Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

2005 Category 3: Canada
The Gateway provides a menu of relevant topics, access to timely highlights and
tools to help consumers save time, money and better protect themselves from fraud
and deception. Consumers can now turn to a single Web portal and access mote than
7,000 programs, services and subjects from more than 450 government and NGO
partners. A powerful search engine and a menu of relevant topics make access to
information easy and fast. The Gateway is also equipped with telephone and inperson
service delivery channels. Each link to a partner Website is preceded by an
innovative Standard Portal Document, which is an easy to print page containing
background information on the source of the program, service or subject and contact
information, including telephone number, mail and, where appropriate, in-person
service.
The Gateway is an innovative online tool providing education and information resources
to consumers. Features like interactive quizzes, animated features, and calculators
enable consumers to do more in less time. The most powerful tool of the
Gateway is the Consumer Complaint Courier – a bold transformation of how government
agencies handle consumer complaints. The Courier teaches the consumer what
steps to take to log a complaint with a business, links them to relevant information
and connects them instantly to an appropriate agency. This specific feature provides
enormous empowerment to consumers. Its innovative letter wizards help citizens to
prepare complaint letters by simply filling in a complaints template and the complaints
database automatically forwards the complaint to the concerned department.
The Gateway integrates knowledge from all relevant sources, and cuts the costs of
publishing and distributing information by using a one-stop shop. Citizens are empowered
as they are better informed to make wise choices, and can complain when
services are not provided. Furthermore, they are able to protect themselves from unnecessary
risk and fraud. Despite a limited marketing budget, the Gateway received
over 350,000 visits in 2004 and in a recent online survey, 2/3 of respondents expressed
a significant level of satisfaction with the Gateway. Moreover, in the same
survey, 72% of users said they would definitely return to using the portal’s services;
and the Complaint Courier is fast becoming the preferred complaint channel tool for
both consumers and partners alike.
It is important to mention that the initiative received the following Awards in the past:
• 2001: Two GTECH Distinction Awards (Gold) for both Leadership and Innovative
Partnerships and Alliances;
• 2002: Head of the Public Service Award for Excellence in Service Delivery –
Service Transformation;
• 2002: Finalist – Innovation Awards of the Commonwealth Association of Public
Administration Management; and
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