Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act

Introduction

The Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) is pleased to present to Parliament its annual report on the administration of the Access to Information Act (the Act) for fiscal year April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020.

Section 72 of the Act requires the head of every federal government institution to prepare and table an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act during the fiscal year. This report provides an overview of the activities of the ATSSC in implementing the Act.

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution. It maintains that government information should be available to the public that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government.

The Act is intended to complement and not replace existing procedures for access to records and is not intended to limit in any way access to the information that is normally available to the public.

The ATSSC is fully committed to both the spirit and the intent of the Act to foster a culture of openness and transparency within the organization.

A copy of the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is included in Appendix B.

About the ATSSC

The Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) was established with the coming into force on November 1, 2014, of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada Act. The ATSSC is responsible for providing support services and facilities to 11 federal administrative tribunals by way of a single, integrated organization.

These services include the specialized services required to support the mandate of each tribunal (e.g., registry, research and analysis, legal and other mandate or case activities), as well as internal services (e.g., human resources, financial services, information management and technology, accommodation, security, planning and communications). Through these specialized services, the ATSSC supports improving access to justice for Canadians.

The administrative tribunals supported by the ATSSC include:

• Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal;
• Canada Industrial Relations Board;
• Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board;
• Canadian Human Rights Tribunal;
• Canadian International Trade Tribunal;
• Competition Tribunal;
• Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board;
• Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal;
• Social Security Tribunal of Canada;
• Specific Claims Tribunal Canada; and
• Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada.

The ATSSC also supports the National Joint Council, the forum for co-development, consultation and information sharing between the government as employer and public service bargaining agents.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada is responsible for the ATSSC.

Organizational Structure

The Access to Information and Privacy Office

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is responsible for administering the Access to Information Act (the Act) on behalf of the ATSSC. Its mandate is to ensure compliance with the legislation, regulations and government policy and to create organizational standards and directives relating to the Act. Responsibility for the powers, duties and functions for the administration of the Act has been formally established and is outlined in the Delegation Order signed by the Chief Administrator. The Director General, Corporate Services Branch, The Director, Planning and Communications Division and the ATIP Manager have been delegated authorities as described in the Delegation Order included in Appendix A.

Within the ATSSC’s organizational structure, the ATIP Office reports to the Planning and Communications Unit which is part of Corporate Services Division. Oversight of the ATIP Office is administered by the Director, Planning and Communications. The ATIP Office consists of the manager and one analyst dedicated to access to information and privacy activities.

The ATIP Office receives, coordinates and processes requests in accordance with the Act, promotes awareness of the Act within the organization, fulfills reporting responsibilities relating to the Act. The ATIP office also provides expert advice and guidance to senior management and ATSSC staff on matters relating to the Act.

The ATSSC has not entered into any service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act during this reporting period.

ATSSC Performance 2019-2020

The ATSSC received a total of 38 formal requests under the Act. Twelve requests were carried over from last fiscal year; 46 of the 50 requests were completed, with 93.5% of the requests closed within legislative deadlines. Four requests were carried forward into the new fiscal year.

In addition to the formal requests, the ATSSC received 30 consultations (totaling 466 pages) from other federal institutions as well as one informal request. All consultations and informal requests were responded to during this fiscal year; none were carried forward.

As indicated in the chart below, since the 2017-2018 fiscal year, ATSSC has experienced an increase of 91% in formal requests; a decrease of 31% in consultations and a decrease of 21% in informal requests for access to records.

Extensions and Completion Time

Requests can be extended beyond the 30-day statutory time frame in three circumstances:

• the request is for a large number of records or necessitates a search through a large number of records (paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Act);
• consultations are necessary (paragraph 9(1)(b) of the Act); or
• the request requires giving notice to a third party (paragraph 9(1)(c) of the Act).

During this reporting period, an extension under paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Act was taken in four cases because the request was for a large number of records or meeting the original time limit would have unreasonably interfered with the operations of the ATSSC. In three cases, an extension was taken under paragraph 9(1)(b) as consultations were required within the ATSSC and with other institutions. Additionally, an extension under paragraph 9(1)(c) was taken in one case as a consultation with third party was necessary.

As indicated in the chart below, the ATSSC responded to 26 requests within one to 15 days, 10 requests within 16 to 30 days, and two requests within 31 to 60 days. Six requests required 61 to 120 days to complete, one required 121 to 180 days and one request required 181 to 365 days to complete. Of the 46 requests completed during this reporting period, 43 (93%) were completed within the statutory time frame.

Impact of COVID-19 on ATIP Operations

ATSSC’s ATIP office has been equipped for virtual operations since 2019, with analysts able to work remotely. While the ATSSC is equipped with an electronic records repository, the retrieval of records in response to requests has been challenged by COVID-19. Not all of the records have been digitized and stored in an accessible repository and not all administrative Tribunals are equipped with e-Registry services. At the writing of this Report, only one request has been affected and the requester has been informed.

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.

The Access to Information Act and Regulations set out the fees which may be collected for the purposes of processing requests.

As per the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, issued on May 5, 2016, the ATSSC waives all fees prescribed by the Act and Regulations, other than the $5 application fee in paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Regulations. No requests necessitated a fee waiver during this reporting period.

During the reporting period, of the 38 requests received, the ATSSC collected the $5 application fee in 25 cases. This represents a total revenue of $125. Additionally, application fees were waived for 13 requests, totaling $65. The total operating cost for the ATSSC’s ATIP Office during this fiscal year was $174,708.

Training and Awareness

To increase the knowledge and understanding of the Act across the ATSSC, training and awareness sessions were delivered by the ATIP Office. These sessions provided general information on the purpose and provisions of the Act, as well as the roles and responsibilities of employees and the ATIP Office.

Ongoing briefings occurred on an ad-hoc basis with our liaison officers. The liaison officers assist the ATIP Office in producing the requested records and providing insight into the subject matter of the requests.

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

The ATSSC is guided by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) suite of access to information policy and guidance instruments. With the modifications to the Access to Information Act that required the pro publication of specific briefing materials, the ATIP office participated in developing procedures that ensured a review of records subject to pro publication. ATIP identified areas of the records that would be subject to exemptions under the legislation.

Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken on Complaints or Audits

This reporting period, two complaints were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) against the ATSSC regarding the time limits of the access to information requests. The complainant alleges that the ATSSC failed to respond to the requests within the time limits set out in the Access to Information Act. The OIC completed their investigation regarding both complaints. Since the complainant received the responsive records, the OIC’s finding concluded that both complaints are resolved.

In response to the delay complaints, the ATSSC engaged with the associated Tribunal with suggestions for ways to locate, retrieve and assess records more efficiently.

Monitoring Compliance

The monitoring of access to information requests was conducted through the case management system containing all relevant and necessary information to ensure compliance with the legislated requirements and reporting obligations. Weekly meetings between the ATIP Manager and the ATIP Senior ATIP Advisor as well as meetings between the ATIP Manager and the Director, Planning and Communications to discuss workload and priorities also assisted the ATSSC in meeting its statutory obligations. Where required, the Director engaged with managers at the associated Tribunal(s) to ensure appropriate compliance.

Appendix A

Schedule

Powers, duties and functions delegated pursuant to subsection 95(1) of the Access to Information Act and the Access to Information Regulations

Legend:

CA

Chief Administrator

DG

Director General, Corporate Services

D

Director, Planning and Communications

M

Manager, Access to Information and Privacy

Appendix B

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-31

Section 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Section 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Section 8: Complaints and investigations

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.