IMRC - Government of Canada Metadata Framework

The Government of Canada (GoC) Metadata Framework establishes a strategy for the development of metadata within the GoC.

The Framework shows the relationship between the generic international standard adopted by the GoC (the Dublin Core) and other extensions for specific subject domains or purposes.  The Dublin Core is extensible, but preserves high-level consistency and interoperability. 

The five mandatory Common Look and Feel metadata elements (creator, date, language, subject and title) constitute the base of the Framework.  These elements are expressed using the Dublin Core syntax and must be used to by GoC departments and agencies to describe their Web resources.  More guidance on metadata standards is available on the Information Management Resource Centre. 

When these five elements are insufficient for describing Web resources, departments and agencies may use other Dublin Core elements, including description, editor, contributor, type, format, identifier, source, relation, coverage and rights.  The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative also recognizes the audience element.  The standard TBITS 39.1 adopts the Dublin Core as the core metadata standard for the description of Web resources in the Government of Canada. 

Certain activities, such as records management, portal content management and e- learning require additional metadata elements to ensure that Web resources are adequately described.  New elements that are compatible with the five mandatory CLF elements and the Dublin Core syntax are currently being developed to address these particular situations. 

For additional information, please contact: 

Information Management Resource Centre (IMRC)
Treasury Board Secretariat
im-gi@tbs-sct.gc.ca