OpenMedia.ca is a Canadian non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization working to encourage open and innovative communication systems within Canada. Their stated mission is "to advance and support a media communications system in Canada that adheres to the principles of access, choice, diversity, innovation and openness." They work through online campaigns, participatory events, school presentations and work shops. Their online petition for the "StopTheMeter.ca" campaign became the largest online appeal of its kind in Canadian history.

SaveOurNet.ca

OpenMedia.ca are the primary organizers behind the SaveOurNet.ca coalition, whose aim is to protect openness, choice, and access for Canada's Internet

Internet in Canada

-Web use:Canadian web users are similar to those in the other countries. The most popular sites in Canada are the major international ones, such as Google, Yahoo!, and MSN....

.

StopTheMeter.ca

OpenMedia.ca spearheaded the "StopTheMeter.ca" campaign against usage-based billing in Canada; including an online petition

Internet petition

An Internet petition is a form of petition posted on a website. Visitors to the website in question can add their email addresses or names, and after enough "signatures" have been collected, the resulting letter may be delivered to the subject of the petition, usually via e-mail.-Pros and cons:The...

. The petition reached over 400,000 signatures and caused the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to reexamine its decision on the way Canadians are billed for their Internet access

Internet access

Many technologies and service plans for Internet access allow customers to connect to the Internet.Consumer use first became popular through dial-up connections in the 20th century....

. It is the largest online appeal of its kind in Canadian history. The petition was supported by Canadian Internet service provider

Internet service provider

An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...

s affected by the ruling (such as TekSavvy, which sent out invitations to sign to all of their customers), the Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

, the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 and Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper

Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

, who voiced his concerns over Twitter.

As of February 11, 2011, more than 463,000 Canadians had signed the http://stopthemeter.ca petition.

FreshMedia.me

OpenMedia.ca are also the force behind the FreshMedia initiative, which celebrates innovative and independent media. FreshMedia.me aims to:

1. Ignite a national conversation to re-imagine media and journalism in Canada.
2. Celebrate the exciting and innovative experiments in independent and public media currently underway.
3. Develop a crowd-sourced plan to support innovative and quality media and independent journalism.

VoteNet.ca

VoteNet.ca was launched as a campaign to ensure that Internet access issues would become a focus for the 2011 Canadian federal election. Citizens were provided with a letter that they could modify and email to candidates in their riding asking them to become "pro-Internet". Politicians were then also able to register as pro-Internet candidates through the website. Multiple candidates have stated their support for the campaign.

Organizations involved with OpenMedia.ca

OpenMedia.ca has the involvement of a number of national and regional media related organizations and well as unions and civil liberty groups.

Media related organizations

Agentic, BC Association for Media Education,
Briarpatch

Briarpatch

Briarpatch is an independent alternative news magazine based in Saskatchewan, Canada and distributed across Canada.Launched in 1973 as an anti-poverty newsletter published by the Saskatchewan Coalition of Anti-Poverty Organizations, the magazine's founding mission was "to provide a forum for...

 Magazine,
Canadian Association of Campus and Community Television User Groups and Stations (CACTUS),
Canadian Dimension

Canadian Dimension

Canadian Dimension is a Canadian leftist magazine founded in 1963 by Cy Gonick, and published out of Winnipeg, Manitoba 6 times a year, with a circulation of 3,000 copies....

magazine,
Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC),
Council of Canadians,
Canadian Media Guild

Canadian Media Guild

The Canadian Media Guild is a trade union representing employees at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , the Canadian Press, Thomson Reuters, Agence France-Presse, S-Vox, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, CW Television, CJRC Radio in Gatineau, Que., and TVOntario.It is a local of The...

,
Community Media Education Society (CMES),
Media Action,
Megaphone

Megaphone

A megaphone, speaking-trumpet, bullhorn, blowhorn, or loud hailer is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped horn used to amplify a person’s voice or other sounds towards a targeted direction. This is accomplished by channelling the sound through the megaphone, which also serves to match the...

 Magazine,
National Campus-Community Radio Association (NCRA),
The Edmonton Small Press Association (ESPA),
NewsWatch Canada,
Sasquatch Newspaper,
Straight Goods

Straight Goods

Straight Goods is a Canadian online news magazine, usually publishing about twenty new stories every week. Publisher Ish Theilheimer founded it in 1999, with the support of about thirty shareholders.Its first edition went online in January 2000....

,
The Tyee

The Tyee

The Tyee is an independent Canadian online web magazine, which focuses on coverage of news and media issues in British Columbia.The Tyee was launched in November 2003 by David Beers, a journalist who had previously been associated with the Vancouver Sun...

,
Vancouver Media Co-op,
VUE Weekly

Vue Weekly

Vue Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and with new issues coming out every Thursday.Vue was founded in 1995 by former employees and owners of SEE Magazine, upset over losing control of SEE to creditors...

,
Pull Focus Film School,
rabble.ca,
Koumbit Networks,
W2,

Unions

Canadian Union of Public Employees

Canadian Union of Public Employees

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...

 (CUPE),
Hospital Employees' Union

Hospital Employees' Union

The Hospital Employees' Union is the oldest and largest trade union for hospital workers and health care specialists in British Columbia. It is a member of the British Columbia Federation of Labour.-External links:* *...

 (HEU),
National Union of Public and General Employees

National Union of Public and General Employees

The National Union of Public and General Employees is a Canadian trade union. Taken in total it is the second largest union in Canada. Most of its 340,000 members work in the provincial public service sector...

 (NUPGE)

Civil liberty organizations

The Center For Information Awareness (CFIA),
Civil Liberties Association, National Capital Region (CLA-NCR),
Democracy Watch,
Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC),
The Ruth & Henry Goodman Fund for Social & Ecological Justice

Other organizations

Wilderness Committee,
World Association of Christian Communication (WACC) North America