About Society

Our mission

Society connects residents with each other and their elected officials to understand who governs them, discuss what should be done, and be heard.

That has three parts:

• Understand who governs them.
• Discuss what should be done.
• Be heard.

How each part works is below.

Why Society exists

Most public conversation about politics now happens on platforms built to hold attention. A few companies decide what people see, and outrage keeps people scrolling longer than understanding does. At the same time, many people aren't sure which government is responsible for what, and when responsibility is unclear, blame is easy to shift.

Society exists to give residents a clear picture of who governs them, a better place to work out what should be done, and a direct line to the people who can act on it.

What we believe

Society is built on a short set of values: the rule of law, not force; reason and evidence, not volume; and the conviction that people working together achieve more than people working against each other.

From these come four commitments.

• Open rules: the rules that decide what you see on Society will be written in plain language and published, so anyone can read them and argue for changing them.
• Every discussion leads to a decision: discussions are organized around one question, what should be done? Facts count when they bear on that question, whether they support a proposal or count against it.
• Argue anything, constructively: you can argue for any position, including against Society's own rules, as long as you give reasons and respond to the other side. Insults and shouting are not contributions.
• Open to anyone willing to serve: current officials and new candidates can reach residents on the same terms, without a large budget.

How it works

• Understand who governs them

  Available now

  For any place, every government with a say over it, who holds each office, what each one can do and when the next vote is.

• Discuss what should be done

  Coming with Issues

  Residents proposing what should be done, giving their reasons and seeing the objections.

• Be heard

  Coming with Issues

  Residents raising an issue with the government that can act on it, and officials answering.

Issues is the part of Society where discussing and being heard will happen. It isn't open yet.

Where we're starting

Locally. Councils, school boards and regional bodies make many of the decisions people feel most directly, and that is where one voice carries the most weight. Society starts there, with residents and the officials and candidates who represent them.

How we're doing

This is how we measure whether it's working. Each measure is worked out from Society's own records and updated every few minutes. A measure says not started until there is data for it; we don't estimate.

Informing

• Places visitors looked up that get a complete answer

  65%

  32 of 49 areas

  Each area of about 1 km that visitors looked up in the last 90 days counts once (lookups by our own testing tools are left out). An area has a complete answer when Society has its federal and provincial ridings, its municipality or First Nation and council, its school district, a current holder for every seat that represents it, and the next election for each elected office. A seat confirmed vacant, or a body that does not exist there, counts as answered. This covers the places visitors looked up, not every address in Canada.

  As of October 12, 2026

• Facts with a source

  97%

  245,872 of 253,961 records

  Records in the main tables (places, governing bodies, their powers, offices, seats, people, terms of office, parties, elections and candidates) that have at least one source of their own: a link to where the fact came from.

  As of October 12, 2026

• Median time to fix a reported error

  41 minutes

  18 errors fixed so far, 76 still being looked at

  For each report of wrong information that was fixed, from visitors or from Society's own checks, the time from the report to the fix. Half were fixed faster than this. Reports still open are not included, so this can look better than it is while many are waiting.

  As of October 12, 2026

• Visitors who can name the government responsible for a task

  Not started

  Will come from an optional short quiz, such as "who runs your local buses?". The quiz does not exist yet.

Being heard

• Officials who respond to residents

  Not started

  The share of officials who answer the issues residents raise with them. Starts when Issues opens.

• Median time for an official to answer

  Not started

  The time from an issue being raised to the official's first answer. Starts when Issues opens.

• Pledges made and kept

  Not started

  Pledges officials make on Society, and how many they keep. Starts when Issues opens.

Deliberating

• Proposals with grounds and objections on both sides

  Not started

  The share of proposals with reasons given both for and against. Starts when Issues opens.

• Contributions that pass the "constructive" rule

  Not started

  The share of contributions to a discussion that meet the rule for constructive discussion. Starts when Issues opens.

Trust

• People across the political spectrum use Society

  Not started

  Whether people of every political view use Society, not just some. Not measured yet.

What Society is not

• Not a party, and not aligned with one: it is built for people of every political view.
• Not an advertising business: Society does not sell attention or personal data.
• Not a government service: see Who makes it below.
• Not controlled by what any company, including ours, wants you to see: the rules will be public.

Who makes it

Society is an independent, non-government project. It is not affiliated with Elections Canada, any provincial or territorial election office, or any government. Nothing here is an official notice: for anything that matters, such as where and when to vote, check with the government or election office named on each page.

It is built in the open. You can read every change, the feedback people send and what was done about it, and the open questions about how it should work.

To reach us, send a message. Add an email if you'd like a reply; it stays private.

More about Society

• Data and sources How much data there is so far, where every fact comes from, and the licences.
• Privacy What Society keeps when you use it, and why.