Horizontal Initiatives

What are horizontal Initiatives?

When two or more departments must work together to achieve Government objectives, Ministers may formally designate a horizontal initiative (HI). In such instances, departments received funds to work collaboratively to pursue shared outcomes. HIs have specific reporting requirements to show combined expenditures and achievement of outcomes. The objective is to provide parliamentarians and Canadians consolidated information on the HI.

Horizontal initiative reporting guidance

HIs must meet the management and reporting requirements laid out by TBS. For more information on these requirements, please refer to the Guide to Departments on the Management and Reporting of Horizontal Initiatives.

Horizontal initiative reporting

Lead departments are stewards of horizontal reporting content. They are responsible for collecting information from all partner departments and reporting on HIs through their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Report.

Data on OpenGov Portal

HI reporting data can also be accessed using our dataset on the Government of Canada OpenGov Portal. The dataset is created from publicly reported data.