CRKN Response to New Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2026)
CRKN welcomes the recent release of the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2026). CRKN engaged with the Tri-Agency throughout the development of this new policy and we believe that this is an important step towards a sustainable open science ecosystem in Canada.
Based on this updated policy, journal articles resulting from research supported by Tri-Agency grants and Chairholder awards that are awarded on or after January 1, 2027 must be immediately and freely available in a Canadian institutional repository or made available through a trusted Canadian platform at the time of publication.
To ensure that authors can make their research available in immediate open access (OA), the Tri-Agency policy notes that authors must retain sufficient rights over their work. CRKN fully supports this push for authors to retain their rights in alignment with the principles that we are following in our 2026 negotiations. Through our negotiations with scholarly publishers, we are working to ensure that authors from CRKN institutions retain their rights and maintain full control over their research, including the choice of publication methods, and that publishers communicate clearly to authors their choices with respect to open access, license choice, deposit, and compliance with funder policies.
We are also very pleased to see the Tri-Agency recognize our CRKN member-owned trusted digital repository service for member licensed scholarly resources, Scholars Portal Journals, as a trusted Canadian platform for policy compliance in the Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions (2026 Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications). CRKN also applauds the recognition in the Tri-Agency’s policy of the value of diamond open access, community-led publishing, and open infrastructure. We are pleased to see our partners in the Partnership for Open Access, Érudit, recognized as a trusted Canadian platform. Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are also recognized in the policy as a way to acknowledge funder contributions. CRKN will continue to collaborate with our members, the Tri-Agency, and other stakeholders to help facilitate compliance with the policy as we work to empower Canada with access to trusted knowledge.