2022–23 Annual Report on the Access to Information Act

From April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023

Click to view the Report in PDF.

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Introduction

The Access to Information Act (ATIA – the Act) gives Canadians the broad legal right to information contained in federal government records.

The Act provides government institutions with 30 days to respond to access requests. Additional time may be granted if there are many records to examine, other government agencies to be consulted, or third parties to be notified. Access rights are subject to specific and limited exemptions.

This annual report to Parliament is submitted by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Commissioner) pursuant to section 72 of the ATIA. On April 15, 2007, the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act came into force. It created the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Office). The new legislation replaced the Treasury Board Policy on the Internal Disclosure of Information Concerning Wrongdoing in the Workplace.

The Office is mandated to establish a safe, independent and confidential process for public servants and members of the public to disclose potential wrongdoing in the federal public sector. The Office also deals with reprisal complaints from public servants coming from their disclosures or their participation in related investigations.

The Commissioner is an independent Agent of Parliament.

Description of the Institution’s Structure

The Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator is the only employee dedicated, on a part-time basis, to fulfil the ATIA responsibilities. The Coordinator is assisted by a contractor for the processing of the requests, for training and education, and for reporting activities.

Delegation

The Commissioner, as the head of the government institution, has designated, pursuant to section 73 of the ATIA, the persons holding the positions set out in the delegation order, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties or functions of the Commissioner as specified therein. A copy of the delegation order is included in Appendix A.

Interpretation of the Annual Statistical Report

Appendix B provides a statistical report on the ATIA applications processed by the Office between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

Two formal requests were received by e-mail and closed during this reporting period. A total of 280 pages were released as e-records for these. One informal request was also received by e-mail and closed during this reporting period. Fewer than 100 pages were released as e-records for this request. All these requests were processed within the legal timeframe and only subsection 19(1) was applied as an exemption. The requests originated from the public.

The application fee was collected for each request, but no translations were required to respond to these.

No requests of a vexatious, bad faith or abusive of right nature were received.

Twenty consultations consisting of 20 pages in total were received from other federal government institutions and processed within the allocated timeframe. No exemptions were recommended to be applied under the ATIA. No consultation requests were received from other sources, including consultations on Cabinet Confidences.

No notice of investigation was received from the Office of the Information Commissioner nor any judiciary recourse.

The Office spent some $12,200 in resources administering the ATIA.

Five-Year Trend of Access Requests

Fiscal Year	New Requests Received	Total Requests Processed*
2018–19	0	0
2019–20	3	3
2020–21	6	6
2021–22	0	0
2022–23	2	2

*Note: Total requests processed include any requests carried over from previous reporting periods.

Interpretation of the Supplemental Statistical Report

Appendix C provides a statistical report on the COVID-19 measures applied by the Office between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

Education and Training Activities

No formal briefing sessions covering the provisions of the ATIA was delivered to the Office’s employees as a group during this reporting period. However, advice was provided on an individual basis as required.

Overview of New or Revised Institutional Policies and Procedures

No new or revised institutional policies or procedures were implemented during this reporting period which would have had an impact on access to information.

Key Issues Related to Access to Information Complaints and/or Investigations

No complaints were received from the Office of the Information Commissioner during this reporting period.

Time Monitoring for Processing Access to Information Requests

Though no formal time monitoring was conducted during this reporting period, the Office uses a case management system to track processing times regarding access to information requests. This tool assists the Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator and the contractor dedicated to this function in monitoring timelines to ensure compliancy with legislated deadlines.

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Appendix A – Delegation Order

The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada, as the head of the government institution, hereby designates, pursuant to subsection 95(1) of the Access to Information Act, the person holding the position set out below, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties or functions of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner as specified below.

Position	Sections of the Access to Information Act
Deputy Commissioner	Full Authority – pre and post C-58
ATIP Coordinator	Full Authority – pre and post C-58

I name Denis Bilodeau as Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator.

Date: February 12, 2020

(Original signed by)

Joe Friday
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

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Appendix B – Annual Statistical Report

Name of Institution: Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada

Reporting Period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-03-31

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of Requests

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	2
Outstanding from previous reporting periods	0
Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total	2
Closed during reporting period	2
Carried over the next reporting period	0
Carried over within legislated timeline	0
Carried over beyond legislated timeline	0

1.2 Sources of Requests

Source	Number of Requests
Media	0
Academia	0
Business (private sector)	0
Organization	0
Public	2
Decline to Identify	0
Total	2

1.3 Channels of Requests

Source	Number of Requests
Online	0
E-mail	2
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	2

Section 2: Informal Requests

2.1 Number of Informal Requests

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	1
Outstanding from previous reporting periods	0
Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total	1
Closed during reporting period	1
Carried over the next reporting period	0

2.2 Channels of Informal Requests

Source	Number of Requests
Online	0
E-mail	1
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	1

2.3 Completion Time of Informal Requests

Number of Days
1–15	16–30	31–60	61–120	121–180	181–365	Over 365	Total
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

2.4 Pages Released Informally

Fewer than 100 Pages Released		101–500 Pages Released		501–1,000 Pages Released		1,001–5,000 Pages Released		Over 5,000 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
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2.5 Pages Re-released Informally

Fewer than 100 Pages Re-released		101–500 Pages Re-released		501–1,000 Pages Re-released		1,001–5,000 Pages Re-released		Over 5,000 Pages Re-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

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	Number of Days
	1–15	16–30	31–60	61–120	121–180	181–365	Over 365	Total
All disclosed	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Disclosed in part	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request transferred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Decline to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2

4.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests
13(1)(a)	0
13(1)(b)	0
13(1)(c)	0
13(1)(d)	0
13(1)(e)	0
14	0
14(a)	0
14(b)	0
15(1)	0
15(1) – I.A.*	0
15(1) – Def.*	0
15(1) – S.A.*	0
16(1)(a)(i)	0
16(1)(a)(ii)	0
16(1)(a)(iii)	0
16(1)(b)	0
16(1)(c)	0
16(1)(d)	0
16(2)	0
16(2)(a)	0
16(2)(b)	0
16(2)(c)	0
16(3)	0
16.1(1)(a)	0
16.1(1)(b)	0
16.1(1)(c)	0
16.1(1)(d)	0
16.2(1)	0
16.3	0
16.31	0
16.4(1)(a)	0
16.4(1)(b)	0
16.5	0
16.6	0
17	0
18(a)	0
18(b)	0
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)	1
20(1)(a)	0
20(1)(b)	0
20(1)(b.1)	0
20(1)(c)	0
20(1)(d)	0
20.1	0
20.2	0
20.4	0
21(1)(a)	0
21(1)(b)	0
21(1)(c)	0
21(1)(d)	0
22	0
22.1(1)	0
23	0
23.1	0
24(1)	0
26	0

*Notes:

• Def.: Defence of Canada
• I.A.: International Affairs
• S.A.: Subversive Activities

4.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of Requests
68(a)	0
68(b)	0
68(c)	0
68.1	0
68.2(a)	0
68.2(b)	0
69(1)	0
69(1)(a)	0
69(1)(b)	0
69(1)(c)	0
69(1)(d)	0
69(1)(e)	0
69(1)(f)	0
69(1)(g) re (a)	0
69(1)(g) re (b)	0
69(1)(g) re (c)	0
69(1)(g) re (d)	0
69(1)(g) re (e)	0
69(1)(g) re (f)	0
69.1(1)	0

4.4 Format of Information Released

Paper	Electronic				Other
	E-record	Data Set	Video	Audio
0	2	0	0	0	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
280	280	2

4.5.2 Relevant Pages Processed and Disclosed by Size of Requests

Disposition	Fewer than 100 Pages Processed		101–500 Pages Processed		501–1,000 Pages Processed		1,001–5,000 Pages Processed		Over 5,000 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
All disclosed	0	0	1	110	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	1	170	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
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	0	0	2	280	0	0	0	0	0	0

4.5.3 Relevant Minutes Processed and Disclosed for Audio Formats

Number of Minutes Processed	Number of Minutes Disclosed	Number of Requests
0	0	0

4.5.4 Relevant Minutes Processed per Requests Disposition Audio Formats by Size of Requests

Disposition	Fewer than 60 Minutes Processed		60–120 Minutes Processed		Over 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

4.5.5 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 Requests Disposition for Video Formats by Size of Requests

Disposition	Fewer than 60 Minutes Processed		60–120 Minutes Processed		Over 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	Assessment of Fees	Legal Advice Sought	Other	Total
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0

4.6 Closed Requests

4.6.1 Requests Closed within Legislated Timelines

Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	2
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines	100

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
0	0	0	0	0

4.7.2 Requests Closed beyond Legislated Timelines (including any extension taken)

Number of Days Past Legislated Timeline	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timeline where No Extension Was Taken	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timeline where an Extension Was Taken	Total
1–15	0	0	0
16–30	0	0	0
31–60	0	0	0
61–120	0	0	0
121–180	0	0	0
181–365	0	0	0
Over 365	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

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	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

5.2 Length of Extensions

Number of Days	9(1)(a) Interference with Operations / Workload	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) – Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
30 or fewer	0	0	0	0
31–60	0	0	0	0
61–120	0	0	0	0
121–180	0	0	0	0
181–365	0	0	0	0
365 or more	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

Section 6: Fees

Fee Type	Fee Collected		Fee Waived		Fee Refunded
	Number of Requests	Amount	Number of Requests	Amount	Number of Requests	Amount
Application	2	$10.00	0	$0	0	$0
Other fees	0	$0	0	$0	0	$0
Total	2	$10.00	0	$0	0	$0

Section 7: Consultations Received from Other Institutions and Organizations

7.1 Consultations Received from Other Government of Canada Institutions and Organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review	Other Organizations	Number of Pages to Review
Received during the reporting period	9	20	0	0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	0	0	0	0
Total	9	20	0	0
Closed during the reporting period	9	20	0	0
Carried over within negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0
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
	1–15	16–30	31–60	61–120	121–180	181–365	Over 365	Total
Disclose entirely	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	9
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institutions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	9

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
	1–15	16–30	31–60	61–120	121–180	181–365	Over 365	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institutions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 8: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days	Fewer than 100 Pages Processed		101–500 Pages Processed		501–1,000 Pages Processed		1,001–5,000 Pages Processed		Over 5,000 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
1–15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16–30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31–60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61–120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121–180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181–365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Over 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days	Fewer than 100 Pages Processed		101–500 Pages Processed		501–1,000 Pages Processed		1,001–5,000 Pages Processed		Over 5,000 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
1–15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16–30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31–60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61–120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121–180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181–365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Over 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 Finding

9.1 Investigations

Section 32 – Notice of Intention to Investigate	Subsection 30(5) – Ceased to Investigate	Section 35 – Format Representation
0	0	0

9.2 Investigations and Reports of Finding

Subsection 37(1) – Initial Reports			Subsection 37(2) – Final Reports
Received	Containing recommandations issued by the Information Commissioner	Containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner	Received	Containing recommandations issued by the Information Commissioner	Containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner
0	0	0	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 Costs

Expenditures		Amount
Salaries		$4,500
Overtime		$0
Goods and services		$7,700
Professional service contracts	$7,500
Other	$200
Total		$12,200

11.2 Human Resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	0.100
Part-time and casual employees	0
Regional staff	0
Consultants and agency personnel	1.000
Students	0.000
Total	1.100

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Appendix C – Supplemental Statistical Report

Name of Institution: Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada

Reporting Period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-03-31

Section 1: Capacity to Receive Requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

1.1 Number of Weeks Your Institution Was Able to Receive Requests through the Different Channels

Source	Number of Weeks
Mail	52
E-mail	52
Digital request service	52

Section 2: Capacity to Process Records under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

2.1 Number of Weeks Your Institution Was Able to Process Paper Records in Different Classification Levels

Classification Levels	No Capacity	Partial Capacity	Full Capacity	Total
Unclassified paper records	0	0	52	52
Protected B paper records	0	0	52	52
Secret and Top Secret paper records	0	0	52	52

2.2 Number of Weeks Your Institution Was Able to Process Electronic Records in Different Classification Levels

Classification Levels	No Capacity	Partial Capacity	Full Capacity	Total
Unclassified electronic records	0	0	52	52
Protected B electronic records	0	0	52	52
Secret and Top Secret electronic records	0	0	52	52

Section 3: Open Requests and Complaints under the Access to Information Act

3.1 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, 2023	Open Requests that Are beyond Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2023	Total
2022–23 of earlier	0	0	0

3.2 Number of Open Complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that Are Outstanding from Previous Reporting Periods

Fiscal Year Open Complaints Were Received by Institution	Total
2022–23 of earlier	0

Section 4: Open Requests and Complaints under the Privacy Act

4.1 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, 2023	Open Requests that Are beyond Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2023	Total
2022–23 of earlier	0	0	0

4.2 Number of Open Complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that Are Outstanding from Previous Reporting Periods

Fiscal Year Open Complaints Were Received by Institution	Number of Open Complaints
2022–23 of earlier	0

Section 5: Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Has your institution begun a new collection or a new consistent use of the SIN in 2022–23?	No

Section 6: Universal Access under the Privacy Act

How many requests were received from confirmed foreign nationals outside of Canada in 2022–23?	0