Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A research agreement with a First Nation explicitly incorporates OCAP commitments for data collection and stewardship.
- Is an instance
A research training programme requires participants to complete OCAP-related training prior to engagement with First Nations data.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A data agreement that allows external retention and use of First Nations data without community control does not align with OCAP.
- Not an instance
A research project lacking First Nations participation in governance does not meet OCAP expectations.
Editorial commentary
OCAP® — Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession — is a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC). It asserts that First Nations in Canada control the collection of data about their communities and own how it is stored, interpreted, used, or shared. FNIGC is explicit that this is a First Nations-specific instrument: "OCAP® operates as a set of specifically First Nations—not Indigenous—principles."
The four principles
- Ownership — a First Nations community owns its cultural knowledge, data, and information collectively.
- Control — First Nations control all aspects of research and information-management processes affecting them, from planning through review.
- Access — First Nations must have access to data about themselves regardless of where it is held, and control others’ access to it.
- Possession — physical stewardship of the data: the mechanism through which ownership is asserted and protected in practice.
Origin and the trademark
The principles originated in 1998 within the National Steering Committee of the First Nations and Inuit Regional Longitudinal Health Survey. The acronym began as "OCA"; the Committee added "P" soon after to underline First Nations physically possessing their own data. That Committee became FNIGC, incorporated April 22, 2010, following a 2009 mandate from the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs-in-Assembly. After finding researchers and institutions misrepresenting OCAP®’s intent, FNIGC trademarked the OCAP®/PCAP® logos in August 2014 and the acronyms themselves in August 2015.
How OCAP® differs from related frameworks
OCAP® is one specific, trademarked instrument within the wider field of Indigenous Data Governance, not interchangeable with the others. The CARE Principles (Global Indigenous Data Alliance) sit at a broader, cross-jurisdictional level. Te Mana Raraunga covers Māori data sovereignty in Aotearoa New Zealand, and Maiam nayri Wingara covers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia — neither substitutes for OCAP®. Local Contexts’ TK and BC Labels operate at item-metadata level. The community-specific rules every framework here presupposes are cultural protocol.
What this means for research administration
Name OCAP® explicitly in any data-sharing agreement or DMP involving a First Nations community, rather than citing Indigenous data governance generically; confirm data location and who holds possession. FNIGC requires citation as "a registered trademark of the First Nations Information Governance Centre (FNIGC)" wherever the name or logo is used. FNIGC’s Fundamentals of OCAP® course, with Algonquin College Corporate Training, is the primary staff-training route.
References
- First Nations Information Governance Centre, "The First Nations Principles of OCAP®," fnigc.ca/ocap-training.
Also known as
OCAP · Ownership Control Access Possession
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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