publicly available data and turn it into sites anyone can search and understand, with every fact linked to its source.

Six public records, each made searchable

Each project is its own site under publicly.ca, built from one body of published records and kept up to date as the government or the courts publish more.

Federal spending

Four ledgers of what the Government of Canada spends. A department's page on one ledger links to the same department on the others.

  • Canada's Aid Ledger

    foreignaid.publicly.ca

    Every line of Canada's reported foreign aid since 2005, by country, cause, department and recipient, each linked to its government source.

    Built from Global Affairs Canada's historical project data sets, with yearly totals checked against the government's Statistical Reports on International Assistance.

  • Canada's Contract Ledger

    contracts.publicly.ca

    Every federal contract over $10,000 that departments have published: who was paid, by which department, whether it was competed, and how much it grew after award.

    Built from the government's proactive publication of contracts on open.canada.ca, one entry per contract with its latest amendment.

  • Canada's Grants Ledger

    grants.publicly.ca

    Federal grants and contributions by department, program, recipient and riding, including funding that goes abroad and agreements that grew after they were signed.

    Built from the government's proactive disclosure of grants and contributions on open.canada.ca, with amendments combined so each agreement is counted once.

  • Canada's Expense Ledger

    expenses.publicly.ca

    Travel and hospitality expenses that federal ministers and officials have disclosed: trips, events and meals, by department and by official.

    Built from the government's proactive disclosure of travel and hospitality expenses on open.canada.ca.

Parliament

What members of Parliament and ministers disclose about their own finances.

  • Canada's Interests Ledger

    interests.publicly.ca

    What MPs, ministers and parliamentary secretaries, and their spouses, disclose they own and owe: shares, funds, property, private companies and debts, with every reported change. The most-held companies across Parliament and by party.

    Built from the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's public registry, which lists holdings by name only, never by value.

Courts

What judges decide in public proceedings, case by case.

  • Sentence Watch

    sentencewatch.publicly.ca

    Sentencing decisions by Canadian judges, city by city: what the Crown asked for, the sentence imposed and the judge who decided.

    From published court decisions and news coverage, with every fact linked to its source.

More projects are in development.

How a fact gets onto a Publicly site

  1. A record is published

    A department, agency or court releases it: a disclosure file, a statistical report or a written decision.

  2. AI does the reading

    AI works through records at a scale no small team could, pulling out each amount, name, date and outcome.

  3. The fact keeps its source

    Every figure and claim on the page links to the decision, government record or report it came from.

  4. Anyone can check it

    Follow the link to the original. If something is wrong, report it on the project's corrections page and it gets fixed.

  • Public roles onlyWe record what people do in public office and in public proceedings, never their private lives.
  • Errors get fixedAnyone can report a mistake or ask for a removal through the project's corrections page.
  • Not part of any governmentPublicly is not affiliated with any government, court or agency.

Sources and disclaimer

Each site's methodology names its data sources, says what the data covers and leaves out, and explains how it is prepared.

Methodology for each site

Disclaimer

Publicly is an independent project. It is not affiliated with the Government of Canada, any other government, court or agency, or any political party.

The sites are built by automated processing of records that governments and courts publish, with code written and run with the help of AI. Errors in the source records or in our processing can still occur, so treat every figure as a pointer to the original record and check it there before you rely on it. Every page links to the record it comes from.

Figures are as reported, not audited findings. A person, organization or case appearing on a Publicly site is not an allegation of wrongdoing. Nothing on these sites is legal, financial or professional advice.

Found a mistake? Report it on the site's corrections page.