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Annual report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2021-2022

Table of contents

Introduction

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act (Act) came into effect on July 1, 1983. The Act gives the public a right of access to information contained in government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

Section 94(1) of the Access to Information Act requires that the head of every government institution prepare and submit an annual report to Parliament, which details the administration of the Act within the institution each fiscal year. The annual report is also prepared and tabled in accordance with section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

This annual report describes how Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) administered the Access to Information Act from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

DFO is responsible for safeguarding Canadian waters and managing Canada's fisheries and oceans resources. DFO helps to ensure healthy and sustainable aquatic ecosystems through habitat protection and sound science. DFO supports economic growth in the marine and fisheries sectors, and innovation in areas such as aquaculture and biotechnology. DFO is committed to working with fishers, coastal and Indigenous communities to enable their continued prosperity from fish and seafood.

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is a special operating agency of DFO that works to ensure the safety of mariners in Canadian waters and protect Canada’s marine environment. It supports Canada’s economic growth through the safe and efficient movement of maritime trade. CCG helps to ensure our country’s sovereignty and security through its presence in Canadian waters. The CCG also supports other government organizations by providing a civilian fleet and a broadly distributed shore-based infrastructure.

Organizational structure

Departmental organization

DFO has a presence across Canada, with the majority of employees working outside the national headquarters in one of the seven DFO regions or four CCG operational regions. National objectives, policies, procedures, and standards for DFO and CCG are established at national headquarters in Ottawa. Regions are responsible for delivering programs and activities according to national and regional priorities and within national performance parameters.

Access to Information and Privacy Secretariat

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Director reported to the Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources and Corporate Services during the reporting period. However, effective April 1, 2022, the Director of ATIP reports to the Director General, Public Affairs Directorate.

The ATIP Director is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of effective ATIP-related policies, guidelines, systems and procedures. This accountability ensures that DFO’s responsibilities under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act are met, and enables appropriate processing and proper disclosure of information.

The ATIP Secretariat is divided along two business lines according to their main functions and the business lines are managed by Deputy Directors. One business line is responsible for processing requests under the Act; the other is responsible for all other activities related to the administration of the Act at DFO.

The Operations Division is responsible for processing requests and providing issues management and is supported by:

The Policy and Privacy Division (PPD) is responsible for many of the remaining responsibilities related to the administration of the Act. PPD acts as the Policy Centre for the Secretariat and provides advice to departmental officials on complex access to information matters, updates DFO’s Info Source chapter, investigates and responds to suspected privacy breach incidents, provides guidance to and assists program areas in conducting privacy impact assessments, oversees DFO’s disclosures under subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act, overseesproactive disclosures of information including requirements under Part 2 of the ATIA, advises senior management on changes related to the Act and relevant Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) policies, and liaises with the wider ATIP community.

PPD is also responsible for tracking departmental performance, supporting the Operations Division with staffing processes, hiring contracted resources, maintaining case management technology, leading strategic projects to improve the overall delivery of the ATIP program, and coordinating access to information training to ensure the ongoing sound application of the Act.

The ATIP Secretariat works with a network of ATIP contacts from each region and sector who act as liaisons for their respective programs within the Department.

In total, throughout the course of this reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat employed 29.89 full-time employees devoted to Access to Information Act activities. This includes full-time employees, consultants, agency personnel, casual employees and students.

Delegation Order

Responsibility for the administration of the Access to Information Act at DFO is delegated from the Minister to the Director and Deputy Directors of the ATIP Secretariat. A copy of the Delegation Order is included as Appendix A.

Highlights of the statistical report, 2021-22

The Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is prepared by government institutions to assist TBS with analyzing trends and exercising oversight.

DFO’s complete 2021-22 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is included as Appendix B. Previous years’ statistical reports can be obtained from the ATIP Secretariat upon request.

Overview of 2021-22 requests under the Access to Information Act

The analysis in this section compares data from DFO’s 2021-22 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act with data from 2019-20, to produce a three-year trend analysis.

In 2021-22, DFO received 625 requests under the Access to Information Act and had 189 requests outstanding from previous reporting periods. Of these 814 requests, DFO completed 632 and carried forward 182 into the next reporting period.

As shown in Table 1 below, compliance for 2021-22 was 96.8 %. Total figures for 2021-22 reveal that 632 requests were closed, of this figure 612 closed within statutory deadline. Despite an increase in the number of requests processed and completed, available data shows an excellent compliance rate over the last three years.

The following table illustrates fluctuations in workload over the past three years.

Table 1: Overview of 2021-22 requests under the Access to Information Act
Number of requests 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Received during reporting period 536 596 625
Outstanding from previous reporting periods 84 123 189
Total requests to process during reporting period 620 719 814
Completed during reporting period 497 531 632
Carried over to next reporting period 123 188 182
On-time compliance rate 98.8% 99.6% 96.8%

Sources of requests

Of the 625 requests received during the reporting period, the top three categories of requester who self-identified were: the general public with 208 requests (33%); followed by private sector business with 144 requests (23%); and organizations with 98 requests (16%). The remaining requests originated from the following: individuals who declined to self-identify, with 83 (13%); the media, with 80 (13%); and academia, with 12 (2%).

Informal requests

Informal access requests are defined as requests for information made to the ATIP Secretariat, but not processed under the Act. In January 2012, TBS began to require departments to publish summaries of their completed access to information requests online so that the public could request copies informally. For the purpose of the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act, this definition excludes the following: requests by DFO employees acting in their official capacity, such as internal service requests to review reports on security incidents, harassment complaints, evaluations or internal audits; requests for strategic advice; responses to Parliamentary Questions and media enquiries; and review of documents to be posted online. With these caveats, DFO processed 359 informal access requests for previously-released documents.

Requests closed during the reporting period

Disposition and completion time

Section 7 of the Act requires institutions to provide a response to a requester within 30 days of receipt of their request, or to notify the requester that an extension is required. Of the 632 requests completed during the reporting period, 277 requests (44%) were completed in 30 days or less, 83 requests (13%) were completed in 31 to 60 days, 124 requests (19%) completed in 61 to 120 days, 62 requests (10%) were completed in 121 to 180 days, 69 requests (11%) were completed in 181-365 days, and 17 requests (3%) required more than 365 days to process.

The 632 requests completed by DFO in 2021-22 were finalized in the following manner:

As shown in Table 2, DFO carried over 182 outstanding requests to the next reporting period. Table 2 provides an overview of these requests according to the reporting period in which they were received. As of March 31, 2022, 72.5% of the outstanding requests carried forward from previous years into the 2022-23 were within their legislative timelines. Additionally, the majority (75.3%) of the outstanding requests carried forward into the 2022-23 were received during the 2021-22 reporting period.

Table 2: Number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods
Fiscal year open requests were received Open requests that are within legislated timelines as of March 31, 2022 Open requests that are beyond legislated timelines as of March 31, 2022 Total
Received in 2021 – 22 117 20 137
Received in 2020 – 21 9 19 28
Received in 2019 – 20 or earlier 6 11 17
Total 132 50 182

Exemptions and exclusions

The Access to Information Act gives the public a right of access to information contained in federal records under the control of government institutions, subject to limited and specific exceptions. These exceptions are called exemptions and exclusions. Exemptions are provisions of the Act that allow or require the heads of federal government institutions to withhold information requested under the legislation.

The five most frequently invoked exemptions in 2021-22 have not changed when compared to the previous reporting period.

The following table shows the five most commonly invoked exemptions by DFO in 2021-22.

Table 3: Five Most commonly invoked exemptions in 2021-22
Section Description Number of requests applied to
19(1) Personal information 299
21(1)(b) Consultations or deliberations 137
21(1)(a) Advice or recommendations 122
20(1)(b) Confidential financial, commercial, scientific or technical information of a third party 118
20(1)(c) Information that could result in a financial loss or gain to, or prejudice the competitive position of, a third party 101

Exclusions are provisions of the Act that remove certain records from the application of the legislation. Records excluded from the requirements of the Act include published material and confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council (Cabinet Confidences) pursuant to sections 68 and 69, respectively, both of which were invoked by DFO during the reporting period. Published material was excluded in 63 requests and Cabinet Confidences exclusions were applied in 88 requests.

See Appendix B for further information on the exemptions and exclusions invoked by DFO in 2021-22, presented by section, subsection and paragraph. For the purposes of this report, if an exemption or exclusion was claimed several times within the same request, it is reported only once in Appendix B.

Format of information released

When requests are complete, requesters may receive the information in paper or electronic formats, or they may view the records at a DFO office. During the reporting period, access to relevant documents was given, in whole or in part, for 430 requests. The information was released in paper format for 24 of these requests (5.6%), electronically for 404 requests (94.0%) and in an alternative format (audio) for the remaining two requests (0.4%).

Complexity

In 2021-22, the ATIP Secretariat processed a total of 328,934 relevant pages. Of the relevant pages processed, 128,169 pages (39%) were disclosed in whole or in part.

Of the 632 requests closed during the reporting period 491 of them had relevant records to process. Of the 491 requests completed during the reporting period, 274 (56%) required the processing of fewer than 100 relevant pages, 98 requests (20%) had 101-500 pages, 44 (9%) had 501-1,000 pages, 61 (12%) had 1001-5,000 pages, and 14 (3%) involved the processing of more than 5,000 pages.

In addition, two requests for more than 120 minutes of audio format were requested. Of the 649 minutes of audio format processed, 493 minutes (76%) were disclosed and 153 minutes (24%) were disclosed in part.

Deemed refusals

During the 2021-22 reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat closed 20 requests (3%) past the legislated timeline.

The principal reason for delay in the requests closed past the statutory deadline is related to interference with operations/workload.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Act provides for extensions to statutory time limits where consultations are necessary, and for requests for a large volume of records when processing the request within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the Department’s operations.

Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

During the reporting period, 611 extensions were taken for the following reasons:

Length of extensions

The length of an extension correlates to the type of extension taken. For example, consultations on Cabinet Confidences often take 120 days, whereas third party notification processes generally take 60 days.

Of the 611 extensions taken,

Impact of COVID-19 on the administration of the Access to Information Act

COVID-19 continued to challenge institutions throughout the reporting period. The right of access is a quasi-constitutional right, however, the processing of ATIP requests is not considered a critical service for the purpose of business continuity planning. Despite this, DFO remained committed to providing uninterrupted services to Canadians.

The solutions developed and implemented through leveraging new tools and applications allowed DFO to mitigate technical gaps and operational barriers to ensure continuity in the processing requests pursuant to the under that Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period. These solutions represent the Department’s resilience, ability to remain agile, develop and adopt innovative solutions, and be equipped to overcome barriers that would otherwise have impeded on DFO’s excellent record in delivering results.

Consultations

Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

When other institutions and organizations retrieve information for access to information requests concerning or originating from DFO, they may consult the DFO ATIP Secretariat for recommendations on release. “Other institutions” refers to federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. Organizations include provincial, territorial,  municipal, and other countries’ governments.

In 2021-22, DFO processed 205 consultation requests; 180 were received during the reporting period and 25 were outstanding from the previous reporting period. Of the 205 consultations, DFO completed 188 requests and carried forward 17 into the next reporting period.

Recommendations and completion time

During the reporting period,150 of the consultation requests completed by DFO were received from other government institutions. Of these requests, 99 (66%) were completed within 30 days and 51 (34%) took more than 60 days to complete. In 107 requests (71%), DFO recommended the consulting institution disclose the information in its entirety.

DFO completed 38 consultation requests from organizations in 2021-22; 31 (82%) of these within 30 days and seven (18%) in more than 60 days.

Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

The ATIP Secretariat consults with DFO’s Legal Services Unit regarding the application of all section 69 (Cabinet Confidence) exclusions. On occasion, Legal Services will forward the consultation to the Privy Council Office (PCO) for additional advice. For the purposes of the Statistical Report, when a consultation is forwarded in this manner, it is recorded as a PCO consultation instead of a Legal Services consultation.

The ATIP Secretariat received a response directly from Legal Services for one consultation in 2021-22. The response was received for this request within 31 to 60 days. No consultation on Cabinet Confidences was forwarded to PCO during the 2021-22 reporting period.

Reporting on Access to Information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act

The Service Fees Act requires a responsible authority to report annually to Parliament on the fees collected by the institution.

With respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

Training and awareness

As per the requirements of the DFO Privacy Policy, employees and managers at all levels must take privacy training at least once every five years. In support of this policy, DFO promotes awareness of federal access to information and privacy legislation and the corresponding responsibilities of DFO employees through ongoing training delivery, a quarterly newsletter, informative articles and awareness events.

The ATIP Secretariat increased the frequency of its training offerings to employees and managers at all levels while continuing to offer ad-hoc training tailored to programs’ needs. The ATIP Secretariat successfully implemented a predictable training schedule approach to deliver training to all DFO and CCG sectors and regions within a 12-month cycle.

Training and awareness content was also updated to enhance participants’ learning experience in a virtual environment through the use of various interactive tools. Virtual training also allowed DFO to engage an increased number officials across the Department. During the 2021-22 reporting period, 3070 participants received ATIP training through the sessions offered by the ATIP Secretariat. These sessions focused on processing access to information requests; managing and reporting privacy breaches; and protecting and managing personal information.

DFO also continued its efforts to promote the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) to DFO employees in 2021-22. During this reporting period, 679 participants completed CSPS ATIP-related training courses. Table 5 highlights all ATIP-related training activities undertaken during the reporting period.

Table 5: ATIP-related training and awareness activities in 2021-22
Type of training Number of learners
DFO training- Processing ATIP Request, Protecting and Managing Personal Information , Privacy Breaches 3070
CSPS Training – Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals (I015), Access to Information in the Government of Canada (I701) and Privacy in the Government of Canada (I702) 679
Total 3749

The ATIP Secretariat continued to provide awareness to DFO and CCG employees regarding diverse ATIP-related information through a quarterly newsletter. In addition, DFO published various articles to provide employees with information and guidance about privacy protection principles as well as about ATIP requests processes and best practices. Events were also organized throughout the year for specific awareness campaigns such as Data Privacy Day, Privacy Awareness Week, and Right to Know Week.

Additionally the ATIP Secretariat continued to engage ATIP contacts across the Department through monthly meetings. These meetings served as an additional forum to share new information and guidance to ATIP contacts about the overall records retrieval process, responsibilities and expectations, and opportunities for improvements within the department.

Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

The ATIP Secretariat continues to revise DFO’s ATIP policy suite where appropriate. The suite of policy tools was developed to help DFO employees understand their responsibilities with regards to the protection of personal information. Included in the policy suite are DFO’s Privacy Policy, Directive on Privacy Practices, the Standard on Privacy Breaches, the Standard on Permissible Disclosures of Personal Information and related tools such as Guidelines for the Informal Release of Information, the Privacy Impact Assessment: Needs Analysis, the Privacy Notice Template and privacy breach reporting forms.

Digital strategy

Over the reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat continued to expand upon its Digital Strategy that was initiated in the 2019-2020 reporting period. The Secretariat’s implementation of digital solutions, such as epost Connect, WeTransfer as well as GCdocs resulted in the department continuing to meet its legislative obligations for providing responsive records to requesters while reducing the departmental carbon footprint.

With an unprecedented number of employees working remotely, the Digital Strategy ensured that reasonable efforts were made to process and respond to ATIP requests. This strategy fostered a strong on-time compliance rate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic period with a commitment to making the health and safety of employees and the community a priority.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints or audits

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) investigates complaints about federal institutions’ handling of access requests. The Information Commissioner has broad investigative powers to assist in mediating between dissatisfied requesters and government institutions. The Information Commissioner has the power to order institutions to release records at the end of an investigation when a complaint is well-founded. The Commissioner can also issue such orders as appropriate when new complaints cannot be resolved by the OIC’s informal resolution process. Additionally, the Information Commissioner publishes the results of investigations.

In 2021-22, DFO received 26 new complaints. DFO also worked with the OIC to treat 22 ongoing complaints from previous reporting periods dating back to 2016.

DFO reviews the outcomes of the Information Commissioner’s report of findings or recommendations, and where appropriate, incorporates lessons learned into business processes. Of the 29 complaints resolved this reporting period, only one complaint was found to be well-founded. During this reporting period, DFO also received one Section 37(1) initial report containing recommendations issued by the OIC and one Section 37(1) initial report containing orders from the OIC.

Table 5: Number of complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods
Fiscal year open complaints were received by institution Number of open complaints
Received in 2021 – 22 26
Received in 2020 – 21 14
Received in 2019 – 20 or earlier 8
Total 48

Monitoring compliance

DFO makes every effort to meet statutory deadlines and actively monitors the time taken to process access to information requests. Monitoring begins as soon as a request is received by the DFO ATIP Secretariat, entered into the case management system and assigned to an analyst. All requests, including requests for consultations and requests for informal advice or review of records, are entered into the case management system for tracking. This electronic tracking of deadlines is essential, as analysts work on numerous requests, each with multiple actions with specific deadlines, at any given time. Analysts meet with their respective team leaders on a weekly basis to identify issues with requests that might result in delays. Issues are raised with the ATIP management team, if necessary. The Director and Deputy Directors of the ATIP Secretariat get involved in files where they can use their authority as the Minister’s delegates under the Privacy Act to promote compliance with deadlines and deliverables.

The department also proactively discloses records including to meet statutory proactive publication requirements under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act. The ATIP program reviews all records before disclosures are made to ensure that information disclosed is in accordance with the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

During this reporting period, DFO proactively published certain information including titles and tracking numbers of briefing notes, briefing packages for Parliamentary Committee appearances, and Question Period notes in accordance with Part 2 of the Access to Information Act. The department maintained a 100% compliance with proactive disclosure requirements under the ATIA. A cornerstone to this success can be attributed to DFO’s Framework on Proactive Disclosures that was developed and implemented in 2019.

Appendix A: Delegation order

Delegation order
Description

Copy of the Delegation Order designating the director and deputy directors of the ATIP Secretariat to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Minister as the head of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, under the provisions of the Access to Information Act and related Regulations.

Appendix B: 2021-22 statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

Number of requests
Received during reporting period 625
Outstanding from previous reporting periods 189
  • Outstanding from previous reporting period
159
  • Outstanding from more than one reporting period
30
Total 814
Closed during reporting period 632
Carried over to next reporting period 182
  • Carried over within legislated timeline
132
  • Carried over beyond legislated timeline
50

1.2 Sources of requests

Source Number of requests
Media 80
Academia 12
Business (private sector) 144
Organization 98
Public 208
Decline to Identify 83
Total 625

1.3 Channels of requests

Source Number of requests
Online 582
E-mail 15
Mail 28
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 625

Section 2: Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

Number of requests
Received during reporting period 320
Outstanding from previous reporting periods 86
  • Outstanding from previous reporting period
47
  • Outstanding from more than one reporting period
39
Total 406
Closed during reporting period 359
Carried over to next reporting period 47

2.2  Channels of informal requests

Source Number of requests
Online 305
E-mail 10
Mail 5
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 320

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

Completion time
1 to 15 days 16 to 30 days 31 to 60 days 61 to 120 days 121 to 180 days 181 to 365 days More than 365 days Total
266 66 27 0 0 0 0 359

2.4 Pages released informally

Less than 100 Pages released 100-500 pages released 501-1000 pages released 1001-5000 pages released More than 5000 pages released
Number of requests Pages released Number of requests Pages released Number of Requests Pages released Number of requests Pages released Number of requests Pages released
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2.5 Pages re-released informally

Less than 100 pages re-released 100-500 pages re-released 501-1000 pages re-released 1001-5000 pages re-released More than 5000 pages re-released
Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released
324 1205 20 5241 8 5506 5 12763 2 17055

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to act on requests

Number of requests
Outstanding from previous reporting period 0
Sent during reporting period 0
Total 0
Approved by the Information Commissioner during reporting period 0
Declined by the Information Commissioner during reporting period 0
Withdrawn during reporting period 0
Carried over to next reporting period 0

Section 4: Requests closed during the reporting period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of requests Completion time
1 to 15 days 16 to 30 days 31 to 60 days 61 to 120 days 121 to 180 days 181 to 365 days More than 365 days Total
All disclosed 7 33 21 10 0 0 0 71
Disclosed in part 2 60 54 105 61 63 14 359
All exempted 0 2 3 5 1 0 0 11
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No records exist 56 79 3 3 0 0 0 141
Request transferred 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 23 15 2 1 0 6 3 50
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 88 189 83 124 62 69 17 632

4.2 Exemptions

Section Number of requests
13(1)(a) 1
13(1)(b) 1
13(1)(c) 18
13(1)(d) 2
13(1)(e) 7
14 20
14(a) 17
14(b) 3
15(1) 8
15(1) - I.A.* 3
15(1) - Def.* 1
15(1) - S.A.* 0
16(1)(a)(i) 1
16(1)(a)(ii) 1
16(1)(a)(iii) 0
16(1)(b) 9
16(1)(c) 28
16(1)(d) 0
16(2) 33
16(2)(a) 0
16(2)(b) 0
16(2)(c) 62
16(3) 0
16.1(1)(a) 0
16.1(1)(b) 0
16.1(1)(c) 1
16.1(1)(d) 0
16.2(1) 0
16,3 0
16.4(1)(a) 0
16.4(1)(b) 0
16,5 0
16,6 0
17 8
18(a) 0
18(b) 14
18(c) 0
18(d) 0
18.1(1)(a) 0
18.1(1)(b) 0
18.1(1)(c) 0
18.1(1)(d) 0
19(1) 299
20(1)(a) 1
20(1)(b) 118
20(1)(b.1) 0
20(1)(c) 101
20(1)(d) 48
20,1 0
20,2 0
20,4 0
21(1)(a) 122
21(1)(b) 137
21(1)(c) 61
21(1)(d) 10
22 4
22.1(1) 0
23 88
23,1 0
24(1) 6
26 0
* I.A.: International Affairs    Def.: Defence of Canada    S.A.: Subversive activities

4.3 Exclusions

Section Number of requests
68(a) 63
68(b) 0
68(c) 0
68.1 0
68.2(a) 0
68.2(b) 0
69(1) 0
69(1)(a) 1
69(1)(b) 0
69(1)(c) 2
69(1)(d) 2
69(1)(e) 3
69(1)(f) 1
69(1)(g) re (a) 22
69(1)(g) re (b) 0
69(1)(g) re (c) 9
69(1)(g) re (d) 6
69(1)g) re (e) 7
69(1)(g) re (f) 4
69.1(1) 0

4.4  Format of information released

Paper Electronic Other
E-record Data set Video Audio
24 404 0 0 2 0

4.5 Complexity

4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e-record formats

Number of pages processed Number of pages disclosed Number of requests
328934 128169 491
4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-record formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 100 pages processed 101-500 pages processed 501-1000 pages processed 1001-5000 pages processed More than 5000 pages processed
Number of requests Pages processed Number of requests Pages processed Number of requests Pages processed Number of requests Pages processed Number of requests Pages processed
All disclosed 58 1177 10 2250 2 1268 1 2702 0 0
Disclosed in part 165 5262 82 20759 40 29384 60 130147 12 113017
All exempted 8 208 3 1051 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 43 138 3 723 2 1684 0 0 2 19164
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 274 6785 98 24783 44 32336 61 132849 14 132181
4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats
Number of minutes processed Number of minutes disclosed Number of requests
649 649 2
4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 60 minutes processed 60 - 120 minutes processed More than 120 minutes processed
Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 1 493
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 1 156
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 2 649
4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats
Number of minutes processed Number of minutes disclosed Number of requests
0 0 0
4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 60 minutes processed 60 - 120 minutes processed More than 120 minutes processed
Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0
4.5.7 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation required Legal advice sought Other Total
All disclosed 7 0 1 8
Disclosed in part 197 19 1 217
All exempted 7 0 0 7
All excluded 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 5 1 0 6
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 216 20 2 238

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines 612
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%) 96,83544304

4.7 Deemed refusals

4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines
Number of requests closed past the legislated timelines Principal reason
Interference with operations/ workload External consultation Internal consultation Other
20 14 2 0 4
4.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)
Number of days past legislated timelines Number of requests past legislated timeline where no extension was taken Number of requests past legislated timeline where an extension was taken Total
1 to 15 days 0 3 3
16 to 30 days 0 2 2
31 to 60 days 0 0 0
61 to 120 days 0 3 3
121  to 180 days 0 5 5
181 to 365 days 1 3 4
More than 365 days 0 3 3
Total 1 19 20
4.8  Requests for translation
Translation Requests Accepted Refused Total
English to French 0 0 0
French to English 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0

Section 5: Extensions

5.1  Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of requests where an extension was taken 9(1)(a) Interference with operations/ workload 9(1)(b) Consultation 9(1)(c) Third-party notice
Section 69 Other
All disclosed 21 1 9 1
Disclosed in part 231 11 134 151
All exempted 8 0 1 6
All excluded 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 12 3 6 10
No records exist 3 0 1 2
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 275 15 151 170

5.2 Length of extensions

Length of extensions 9(1)(a) Interference with operations/ workload 9(1)(b) Consultation 9(1)(c) Third-party notice
Section 69 Other
30 days or less 108 1 59 3
31 to 60 days 69 1 37 150
61 to 120 days 52 9 39 14
121 to 180 days 29 3 11 3
181 to 365 days 10 1 5 0
365 days or more 7 0 0 0
Total 275 15 151 170

Section 6: Fees

Fee Type Fee collected Fee waived Fee refunded
Number of requests Amount Number of requests Amount Number of requests Amount
Application 541 $2 705,00 84 $420,00 0 $0,00
Other fees 0 $0,00 0 $0,00 0 $0,00
Total 541 $2 705,00 84 $420,00 0 $0,00

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

7.1  Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

Consultations Other Government of Canada institutions Number of pages to review Other organizations Number of pages to review
Received during the reporting period 145 7629 35 1796
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 21 2607 4 832
Total 166 10236 39 2628
Closed during the reporting period 150 8530 38 1341
Carried over within negotiated timelines 16 1706 1 1287
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines 0 0 0 0

7.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

Recommendation Number of days required to complete consultation requests
1 to 15 days 16 to 30 days 31 to 60 days 61 to 120 days 121  to 180 days 181 to 365 days More than 365 days Total
Disclose entirely 48 30 19 10 0 0 0 107
Disclose in part 0 7 8 3 1 2 0 21
Exempt entirely 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 9
Other 6 2 4 0 0 0 0 12
Total 55 44 35 13 1 2 0 150

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada

Recommendation Number of days required to complete consultation requests
1 to 15 days 16 to 30 days 31 to 60 days 61 to 120 days 121  to 180 days 181 to 365 days More than 365 days Total
Disclose entirely 9 14 3 0 0 0 0 26
Disclose in part 0 3 1 0 1 0 0 5
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3
Other 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
Total 12 19 6 0 1 0 0 38

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with legal services

Number of days Less than 100 pages processed 101-500 pages processed 501-1000 pages processed 1001-5000 pages processed More than 5000 pages processed
Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of days Less than 100 pages processed 101-500 pages processed 501-1000 pages processed 1001-5000 pages processed More than 5000 pages processed
Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Section 9: Investigations and reports of finding

9.1 Investigations

Section 32 Notice of intention to investigate Subsection 30(5) Ceased to investigate Section 35  Formal representations
41 6 64

9.2 Investigations and reports of finding

Section 37(1) Initial reports Section 37(2) Final reports
Received Containing recommendations issued by the Information Commissioner Containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner Received Containing recommendations issued by the Information Commissioner Containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner
2 1 1 0 0 0

Section 10: Court Action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

Section 41
Complainant (1) Institution (2) Third party (3) Privacy Commissioner (4) Total
0 0 0 0 0

10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)

Section 44 - under paragraph 28(1)(b)
0

Section 11: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated costs

Expenditures Amount
Salaries $2 179 824
Overtime $0
Goods and services $520 322
  • Professional services contracts
$483 113
  • Other
$37 209
Total $2 700 146

11.2  Human resources

Resources Person years dedicated to Access to Information activities
Full-time employees 24,900
Part-time and casual employees 1,600
Regional staff 0,000
Consultants and agency personnel 2,790
Students 0,600
Total 29,890
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