Stories from the public good

Webinar: How Does the Federal Budget Approach Digital Nation-Building?

How does the federal government's newly released budget address Canada's approach to digital public infrastructure and digital nation-building?

How We Tested Our Site with Real People to Fix Critical Accessibility Barriers

Across Canada, government teams are working hard to meet new accessibility standards. It can be a serious challenge, and while automated scans and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) checklists are a good start, they rarely tell the full story.

A User Interview Guide for Government Teams

User interviews are one of the best ways to understand the needs of your users. They can reveal how users actually think, feel, and behave when interacting with your service. That’s why we’ve created this user interview guide. Consider it your one-stop shop for running successful user interviews that help you create better, more user-centred public services.

How to Cut Service Delivery Costs with Accessibility Testing

If you're not building accessibility testing into the early stages of your design and development work, you're missing out on major savings. We break down 7 free accessibility testing tools to get you started.

Webinar: How Can a New Federal Government Deliver Better Digital Services?

Watch Code for Canada's expert panel discussion on how a new federal government can deliver better digital services.

Expert Answers to 5 Common Digital Accessibility Questions

Three experts answer common questions about how to create truly accessible public digital services.

Helping the RCMP NC3 Use AI to Process Fraud & Cybercrime Reports

Learn how Code for Canada created an AI model to help RCMP staff with the high volume of fraud and cybercrime reports.

Webinar: Achieving Accessibility in the Public Sector Through Usability Testing

Watch Code for Canada's expert panel discussion on how usability testing unlocked accessibility wins on a government website.

How to Use Service Design to Improve Waiting Experiences

Senior Service Designer Uneeba Mubashsher applies a human-centered lens to the design of waiting.

How to Ethically Use AI in the Public Sector

A guide on how Code for Canada approaches AI in our work with public sector partners.

How To Improve Product Research With Deep Listening Practices

Learn how to use deep listening as a tool to reframe how you think about design research.

4 Digital Government Goals Code for Canada is Tackling in 2025

Read what digital challenges Code for Canada will be tackling in 2025.

Introducing Service Blueprints to Support Digital Transformation at Canada National Defence

A Code for Canada Service Designer explains how and why service blueprints are implemented in her work.

4 Actionable Takeaways on Digital Transformation from a Government Leader

Global Affairs Canada Director General Brandon Lee is undertaking an unprecedented digital transformation project. Here, he shares his advice for digital government teams.

How We Helped Nova Scotia Create An Evergreen Change Management Playbook For Government Teams

Our team built a tailored change management playbook for a government team with strategies for adapting to future projects.

How We Helped Grey County Understand How to Leverage AI to Improve Public Services

The Code for Canada team helped public servants learn more about AI's potential for resident-centred service design and delivery.

Webinar: Navigating Away from Legacy Technology in Government

Read our full-length answers to questions asked during our Navigating Away from Legacy Technology webinar.

Code for Canada’s Ethical AI Principles

Code for Canada has created our own set of principles for ethically working with AI.

How to Incorporate Design Principles into Your Projects

How We Helped the City of Kingston Understand the Needs of Its Residents

Code for Canada coached staff at the City of Kingston on UX research best practices. Together, we uncovered ways the city could improve their resident services' portal.

How User Research is Helping Find the Best Way to Improve a Community’s Water Access

How Code for Canada Empowers Teams to be Effective Change Makers

Learn how Code for Canada supports and trains their project staff to help them be effective public service change-makers.

How Inclusive Usability Testing is Helping People Find Doctors

Code for Canada joined up with the BC Public Service to ensure a digital platform to find primary care physicians was built with, not for, BC residents

How We’re Keeping People Across Canada Safe with a New Web App

Learn how a team of digital professionals created an intuitive app to track explosives inspections.

Case Study: Digital Government During Crisis - Nova Scotia's Self Check-in Application

C4C's Sanjit Bakshi teamed up with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) to design an in-depth report on what made Nova Scotia's Safe Check-In App such a success!

Want to Reduce the Risk of Getting Digital Government Wrong? Us Too

There’s too much at stake to get digital government wrong. We’re spending 2023 on projects that will deliver real benefits to people across Canada.

How Minimum Viable Products Maximize Your Chance of Success

How to Set Digital Talent Up for Success in Government

Hiring a legion of developers and UX designers isn't enough for true digital transformation. To make real change, governments need to seriously consider a culture shift.

So You've Hired Digital Talent in Government. How do You Keep Them?

As anyone working in government knows, recruiting digital talent is a major challenge. So once you’ve got them in the door, how do you retain them? We break down key recommendations about just that.

How to Attract Tech Talent to the Public Sector

Governments around the world are struggling to find the in-house talent they need to achieve their digital mandates. Yet many talented people want to use their skills for the public good. Here's how to recruit them.

How usability testing can help improve mental health access for Black children and youth

In this project, Code for Canada's inclusive user research team worked with Pathways to Care and their developers, Nomadic Labs, to run two usability tests on the ConnectMe Project.

Case Study: Building Digital Government Talent Pipelines

We’re releasing our first case study, a deep dive into Code for Canada’s Fellowship program and our insights into hiring and retaining digital talent in the public sector.

How to manage compassion fatigue as a UX Designer in the public sector

A guide to recognizing and managing compassion fatigue.

Agile software requirements engineering: How to efficiently communicate, document and stay adaptable

Learn about how an agile requirements engineering process can help teams identify requirements and communicate needs clearly to all stakeholders.

Navigating red tape, barriers and hard places in government

Water from a stone: User research in government without users

How to create actionable user insights when you don’t have direct access to your users.

We're hiring a Civic Data Engineer: MOVE Project

We're hiring a Web Application Developer: MOVE Project

Are you a developer looking for an opportunity to use your skills for the public good? Apply to join the Code for Canada MOVE Project team, currently accepting applications.

How we used Speculative Design to foster innovation and collaboration

Code for Canada fellows at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) used a speculative design sprint to imagine better public services for residents.

How usability testing can improve Toronto’s shelter intake system

Code for Canada worked with the City of Toronto’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) team to conduct usability testing on an updated version of the intake form for their Shelter Management Information System (SMIS)

How We Unlocked User Research Insights at the Canada Energy Regulator

Gillian Wu shares share some of the insights she gathered from her team's user research sessions at the Canada Energy Regulator.

A peek into the discovery process for the Canada Energy Regulator fellowship project

Gillian Wu, UX Design fellow at the Canadian Energy Regulator shares her team's process through the discovery phase.

What are the barriers that inhibit user research?

What are the various pain factors that could prevent someone from participating in user research? Code for Canada fellow Gillian Wu takes examines four factors ad proposes potential solutions.

How We Helped The City Of Toronto Modernize Legacy Data Systems

Jesse Coleman and Aakash Harpalani from the City share learnings and advice for others embarking on digital projects in government. Hear why they decided to build new tools in-house instead of relying on vendors. Learn how they adopted more agile rituals on their team. And discover how a team from Code for Canada helped them stay laser-focused on user needs.

How do you find research participants and improve your response rate?

Hello mindsets! A new way to understand users

Goodbye personas! How mindsets can help you build empathy and reduce bias

Modernizing Canadian military transition: a veteran's perspective

Heshan Modaragamage is a Code for Canada project management fellow embedded with the Canadian Armed Forces Transition Group. He shares his own experience of military transition and how this project will benefit veterans.