Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2021‑2022

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Organizational Structure
• Delegation of authority
• Statistics
• Interpretation of the Statistical Report
  • Section 1. Requests Under the Access to Information Act
  • Section 2. Informal Requests
  • Section 3. Applications to the Information Commissioner on Declining to Act on Requests
  • Section 4. Requests Closed During the Reporting Period
  • Section 5. Extensions
  • Section 6. Fees
  • Section 7. Consultations Received from Other Institutions and Organizations
  • Section 8. Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences
  • Section 9. Investigations and Reports of Findings
  • Section 10. Court Action
  • Section 11. Resources Related to the Access to Information Act
• Highlights
  • Training and Awareness
  • Policies, Guidelines, Procedures, and Directives
  • Complaints
  • Monitoring Compliance
• Appendix A: Delegation Order
• Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act for 2021-2022
• Appendix C: Supplementary Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act for 2021-2022

Introduction

The Access to Information Act (Revised Statutes of Canada, Chapter A-1, 1985) was proclaimed on July 1, 1983, giving Canadian citizens, permanent residents as well as corporations in Canada, the right to access to federal government records that are not of a personal nature. The Access to Information Act (the Act) complements, but does not replace, other procedures for obtaining government records. Moreover, it is not intended to limit, in any way, the access to government records that is normally available to the public upon request and subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

This annual report describes how the Canada School of Public Service (the School) administered its responsibilities under the Act during the 2021–2022 fiscal year. The School is pleased to present its Annual Report to Parliament, in accordance with section 94(1)^Footnote* of the Access to Information Act (the Act) and section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

Established on April 1, 2004, under the Public Service Modernization Act and operating under the authority of the Canada School of Public Service Act (CSPS Act), the School supports deputy head responsibilities in providing leadership and professional development across the public service by identifying organizational needs and designing and delivering high-quality, practical programs that address the key development requirements of public service employees.

The School, a departmental corporation, is mandated under the CSPS Act to:

• encourage pride and excellence in the public service
• foster a common sense of purpose, values, and traditions in the public service
• assist deputy heads in meeting the learning needs of their organizations
• conduct research and encourage greater awareness of public management, administration, and innovation

The School parallels that of a corporate training and development institution for its client organizations. It supports common public service learning at all levels and across more than 90 federal departments and agencies, while federal organizations focus on mandate-specific training and development. It has a legislative mandate to provide a broad range of learning activities to build public sector capacity at all levels, including management excellence, within the public service. It plays a key role in helping public servants serve Canadians with excellence in a digital age, where Canadians expect their government to be effective, transparent, and open by default.

Under its Departmental Plan for 2021-2022, the School intended to add emphasis on internal services that support learning delivery underpinned by a commitment to raise the bar on inclusion, openness, effectiveness, and transparency. The School's aim was to optimize internal planning processes and forecasting strategies to gain efficiencies and transparency for internal services processes and support, which in turn would increase openness and inherently, transparency, and continue building on our client service excellence.

Organizational structure

The School's access to information and privacy (ATIP) management falls under the responsibility of the ATIP, Parliamentary and Cabinet Affairs, and Special Projects Unit. This unit reports to the Director General, Communications and Engagement, and is led by a Manager, also the School's ATIP Coordinator, as well as two ATIP Senior Advisors, one Advisor and two Analysts. These employees form the dedicated resources allocated to the administration of the Access to Information Act.

In addition to its activities related to parliamentary affairs and government accountability, the responsibilities of the School's ATIP, Parliamentary and Cabinet Affairs, and Special Projects Unit include the following:

• processing requests for information submitted under the Access to Information Act and requests for personal information pursuant to the Privacy Act in accordance with legislation, regulations and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) policies and guidelines
• responding to ATIP consultations received from other government institutions and organizations
• providing advice and guidance to requesters on the application of ATIP legislation, as well as promoting awareness and training to School employees
• collaborating with the Office of the Information Commissioner and with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on the resolution of complaints
• reviewing departmental documents prior to their proactive disclosure on the public facing websites
• ensuring that the School's information holdings (classes of records and personal information banks) are published in the Information about Programs and Information Holdings
• preparing the statistical reports and the annual reports on the administration of the Access to Information Act and on the administration of the Privacy Act
• participating in ATIP community activities, such as the Treasury Board Secretariat-led ATIP coordinators' and ATIP practitioners' meetings and working groups
• raising awareness on a variety of access to information and privacy-related matters to ensure compliance with access to information and privacy legislation.

Delegation of authority

In July 2022, the School's President delegated full authority for the purposes of the Act to the Director General, Communications and Engagement and to the ATIP, Parliamentary and Cabinet Affairs, and Special Projects Unit's Manager, also the ATIP Coordinator. A copy of the signed delegation instrument for the Act, which took effect on July 12, 2022, is included as Appendix A.

Statistics

Interpretation of the Statistical Report

The following outlines the information contained in the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act for 2021–2022 reporting period, which is included as Appendix B.

Section 1. Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

During this reporting period (2021-2022), the Canada School of Public Service's ATIP Office (the ATIP Office) received 21 new requests and carried forward six requests from the previous reporting period (2020-2021), for a total of 27 requests – of which 22 were closed.

Of the six requests carried forward from the previous reporting period (2020-2021), five were from that reporting period and one was from the 2019-2020 reporting period. All were within their legislative timelines (including extensions).

The ATIP Office carried forward five requests into the 2022-2023 reporting period; all five requests were within their legislative timelines.

1.2 Sources of requests

Of the 21 requests received during this reporting period: nine were from the public (43%); seven requesters declined to identify (33%); three were from business (14%); and two from academia (10%).

1.3 Channels of requests

Of the 21 new requests received, 19 were from the TBS Online Portal and two by regular mail.

Section 2. Informal Requests

An informal request is defined as a request for information made to the ATIP Office of a Government of Canada institution that is either not made or not processed under the Act. Application fees cannot be charged under the Act for informal requests and there are no timelines for responding. The requester also has no statutory right of complaint to the Information Commissioner of Canada.

2.1 Informal requests

During this reporting period, the ATIP Office received one informal request.

2.2 Channels of informal requests

The one informal request was received by email.

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

The one informal request received required 55 days to complete.

2.4 Pages released informally

Of the one informal request received, seven pages were processed and released.

Pages released informally are requests for documents that were not previously released by the institution in response to a formal request pursuant to the Act.

2.5 Pages re-released informally

The ATIP Office did not receive any requests to re-release previously released documents that were processed pursuant to the Act.

Pages re-released informally are requests for previously processed Access to Information Act requests released by the institution in response to a formal request pursuant to the Act.

Section 3. Applications to the Information Commissioner on Declining to Act on Requests

There were no requests submitted to the ATIP Office under the Access to Information Act that were considered vexatious, made in bad faith, or an abuse of rights.

Section 4. Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

Of the 22 requests closed in this reporting period: 18 (or 82%) were completed within 30 days; two (or 9%) required 31 to 60 days to complete; and two (or 9%) required 61 to 120 days to complete.

Of the 22 requests closed: no relevant records existed under the control of the School for six requests (or 27%); and two requests (or 10%) were abandoned by the requester. The remaining 14 requests were released in the following manner: eight (or 36%) were disclosed in part; and six (or 27%) were all disclosed.

4.2 Exemptions

The most commonly invoked exemption cited in eight requests was section 19(1) of the Act (protection of personal information).

Section 16(2)(c): on the vulnerability of particular buildings or other structures or systems, including computer or communication systems, or methods employed to protect such buildings or other structures or systems.

Section 18(a): trade secrets or financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that belongs to the Government of Canada or a government institution and has substantial value or is reasonably likely to have substantial value.

Section 19(1): subject to subsection (2), the head of a government institution shall refuse to disclose any record requested under this part that contains personal information.

Section 20(1)(b): financial, commercial, scientific or technical information that is confidential information supplied to a government institution by a third party and is treated consistently in a confidential manner by the third party;

Section 20(1)(d): information the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with contractual or other negotiations of a third party.

Table 4.2 Number of requests closed where exemption provisions were invoked

4.3 Exclusions

No exclusion provisions were applied to requests that were closed in this reporting period.

4.4 Format of information released

Of the 22 requests closed, 14 were released in electronic format and the remaining eight requests were either abandoned or generated no responsive records.

4.5 Complexity

The following sections detail several factors affecting the complexity of requests that were closed during this reporting period.

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

Of the 22 requests closed: 16 requests (includes 14 that had responsive records and two that were abandoned) generated 6,971 relevant pages processed; and six had no responsive records. The total amount of relevant pages disclosed was 4,825 (in full or in part). The remaining 2,146 pages were either withheld pursuant to exemptions under the Act or were considered not relevant and/or duplicate documents.

4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-record formats by size of requests

Of the 14 closed requests that generated responsive records, 10 required processing of 100 pages or less, resulting in the processing of a total of 416 pages; one fell within the 501-1000 pages processed criteria, resulting in the processing of a total of 610 pages; and three fell within the 1001-5000 pages processed criteria, resulting in the processing of a total of 5,945 pages.

4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

The ATIP Office did not process any relevant minutes in audio format.

4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats by size of requests

The ATIP Office did not process nor disclose any relevant minutes in audio format for any requests.

4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

The ATIP Office did not process any relevant minutes in video format.

4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats by size of requests

The ATIP Office did not process nor disclose any relevant minutes in video format for any requests.

4.5.7 Other complexities

There were no complexities to any of the requests closed.

4.6 Closed requests

The following section details the number of requests closed within the legislated timelines.

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines

Of the 22 requests closed, 20 were completed within their legislative timelines – indicating a compliance rate of 90.90%.

Table 4.6.1 Requests closed within legislative timelines - Multi year overview

4.7 Deemed refusals

The following sections provide context on the rationales applied to requests considered deemed refusal throughout this reporting period.

4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislative timelines

Two requests were closed past the legislative timelines due to heavy workload. However, 90.90% of requests were closed within the legislative timelines, demonstrating the ATIP Office's ongoing commitment to ensuring timely access to records and compliance with legislation.

4.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

For the two requests closed past the legislated timelines, no extensions were taken and they required an additional 27 days and 43 days respectively to complete beyond legislative timelines.

4.8 Requests for translation

There were no instances where a requester requested that the responsive records be translated to another official language.

Section 5. Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Subsection 9(1) of the Access to Information Act allows the head of a government institution to extend the initial period under the following three circumstances:

• 9(1)(a): large number of records or requires a search through a large number of records and meeting the original time limit would interfere unreasonably with the institution's operations;
• 9(1)(b): consultation is necessary and it cannot be completed within the 30-day statutory deadline;
• 9(1)(c): notice is given to a third party under subsection 27(1) of the Access to Information Act.

A total of two extensions were taken on requests closed during this reporting period, pursuant to 9(1)(a) of the Access to Information Act.

5.2 Length of extensions

Of the two extensions taken, we took an additional 90 and 180 days respectively beyond the legislative timelines to complete each request.

When requesting an extension beyond 30 days, the ATIP Office notifies the requester as well as the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC).

Section 6. Fees

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.

Enabling authority: Access to Information Act

Fee amount: $5

Total Revenue: $105

Fees waived: In accordance with the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, issued on May 5, 2016, and the changes to the Access to Information Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, the ATIP Office waives all fees prescribed by the Act and Regulations with the exception of the $5.00 application fee charged for an access to information request, as set out in paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Regulations. The ATIP Office did not waive any application fees during the reporting period.

The total cost of administering the Act was $60,905, as detailed in Section 11 below.

Section 7. Consultations Received from Other Institutions and Other Organizations

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

The ATIP Office received 24 consultations from other Government of Canada institutions totalling 587 pages processed. This represents a significant increase from the 2020-2021 reporting period, where nine requests for consultations were received and 236 pages processed – representing increases of 167% for requests received and 149% for pages processed.

The ATIP Office did not receive any requests for consultation from other organizations.

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

Of the 24 consultations completed, 23 (or 95%) were recommended by the School for full disclosure and were completed within the timelines provided; 1 (or 5%) was recommended by the School for partial disclosure, and was also completed within the timeline provided.

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

The ATIP Office did not receive any requests for consultation from other organizations, including any governments of provinces, territories, municipalities and of other countries.

Section 8. Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

8.1 Requests with legal services

The ATIP Office did not send any consultation requests on Cabinet Confidences to the Department of Justice.

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

The ATIP Office did not send any consultation requests to the Privy Council Office.

Section 9. Investigations and Reports of Findings

9.1 Investigations

At the start of this reporting period, the ATIP Office had two complaints outstanding from the 2019-2020 reporting period.

During this reporting period, the ATIP Office received one new complaint pursuant to section 32 of the Act and one request for formal representations pursuant to section 35 of the Act.

The annual statistical report requires institutions to identify sections of the Act under complaints:

• Section 32: captures a new formal complaint from the OIC
• Section 30(5): captures when a complaint is discontinued or abandoned
• Section 35: requires the institution to make representations against a complaint to the OIC
• Section 37: is the formal finding of the OIC and closure of the complaint (see section 9.2)

9.2 Investigations and reports of findings

During this reporting period, two complaints received formal findings from the OIC and were subsequently closed: one was closed as resolved; and the other was closed as not well-founded.

The ATIP Office undertook an additional review of requests under complaints, and processed a total of 588 pages during this reporting period.

There is currently one outstanding complaint from the 2019-2020 reporting period being carried forward to the 2022-2023 reporting period.

Section 10. Court Action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

There were no Federal Court actions on complaints pursuant the Access to Information Act.

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

There were no Federal Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b) pursuant to the Access to Information Act.

Section 11. Resources related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated costs

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office incurred an estimated $60,905 in Salary and in Goods and Services costs for the administration of the Access to Information Act. These costs do not include the resources incurred by the program areas of the School to meet the requirements of the Act.

11.2 Human Resources

A total of 0.728 combined full-time equivalents (FTEs) were dedicated to access to information activities.

Highlights

2021-2022 Points of interest

Training and Awareness

The ATIP, Parliamentary and Cabinet Affairs, and Special Projects Unit (ATIP Office) informs and guides employees and requesters regarding the administration and the requirements of the Access to Information Act through various forms of communication. During the reporting period, the ATIP Office responded to a significant amount of requests for advice and guidance on various subjects pertaining to the Act.

The ATIP Office's intranet site is continuously updated as more resources are developed to provide School employees and liaison officers with key information on access to information and privacy, and to ensure individual and institutional accountabilities in the accordance with the Act.

In addition to the material developed by the ATIP Office, the development and provision of institutional training on the Basics of Access to Information and on the Basics of Privacy have been provided to School employees; a total of 10 sessions have been held, in both official languages:

• two sessions on the Access to Information Act: 34 participants
• eight sessions on the Privacy Act: 190 participants
  • The ATIP Office recorded a session on the Basics of Access to Information, which is available to School employees on the intranet site
  • The ATIP Office recorded a session on the Basics of Privacy, which is available to School employees on the intranet site

The ATIP Office also hosted eight presentations that were provided by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:

Artificial Intelligence: 70 participants
Biometrics: 70 participants
Information Sharing Agreements: 65 participants
Transparency: 64 participants
Video Interviews: 48 participants
Social Media: 39 participants

Data Privacy Day Activities (January 28, 2021)

• Necessity and Proportionality: 38 participants
• Digital Government: 38 participants

Privacy Awareness Week 2021 Activities (May 3-7, 2021)

• OPC Presentation offered to School employees: Demystifying Privacy with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner
• OPC Presentation offered to all federal government employees: Integrating a Privacy-First Mindset into Your Work
• Test Your Knowledge Quiz

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures, and Initiatives

The ATIP Office's focus has been on raising awareness, and developing and revising all its guidelines and procedures over the last two years. In the last year specifically, it has developed and implemented the following:

• Guideline "When is a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is required" in both official languages;
• Three PIA templates in both official languages;
• PIA Checklist in both official languages;
• The revision of the Privacy Breach Protocol;
• A fact sheet: "Examples of What is Considered Personal Information under the Privacy Act" in both official languages;
• Job aids were developed for School employees to support requirements set out in the administration of the Act.

Complaints

At the beginning of the reporting period, the ATIP Office had two complaints outstanding from the 2019-2020 reporting period.

During the reporting period, a total of two complaints received a formal finding of the OIC and were closed. One was closed as resolved, and the other was closed as not well-founded.

There is currently one outstanding complaint from the 2019-2020 reporting period being carried forward to the 2022-2023 reporting period.

The ATIP Office undertook an additional review of requests under complaints, and processed a total of 588 pages during this reporting period.

Monitoring Compliance

Since the School is a small institution with a relatively low number of requests in comparison with other institutions, senior management is kept informed of the time to process access to information requests by means of a weekly report and through ongoing verbal briefings. The ATIP Office meets to discuss the weekly report with the Director General, Communications and Engagement, on a weekly basis. This report is also shared with the President, Vice-Presidents, Directors General and liaisons on a weekly basis.

Requests closed within legislative timelines - Multi year overview

Text version

The above chart demonstrates the requests closed within legislated timelines with a multi year overview.

In 2021-2022, 20 requests were completed within their legislative timelines – indicating a compliance rate of 90.9%.

In 2020-2021, 36 requests were completed within their legislative timelines – indicating a compliance rate of 92.3%.

In 2019-2020, 33 requests were completed within their legislative timelines – indicating a compliance rate of 91.7%.

COVID Impacts

Due to social distancing measures in place for School employees, we have had partial capacity in regards to processing paper records responsive to ATIP requests. As such, there was only minimal impact to our institution's ability to fulfill its Access to Information Act and Privacy Act responsibilities. The mitigation measures applied included, in part, providing extensions to our Offices of Primary Interest to provide the responsive records for several requests.

Appendix A: Delegation order

Access to Information Act

The President of the Canada School of Public Service, pursuant to section 95 of the Access to Information Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the President, as the head of the Canada School of Public Service, under the provisions of the Act and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act for 2021-2022

Name of institution: Canada School of Public Service

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31

Section 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

Section 2: Informal Requests

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on Declining to Act on Requests

Section 4: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

4.5 Complexity

4.6 Closed requests

4.7 Deemed refusals

Section 5: Extensions

Section 6: Fees

Section 7: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Section 8: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Section 9: Investigations and Reports of finding

Section 10: Court Action

Section 10: Court Action

Section 11: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Note: Enter values to three decimal places.

Appendix C: Supplementary Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act for 2021-2022

Name of institution: Canada School of Public Service

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31

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

Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to receive ATIP requests through the different channels.

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

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

Section 4: Open Requests and Complaints Under the Privacy Act

Section 5: Social Insurance Number (SIN)

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