Tri-Agency Open Access Policy Primer

On October 5th, the new Canadian Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2026) was announced. The policy applies to all grants and Chairholder awards awarded on or after January 1st, 2027, and has some significant differences from the previous policy. In brief, these include a pivot to immediate open access, the adoption of open licenses for publications, and mandatory deposit of a copy of the work to Canadian open scholarly infrastructure, such as our institutional repository, UNB Scholar. 

The previous Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (2015) will remain in effect on all grants awarded between May 1, 2015 and December 31, 2026.

Implications, In Brief

Full Policy Text | Policy FAQ

• Funded authors must;
  • proactively inform publishers of their open access requirements as detailed in this policy when submitting to a journal. 
  • retain copyright where possible or, at minimum, negotiate for an open license (eg. Creative Commons) to facilitate mandatory repository deposit. 
  • acknowledge funder contributions in submission metadata at the point of publication or repository deposit. 
• Funded journal articles must; 
  • be available immediately via open access and under an open license.
  • have a copy of the accepted manuscript (AM) or version of record (VoR) deposited/self-archived in an institutional repository or other trusted Canadian platform. 

Support

UNB Libraries are dedicated to supporting our researchers through this transition. 

• Facilitation of Open Access / Building Open Access Literacy (contact the Open Scholarship & Publishing Librarian for support)
  • UNB Scholar Deposit support. 
  • Helping researchers understand their open access options, including: 
    • Gold/Hybrid immediate OA options either via APC, waived APC, or other negotiated discount.
      • Remember that Article processing charges (APCs), if required for making the article open, are now considered eligible expenses by all three funders.
    • Identifying Green/Self-Archiving options (variable across publishers, publishing models, and individual journals) to meet OA policy requirements without attached APCs. 
• Copyright Support for open licenses (contact the Open Scholarship & Copyright Librarian for support)