Update: The event is now fully booked. We had an overwhelming response from the Canadian open access community, and we would like to thank everyone who expressed interest in participating in the event.
Last update: March 2026
About the event
Advancing Diamond / Vers l’horizon diamant is a 2 day, in-person meeting bringing together researchers, librarians, journals, publishers, funding agencies, infrastructure providers and other stakeholders to establish a shared understanding of diamond OA publishing in Canada.
Recent policy and funding developments have created a uniquely exciting landscape for community-based publishing in Canada. To fully realize this opportunity, sustained national coordination is needed, and we are excited to convene a national conversation to elaborate a shared vision for diamond open access in Canada.
We hope this event will be a milestone marking how far we have come already in collectively advancing diamond open access and an opportunity to identify ways to expand participation in future conversations and events.
This meeting will follow Coalition Publica’s Principles and Practices for Bilingual Meetings. There are no registration fees to participate. However, participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation.
Date & location
April 15 – 16, 2026
Esplanade tranquille – L’arrière scène room, 2nd floor
1442 Rue Clark
Montreal, QC
Preliminary Program
Subject to change
Day 1 – Wednesday April 15th
| 8:30-9:00 | Registration / coffee |
| 9:00 | Welcome remarks |
| 9:15 | The Canadian diamond OA landscape (Plenary session presentations) |
| 10:45 | Break |
| 11:00 | Canadian diamond OA in the international context (Plenary session panel) |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 1:15 | Introduction to the afternoon program |
| 1:30 | The role of libraries, journal editors & researchers, infrastructure providers, and funding & policy in supporting diamond OA (Breakout groups/facilitated discussions) |
| 2:45 | Break |
| 3:15 | Breakouts continue and share back |
| 4:45 | End of Day 1 |
| 5:00 | Cocktail reception (5 à 7) |
Day 2 –Thursday April 16th
| 8:45-9:00 | Registration / coffee |
| 9:00 | Welcome remarks / housekeeping |
| 9:15 | Overview of major discussion themes from Day 1 breakout sessions |
| 10:15 | Break |
| 10:30 | Finding common purpose among the different sectors that support diamond OA (Break out groups/facilitated discussions) |
| 12:00 | Lunch |
| 1:30 | Mapping our communities and plans for future action (Plenary discussion) |
| 3:00 | Break |
| 3:15 | Reflections and looking toward the Diamond Horizon (Closing plenary – panel discussion) |
| 4:00 | Closing remarks |
| 4:30 | End of Day 2 |
Hotels in the area
Here are a few hotels within a 15 minute walking distance of the venue:
| Best Western Plus Hotel Montreal 161, Sainte-Catherine St. East Montréal, Québec H2X 1K8 7 mins | DoubleTree by Hilton Montreal 1255, Jeanne-Mance St. Montréal, Québec H5B 1E5 7 mins |
| Travelodge by Wyndham Montréal Centre 50, René-Levesque Boul. West Montréal, Québec H2Z 1A2 8 mins | Hôtel 10 10, Sherbrooke St. West Montréal, Québec H2X 4C9 8 mins |
| Hôtel Faubourg Montréal 155, René-Levesque Boul. East Montréal, Québec H2X 3Z8 10 mins | Hilton Garden Inn Montreal Centre-Ville 380, Sherbrooke St. West Montréal, Québec H3A 0B1 12 mins |
About Coalition Publica
Coalition Publica is a partnership created by Érudit and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) dedicated to the advancement of research dissemination and digital publishing in the humanities and social sciences in Canada, specifically designed to support the HSS community in the transition towards sustainable open access. Coalition Publica is pursuing this goal through the development of a non-commercial, open source national infrastructure dedicated to digital scholarly publishing, dissemination, and research—combining PKP’s Open Journal Systems (OJS) software and Érudit’s digital dissemination platform (erudit.org).
🩷
