Annual Report to Parliament 2017-2018
Access to Information Act
Part II: Report on the Access to Information Act
Requests Under the Access to Information Act
Statistical Report
The Annual Statistical Report for fiscal year 2017-18 is included at Part III of this report.
Interpretation of the Statistical Report
| Fiscal Year | # of Requests Received | # of Requests Completed | # of Pages Processed | # of Pages Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-2018 | 809 | 702 | 131,594 | 32,170 |
| 2016-2017 | 676 | 652 | 107,983 | 41,462 |
| 2015-2016 | 574 | 550 | 162,221 | 78,472 |
Request Received Pursuant to the Access to Information Act
809 requests were received during the period under review. In addition, 130 requests were carried forward from previous years, for a total of 939 requests. The number of requests received represents an increase of 133 requests from last year’s total of 676 requests.
The public was the largest group of requesters. Of the 809 requests received during this reporting period, 290 (36%) requests came from the public, followed by 160 (20%) from the media and 154 (19%) requesters who declined to identify the source.
Number of Requests by Source
Number of Requests by Source - Text version
This pie graph illustrates the percentage of total requests that were received during the reporting period from the following sources: academia (6%), business (14%), media (20%), organizations (5%), the public (36%) and decline to identify (19%).
Requests Completed Pursuant to the Access to Information Act
702 requests were completed during the period under review. 237 requests were carried forward to be completed in fiscal year 2018-19.
Of 702 requests, 85% were completed within the allowable time limits.
There was a decrease in the number of pages released from those of the previous year (22%). Responding to formal access to information requests involved the review of 131,594 pages, of which 32,170 were partially or entirely disclosed.
Disposition of Completed Requests
Of the 702 requests completed in fiscal year 2017-18:
- 94 were transferred to other federal institutions that possessed a greater interest in the subject of the request;
- No relevant records existed under the control of the Department of Justice for 205 requests; and
- 54 requests were abandoned by the applicant. In the majority of cases the applicant did not pursue the requests, either by withdrawing them or by not providing the clarification that was requested by the ATIP Office.
The remaining 349 requests were released in the following manner:
- 74 were fully disclosed (21%);
- 244 were partially disclosed (70%);
- 11 were exempted in their entirety (3%);
- 18 were excluded in their entirety (5%); and
- 2 instances where the Department could neither confirm nor deny the existence of records (1%).
Disposition
Disposition - Text version
This pie graph illustrates the percentage of requests that were completed during the reporting period with the following dispositions: All Disclosed (21%), Disclosed in Part (70%), All Exempted (3%), All Excluded (5%), and Neither Confirmed nor Denied (1%).
Completion Time and Extensions
Out of 702 requests completed in 2017-18, 472 (68%) were processed within 30 days or less.
Completion Time
Completion Time - Text version
This pie graph illustrates the percentage of requests that were completed during the reporting period within the following timeframes: 1 to 15 days (29%), 16 to 30 days (39%), 31 to 60 days (12%), 61 to 120 days (12%), 121 to 180 days (3%), 181 to 365 days (4%) and 366 days or more (1%).
The ATIP Office routinely monitors the processing time for access to information requests. This routine monitoring is done through various statistical reports (weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly) and meetings with ATIP staff to ensure that requests are being processed in a timely manner. All ATIP staff, portfolio contacts and senior management are made aware of the performance metrics. In some instances, the Department found it necessary to seek extensions to the prescribed time limits due to the large number of records (63 times) and/or to consult with other government institutions (136 times) or third parties (twice).
Exemptions Invoked
The Department invoked exemptions under the ATIA for 255 requests. Section 21, which exempts information relating to the internal decision-making processes of government was invoked most often (281 times). This is followed by section 23 (152 times), which exempts information relating to solicitor-client privilege and, section 19 (152 times), which exempts personal information. For further details regarding all the exemptions invoked, please refer to the Statistical Report at Part III of this Report.
Exclusions Cited
Exclusions were invoked a total of 22 times pursuant to section 68 (published material or material available for purchase by the public) and 154 times pursuant to section 69 (confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada) of the ATIA.
Method of Access
A total of 90 requesters wanted paper copies and 228 requesters chose to receive information on CD-ROM at no extra charge, thereby eliminating the costs for photocopies as well as reducing the ATIP Office’s paper footprint.
Fees and Fee Waivers
During the reporting period $3,420 was collected in application fees and fees were waived in 18 instances ($90).
The Department offers the requesters the possibility of receiving the release package on CD-ROM at no charge, an option which tends to be more widely accepted.
Consultations by other Federal Institutions or Departments
| Fiscal Year | # of Requests Received | # Pages Received | # of Requests Completed | # of Pages Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-2018 | 486 | 13,700 | 443 | 14,998 |
| 2016-2017 | 460 | 19,566 | 471 | 26,575 |
| 2015-2016 | 530 | 17,227 | 538 | 31,347 |
During the period under review, the Department received 486 requests from other government institutions and organizations requesting recommendations regarding records originating from, pertaining to, or of interest to the Department of Justice. In addition, 44 consultations outstanding from previous years were carried over, for a total of 530.
Of the 530 consultations active throughout the reporting period, 443 were completed during the 2017-18 fiscal year (14,998 pages) and the remaining 87, were carried forward to be completed in fiscal year 2018-19.
Other types of Requests
Informal Requests
The policy of the ATIP Office is to process requests on an informal basis when records have already been released in response to previous ATIA requests or where the Department has already informally released documents elsewhere. As a result of the online posting of summaries of completed ATIA requests, there was an increase of informal requests for previously released information.
The ATIP Office processed 445 informal requests. This number does not include the numerous emails or telephone calls from potential applicants who were responded to informally or were redirected to other institutions.
Advice
The ATIP Office also acted as a resource on several occasions for Departmental officials, as well as those from other government institutions, offering advice and guidance on the provisions of the legislation and related policies. The Office was consulted on the disclosure and collection of information on a wide range of issues.
Complaints, Investigations and Federal Court Cases
Complaints Filed
57 complaints were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) during the reporting period. The reasons for the complaints were as follows:
- Seven (7) related to the extension;
- Three (3) related to delay;
- 22 concerned the exemption or exclusion of information; and
- 25 concerned the handling of the request in general.
Completed Investigations
Complaint findings are defined as follows:
- Well-founded
- The OIC found evidence of the complainant’s rights being denied under the Access to Information Act.
- Well-founded, resolved
- The institution took remedial action to the satisfaction of the OIC during the course of the investigation. The OIC did not need to provide a recommendation to the head of the institution.
- Well-founded, resolved with recommendations
- If the head of the institution accepted the OIC recommendations and remedial action was taken by the institution to the satisfaction of the OIC, the matter is considered resolved and no further action by the OIC is necessary;
- Well founded, not resolved
- If the head of the institution did not accept the recommendations of the OIC, or if the remedial action was not to the satisfaction of the OIC, the complainant will be informed that the matter is not resolved and the complainant, or the OIC with the complainant’s consent, can pursue the matter in Court where the matter relates to the refusal.
- Not well-founded
- As a result of the investigation, the OIC found that the institution applied the ATIA correctly.
- Settled by agreement of the parties
- The complaint was settled to the satisfaction of all parties without the need for the OIC to make a finding.
- Discontinued
- The complaint was withdrawn or abandoned by the complainant before allegations were fully investigated. In some cases, the complainant did not respond to the OIC’s request for representations within a reasonable time period, or cannot be located.
A total of 28 investigations were completed during the reporting period, some of which had been carried forward from previous years. Out of these 28, 18 were well-founded resolved, six (6) were not well-founded, and four (4) were discontinued by the complainant. No key issues were raised as a result of these complaints.
Review by the Federal Court of Canada
One application was filed before the Federal Court pursuant to section 41 of the ATIA during the reporting period.
- Date modified: