Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) Summary for the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act – Exchange with Employment and Social Development Canada

Section 1 – PIA Overview

1. Government Institution

Department of Justice Canada – Policy Sector

2. Name of Program or Activity

Family Law Assistance Services

3. Government Official Responsible for the Privacy Impact Assessment

Office of the Senior General Counsel, Family, Children and Youth Section

4. Description of Program or Activity

Family law is an area of shared jurisdiction. The enforcement of support obligations is primarily the responsibility of provinces and territories. Justice Canada assists the provinces and territories with enforcement of support obligations (support orders and agreements). This assistance is provided in part by the Family Law Assistance Services (FLAS) which is responsible for administration of the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act (FOAEAA), among other federal family law statutes.

The FLAS responsibilities include:

• Processing of tracing applications (e.g. applications to obtain assistance in finding another person) received from provincial enforcement services to locate residential addresses of individuals in default of family obligations and the names and addresses of their employers.

• Intercepting federal payments that would otherwise go to individuals who owe family support; these funds are then diverted to provincial enforcement services who in turn distribute the funds to the individuals to whom support is owed.

• Requesting the suspension or denial of federal licences or passports of individuals who are in persistent arrears of their family support obligations.

The information collected for the purpose of administering this program is limited to the information required to fulfil the FLAS’s mandate as prescribed by the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act and Release of Information for Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Regulations.

5. Description of class of record associated with the program or activity

Family Law Assistance Services

6. Personal information bank

Family Orders and Agreement Enforcement Assistance (JUS PPU 125)

7. Legal authority for the program or activity

Under Part I of the FOAEAA, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) must search, upon request, the information banks designated under s. 3 of the Release of Information for Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Regulations and release to Justice Canada the information authorized under s. 16 of the FOAEAA.

The Release of Information for Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Regulations (Regulations) designate eight information banks that may be searched under Part I of the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance Act (FOAEAA), including information banks administered by ESDC.

8. Summary of the project/initiative/change

Changes were made to the Regulations in order to:

• Provide that the personal information banks held by ESDC and specified in the Regulations may be searched and require ESDC to comply with the request for information;
• Provide Justice Canada with the authority under Part I of the FOAEAA to disclose information to provincial/territorial enforcement services and other provincial/territorial and federal entities as designated under the FOAEAA to be used solely for the purposes of the Act;
• Designate additional information banks that can be searched to locate a support debtor: the Employment Insurance Program Investigation (ESDC PPU 171), containing information from the Automated Earnings Reporting System (AERS) and the Report on Hiring’s (ROH) datasets consisting of information submitted by employers to ESDC on newly hired persons (“new hires”).
• Authorize new exchange activity between ESDC and Justice Canada pursuant to the disclosure of information from the Employment Insurance Program Investigation (ESDC PPU 171) that will entail a monthly exchange of personal information between ESDC and Justice Canada; and
• Additional amendments are of a housekeeping nature to update the names of the departments and the names and numbers of the various designated information banks.