Automated Decisions & Public Data
The data, algorithms, eligibility rules, and automated processes that determine access to public resources, services, and opportunities.
About / Organization
An institute for accountable public decisions.
IIBD is an independent, federally incorporated Canadian not-for-profit based in Toronto, established to strengthen accountability in the data systems behind public decisions.
Why IIBD exists
Public systems increasingly decide by data: who qualifies, who is flagged, who receives support, and who is left to navigate the consequences. IIBD was established to make those systems explainable, challengeable, and fair — working upstream, where forms, datasets, rules, and automated processes are designed and measured.
What we do
We combine applied research, community knowledge, systems analysis, and practical tool development. We identify where data and automated decisions exclude people, and we build tools partners can use and keep. We speak and act as an institute — our work is institutional, not individual.
Where we work
IIBD is based in Toronto and works with partners across Canada and, on selected evidence work, internationally. Our partners are community organizations, public institutions, funders, and researchers.
Independence & accountability
Independence means our analysis is not for sale and our findings are reported plainly. Accountability means the communities affected by a decision can see, understand, and challenge how it was made. We are governed in the public interest.
Focus areas
Two focus areas.
Lived Environments
Housing, infrastructure, accessibility, services, and place-based public decisions — especially where existing data misses lived experience.
Where the harm starts
Public decisions increasingly happen through data.
Application forms, eligibility rules, risk categories, intake systems, dashboards, algorithms, automated workflows, and reporting requirements. These systems can look neutral while still producing unequal outcomes.
A form can miss the people most affected.
A dataset can erase lived realities.
An algorithm can repeat historic bias.
An eligibility rule can quietly screen people out.
A report can show activity without showing whether access improved.
IIBD works upstream — where these decisions are designed, measured, automated, and justified.
Organization details
Formally constituted and transparent.
IIBD is legally incorporated as The Inclusivity Institute for Better Data, a federally incorporated Canadian not-for-profit governed by its board in the public interest.