Digital credentials

SCC, on behalf of the Government of Canada, is working to create consensus standards and conformity assessment tools for digital credentials and digital trust services in Canada.

New standards and tools are intended to: 

• establish trust in digital credentials and trust services
• enable national and international interoperability
• mitigate the risks of: 
  o    vendor lock-in (ie. obligated to use a specific vendor)
  o    platform capture (ie. obligated to use one type of service over other more suitable ones)  
  o    industry fragmentation (ie. no clear industry leaders in the market)
   

Project overview

To date, SCC has performed a comprehensive search of existing standards development activities and engaged a Canadian standards development organization to develop a national technical specification. This document sets baseline requirements for interoperability and trust among digital credentials issuers, verifiers, and holders.

Next, certification bodies and developers of digital credentials and digital trust services will test the technical specification in a pilot certification process. An observation committee will then review and report on feedback from participants.

Upon completion of the pilot in 2024, stakeholders will support the development of standards to address gaps identified during the pilot. The full-scale program will incorporate:

• a certification scheme of one or more National Standards of Canada
• international standards
• possibly other normative documents

Get involved

Here are the ways you can help advance this important standards initiative:

• Take part in the pilot as a conformity assessment body, as a developer of digital credentials and digital trust services, or as a member of the general interest observation committee.

• Support the development of standards to address gaps identified during the pilot.

   

To find out more, contact us at accreditation@scc-ccn.ca. 

This technical specification sets minimum requirements to ensure that digital credentials and trust services are interoperable between businesses and governments and create a seamless experience for users.

Read more