Our Year in Review

We are proud of the work that we have done this year across all of our programs. Our activities in 2024–2025 support our mission to work together with our members to empower Canada by creating pathways to trusted knowledge. This section provides a quick look at CRKN and key accomplishments of our programs this year.

127 volunteer Board, committee, and task group members.

Supporting 88 members across the country including academic libraries and research institutions.

Managing licensing expenditures of $157,860,951.

Providing access to 64 million pages of digital documentary heritage.

Leading two national consortia to drive the advancement of PIDs.

127 volunteer Board, committee, and task group members.

Supporting 88 members across the country including academic libraries and research institutions.

Managing licensing expenditures of $157,860,951.

Providing access to 64 million pages of digital documentary heritage.

Leading two national consortia to drive the advancement of PIDs.

Our Programs

Licensing and Open Access

By collectively negotiating national licensing agreements and supporting open-access initiatives, CRKN ensures that Canadian institutions have affordable access to scholarly research while working to make content freely and openly available to all. Currently, CRKN negotiates and manages over 50 agreements on behalf of our member institutions.

saved by members through CRKN’s collective negotiating compared to content list prices

Guided by our members and the Content Strategy Committee, CRKN pursues multiple pathways to open access to advance the evolution of open research and facilitate seamless research communication.

Partnership for Open Access

3,801

diamond open access articles published through the Partnership for Open Access between CRKN and Érudit in 2024-2025

188

Canadian diamond open access journals supported by CRKN members through the Partnership for Open Access

Read and Publish Agreements

Funded by CRKN member libraries, with $0 in costs for researchers at participating CKRN member institutions

journals in which researchers can publish APC-free open access thanks to CRKN members

journals that researchers can access to read thanks to CRKN memebers

15,438 articles published open access by authors affiliated with CRKN member institutions through our read and publish agreements in 2024

6,632 with Elsevier

5,094 with Wiley

1,586 with Sage

747 with Oxford University Press

890 with Cambridge University Press

347 with Institute of Physics

142 with Canadian Science Publishing

Committees and task groups involved in Licensing and Open Access:

Content Strategy Committee

Canadiana Collections and Infrastructure

CRKN provides access to 64 million pages of Canadian documentary heritage through the Canadiana and Héritage collections and preserves this content through the Canadiana Trustworthy Digital Repository (TDR), ensuring its integrity and accessibility as technologies change over time. CRKN also provides digitization services to our member and stakeholder community, providing best-quality digital reproductions of materials that adhere to metadata and technology standards.

290,525 pages of content added to the Canadiana collections in 2024–2025:

8,255

newspaper issues

144

annual issues

874

periodical issues

102

Héritage reels

users on the Canadiana platform

users on the Héritage platform

2,870

Decommissioned lines of outdated Perl code to modernize the code powering the Canadiana infrastructure

Committees involved in Canadiana Collections and Infrastructure:

Preservation and Access Committee

Persistent Identifiers

Persistent identifiers (PIDs) are unique digital codes that identify researchers, research institutions, and their works, and are key to maintaining an interoperable and reliable global research infrastructure. CRKN leads the ORCID Canada Consortium and co-manages the DataCite Canada Consortium with the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, providing critical support for PIDs across the country. Additionally, CRKN is currently leading the development of a collaborative national strategy for persistent identifiers to support the widespread adoption of PIDs across the Canadian research ecosystem.

new ORCID-CA members (bringing total from 48 to 54)

14

new member integrations (bringing total from 68 to 82)

+ 30,000

new ORCIDs registered in Canada (bringing total from 213,800 to 246,010)

+ 9,000

ORCIDs connected to these integrations (bringing total from 16,370 to 25,870)

+ 5,000

ORCID records updated by these integrations (bringing total from 4,750 to 9,790)

DOIs registered by DataCite Canada members in 2024

new DataCite Canada members (bringing total from 70 to 84)

Persistent identifiers governance:

Engagement

CRKN’s engagement activities are rooted in our belief that engaging our community strengthens collaboration and innovation. Over the past year, we have built opportunities for collaboration and visibility through our Member Summit, Virtual Conference, and CRKN staff speaking at national conferences. Our newsletter, website, and social media channels also play a vital role in highlighting and amplifying our mission and ensuring CRKN’s work reflects the priorities of our member community.