DCHP-3

upload

DCHP-2 (Jun 2016)
1v. — Administration, Politics

transfer costs to a higher level of government.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — Upload has been used to refer to data transfers in computing since at least the 1970s (see OED-3, s.v. "upload" [2]). In Canada, when used in a financial context, the term refers to the transfer of costs from a lower level of government to a higher one. The meaning was developed independently of internet terminology, as the antonym download precedes the internet age.
See also COD-2, s.v. "upload"(2), which is marked "Cdn".

Quotations

1997
Abolish municipal government in Metro Toronto as we know it. Create a megacity. Upload education costs. Download social services costs.
2004
And so, the premiers latched on to a last-minute proposal they were presented by B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell -- that the provinces "upload" the full costs of their provincial drug plans to the federal treasury.
2013
The budget also continues to upload the cost of social services, which were shifted onto municipalities during the era of the Mike Harris Conservatives. Hamilton is one of the few municipalities in Ontario that's only beginning to see major benefits from the provincial upload. Other municipalities have already seen all or most of their social services costs uploaded back to the province.
2v. & verbal n. — in extended use, Administration, Politics

to transfer something to a higher organization level.

Type: 3. Semantic Change — The concept is no longer limited to financial costs alone, but is most often used in the phrase to upload responsibility.

Quotations

2001
"In terms of culture and identity, maybe there are some areas where we can upload some responsibility to the federal government," said Rudyard Griffiths, […]
2007
A major push is needed to force the provincial government to "upload" responsibility for government services that were unfairly imposed on cities in the 1990s.
2013
The Conservatives' white paper also proposed the province upload responsibility for major highways in the most congested regions, including the Allen Expressway, Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway in Toronto and Highway 174 in the Ottawa area.
2016
The plan should not seek regional control – the uploading of responsibility to a regional entity – but rather regional planning and implementation to tap into the very real benefits of regional service delivery. The plan also recognizes that some projects (such as the Rothesay Arena development) have advanced to a point where they cannot be part of a regional plan which emphasizes regional planning from concept to fruition.

References

  • OED-3
  • COD-2