This research demonstrates that Social Network Analysis (SNA) can be a powerful, proactive tool for policy makers to understand the online policy networks in which they operate. It does so by undertaking SNA at two points in time to quantify the actor nodes of three Canadian public policy networks, comparing the network evolution over time, and visualizing their structure and relationships with related policy issues. The three Canadian policy case study subjects are cannabis legalization, nuclear energy development, and the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project (TMX). The cases were selected for their current social importance and national concern, and complexity as socio-technical systems. Cannabis legalization represents a social policy shift, while the other two policy issues involve highly technical infrastructure projects to provide the energy that drives modern society at a time when energy solutions and needs are shifting. The research was undertaken to answer three main questions: Does a network structure consist of multiple clusters of subnetworks primarily concerned with tangential issues but bridged together to form a network for this policy issue? Is there any evidence of network effects that affect the network’s evolution over time? Finally, is there evidence that regional or international networks are present? The study’s findings provide significant evidence that addresses these questions. For example, for question one, the cannabis legalization network shows an isolated online community primarily interested in the research and use of cannabis as a medical treatment, an issue tangential to the primary policy focus but connected to the policy issues. For question two, Canada’s stated nuclear policy shift toward small modular reactors reveals an online issue network dominated by industry rather than government actors. Finally, regarding question three, the study found that regional clusters were especially apparent in the cannabis legalization and TMX networks. This research provides insight into the policy networks of the specific cases, which contributes to the literature on these policy topics and network analysis in terms of network structure and evolution. It also validates the use of SNA in a policy analysis toolkit. Where existing literature has examined Internet-age government, it has found that governments often replicate routine procedures and processes in new, virtual forms rather than innovate or reimagine their capabilities. Government actors have improved their responsiveness, but they also need to fundamentally change their behaviour, particularly in engaging stakeholders in meaningful public policy analysis. SNA is a novel use afforded by technology that has gone unexplored to innovate government performance. This dissertation adds to the lengthy body of research in SNA by experimenting with a practical application of its theories and methods. The critical conceptual approach underpinning this thesis is complexity theory, which provides the framework to situate the dynamic environment of policy making and stakeholder engagement. It is hoped that this research will help policy makers by providing a toolkit that enables visualizing how issue patterns emerge in real-time, patterns that can represent the “unknown unknowns” — the voices not yet heard, the unanticipated concerns, and the opportunities not yet discovered to reach out to broader or underrepresented communities in the policy arena.