About

The Canadian IGF

Since 2019, the Canadian IGF has brought together a diverse array of stakeholders from governments, civil society, the private sector, academia and the technical community to discuss digital and internet policy issues. 

The format of CIGF has changed throughout the years but one thing has remained the same: we provide the chance for Canadian stakeholders to discuss the most pressing issues affecting the internet. 

In 2023, we convened our first-ever hybrid event after three years of virtual events. CIGF 2023: The Future We Want had discussions about the future of Canadian communications policy and internet governance, the ethics and regulation of AI and Canadian digital policy priorities on the international stage.  

From 2019 onwards, the CIGF has discussed a large variety of topics, such as smart cities, the Internet of Things, sanctions, internet fragmentation, the Trudeau government’s digital policy package, content moderation, AI and more. The reports created after each event are used to represent the Canadian internet community’s priorities on the global stage and among key decisionmakers across the country.  

About the Global Internet Governance Forum

The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) serves to bring people together from various stakeholder groups as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors.  At their annual meeting delegates discuss, exchange information and share good practices with each other. The IGF facilitates a common understanding of how to maximize Internet opportunities and address risks and challenges that arise.

For more information on IGF please refer to the following documents:

In the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly on 16 December 2015, (70/125) ‘Outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society’, the existing mandate of the IGF as set out in paragraphs 72 to 78 of the Tunis Agenda  was extended for another 10 years. 

IGF Mandate
Paragraph 72 of the Tunis Agenda: 72. We ask the UN Secretary-General, in an open and inclusive process, to convene, by the second quarter of 2006, a meeting of the new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue—called the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). The mandate of the Forum is to:

  • Discuss public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance in order to foster the sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development of the Internet;
  • Facilitate discourse between bodies dealing with different cross-cutting international public policies regarding the Internet and discuss issues that do not fall within the scope of any existing body;
  • Interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other institutions on matters under their purview;
  • Facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and in this regard make full use of the expertise of the academic, scientific and technical communities;
  • Facilitate discourse between bodies dealing with different cross-cutting international public policies regarding the Internet and discuss issues that do not fall within the scope of any existing body;
  • Interface with appropriate inter-governmental organizations and other institutions on matters under their purview;
  • Facilitate the exchange of information and best practices, and in this regard make full use of the expertise of the academic, scientific and technical communities;
  • Advise all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the Internet in the developing world;
  • Strengthen and enhance the engagement of stakeholders in existing and/or future Internet governance mechanisms, particularly those from developing countries;
  • Identify emerging issues, bring them to the attention of the relevant bodies and the general public, and, where appropriate, make recommendations;
  • Contribute to capacity building for Internet governance in developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise;
  • Promote and assess, on an ongoing basis, the embodiment of WSIS principles in Internet governance processes;
  • Discuss, inter alia, issues relating to critical Internet resources;
  • Help to find solutions to the issues arising from the use and misuse of the Internet, of particular concern to everyday users;
  • Publish its proceedings

Visit the Internet Governance Forum site for more information.