

Every week across Canada, there are thousands of public meetings. Most citizens have no idea what happens at them – yet they directly impact all of us.
Documenters Canada, inspired by Documenters.org, trains and pays people to document public meetings relevant to their community. After fact-checking, their notes are available to all.
In September, 2024, we launched a pilot project at The Green Line in Toronto.


Use our resources!
Want to bring Documenters to your community? Here is our field guide and training for the Green Line!
To use it within your community, make a copy and edit it to your liking.
We’d also appreciate if you would credit our contribution.

FAQ
What’s the history of documenters?

Documenters Canada is inspired by Documenters.org, a project started by City Bureau in Chicago to produce news designed for and with communities.
In 2014, a Chicago police officer murdered 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and protests erupted. Smart Chicago Collaborative, which had been experimenting with citizen storytelling, teamed up with City Bureau to document meetings of a new police accountability task force the city formed in response.
The team at City Bureau discovered that having many people providing coverage of meetings could speed up the information collection process. They also found that it was easy to teach citizens how to document meetings and do research. And, they noticed that community members brought unique perspectives to their work. The documenting process displayed how community members could learn from each other and create a network of shared information, enabling collective power.
A few years later, City Bureau launched Documenters to bring these learnings to communities across the U.S. As of 2024, there are 25 Documenters projects across the United States.
Can I start Documenters in my city?
Yes! Our training guide and materials are available to everyone. You can modify them to fit your community’s needs. And feel free to reach out to us to let us know how it’s going, and if we can help in any way. We’d love to have others join our nascent Documenters Canada community of practice.
What’s documentalistes?
Documentalistes will be the name of our French-language projects, hopefully starting in Montreal in 2025.
How can I follow the developments of Documenters Canada?
Sign up for The Green Line’s Documenters newsletter to stay in the loop.
I have more questions!
Feel free to reach out to us at: documenters-canada@concordia.ca

Documenters in the Press


