The Digital Governance Standards Institute (DGSI) has launched a periodic maintenance review of the National Standard of Canada, CAN/DGSI 103-3:2024, Digital Trust and Identity – Part 3: Digital Credential Management System.
This important review helps ensure that the standard continues to meet the needs of a fast-changing digital landscape where digital credentials are playing an ever-larger role. Whether it’s a digital driver’s license, vaccine certificate, university diploma, banking credential, or professional license, digital credentials have become essential to how individuals, businesses, and governments prove identity, qualifications, permissions, and ownership in both online and offline environments.
The CAN/DGSI 103-3 standard provides organizations with a structured, technology-agnostic framework for establishing, managing, and maintaining digital credential management systems ensuring they meet high standards of trust, security, and interoperability.
Why This Review Matters
As digital systems evolve, standards must keep pace to remain relevant and effective. The periodic maintenance review of CAN/DGSI 103-3 is an opportunity to assess whether the standard still reflects the best available practices, covers emerging technologies, and meets the evolving expectations of users, regulators, and the broader digital economy.
The review process focuses on ensuring that organizations have the tools they need to:
• Securely issue, validate, verify, suspend, recover, and revoke digital credentials
• Maintain interoperability across systems, platforms, and sectors
• Uphold privacy and data protection principles
• Protect against credential misuse, fraud, or unauthorized access
• Provide clear governance, policies, and processes for end-to-end credential management
Digital credentials impact sectors as diverse as healthcare, education, government, financial services, and beyond. Ensuring the underlying standards are robust, adaptable, and fit for purpose is critical to maintaining public trust and supporting the secure, seamless delivery of services.
Contribute to Canada’s Digital Future
DGSI’s standards development and maintenance processes are built on collaboration and transparency. Policymakers, technology providers, regulators, service providers, and subject-matter experts are all encouraged to get involved in this review.
Your expertise, insights, and feedback are essential to ensuring that CAN/DGSI 103-3 continues to meet real-world needs and remains aligned with Canada’s broader goals for digital trust, identity management, and innovation.
Visit the DGSI website to:
• Learn more about CAN/DGSI 103-3
• Access details on the periodic maintenance review process
• Find out how you or your organization can participate and contribute
By engaging in this process, you are helping to strengthen the digital trust foundations that Canadians rely on every day.
Get involved
The DGSI’s development process is collaborative and open to all, and anyone interested in contributing to the development of digital governance standards is encouraged to get involved. For more information on how to participate, contact:
Darryl Kingston
Executive Director
Digital Governance Standards Institute
darryl.kingston@dgc-cgn.org
For further details or media inquiries, please contact:
Shyra Wells
Communications and Knowledge Mobilization Lead
Digital Governance Council
shyra.craig@dgc-cgn.org
About the Digital Governance Standards Institute
The Digital Governance Standards Institute develops digital technology governance standards fit for global use. The Institute works with experts, as well as national and global partners and the public to develop national standards that reduce risk to Canadians and Canadian organizations adopting and using innovative digital technologies in today’s digital economy. The Institute is an independent division of the Digital Governance Council. To learn more about the organization and its initiatives, visit www.dgc-cgn.org or contact info@dgc-cgn.org.