Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Privacy Act

Introduction

The Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) is pleased to present to Parliament its 2020-2021 Annual Report on the Administration of the “Privacy Act” (the Act) for fiscal year April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

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 during the organization’s fiscal cycle.

The purpose of the Privacy Act is to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution and to provide individuals with a right of access to their information. It also protects the privacy of individuals by exercising strict control over the collection, disclosure and use of such information.

The ATSSC is fully committed to both the spirit and the intent of the Act to foster a culture of openness and transparency while ensuring the privacy of individuals with respect to their personal information held by the organization.

ATSSC Mandate

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. Additionally, the ATSSC provides facilities and administrative support to the National Joint Council and supports the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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

The administrative tribunals supported by the ATSSC include:

Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal (CART)

The CART is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal that reviews agricultural and agri- food administrative monetary penalties issued to persons who have allegedly contravened federal rules pertaining to: the import of animal and plant products; the humane transport of livestock; the use of pesticides; or the inspection of plants, animals and meats.

Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB)

The CIRB promotes constructive labour-management relations in the federally regulated private sector by overseeing the acquisition and termination of bargaining rights; resolving unfair labour practice complaints through mediation or adjudication; and assuring the continuity of services necessary to protect public health and safety in the event of a labour dispute. Also administers the Status of the Artist Act.

Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB)

The CCPERB is an independent decision-making body that reports to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. CCPERB determines whether cultural property is of outstanding significance and national importance with a view to protecting and preserving our artistic, historic, and scientific heritage in Canada and making it accessible to the public.

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT)

The CHRT is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal that inquires into allegations of prohibited discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. The CHRT determines whether a discriminatory practice has occurred in respect of employment, or the provision of goods, services, facilities and / or accommodation. The CHRT dismisses the matter if without merit, or if the complaint is substantiated, it may provide remedial relief to the victim.

Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT)

The CITT is a quasi-judicial body that provides Canadian and international businesses with access to fair, transparent and timely trade remedy inquiries, federal government procurement inquiries, and customs and excise tax appeals. At the request of the Government, the Tribunal provides advice in economic and tariff matters.

Competition Tribunal (CT)

The CT is an independent specialized tribunal that combines expertise in economics and business with expertise in law. The cases it hears deal with matters such as business mergers; abuse of dominant position; agreements between competitors; refusal to comply; price maintenance; other restrictive trade practices; deceptive marketing practices; specialization agreements; delivered pricing; foreign judgments, law and directives that adversely affect economic activity in Canada; and refusals to supply by foreign suppliers.

Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB)

The FPSLREB is an independent quasi-judicial statutory tribunal established by the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board Act. The FPSLREB is responsible for administering the collective bargaining and grievance adjudication systems in the federal public service and in Parliament. It is also responsible for the resolution of staffing complaints related to internal appointments and layoffs in the federal public service. It can also receive complaints about appointments that were made to comply with an order in a previous FPSLREB decision, as well as revocations of internal appointments.

Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal (PSDPT)

The PSDPT was established to enhance public confidence in the integrity of public servants. Its mandate is to hear reprisal complaints referred by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. The Tribunal can grant remedies in favor of complainants and order disciplinary action against persons who take reprisals.

The Tribunal's mission is to contribute to the enhancement of an ethical culture in the public service through the impartial and timely disposition of cases.

Social Security Tribunal of Canada (SST)

The SST is an independent administrative tribunal that makes quasi-judicial decisions on appeals related to the Employment Insurance Act, the Canada Pension Plan, and the Old Age Security Act.

Specific Claims Tribunal Canada (SCT)

The SCT is an independent tribunal established under the Specific Claims Tribunal Act to adjudicate First Nations’ grievances against the Crown. The Tribunal has the express mandate of deciding specific claims including claims related to the non-fulfilment of treaties, fraud, illegal leases and dispositions, and inadequate compensation for reserve lands or other assets. The purpose of the Specific Claims Tribunal Act is to resolve outstanding grievances and to encourage reconciliation between First Nations and the Crown.

Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada (TATC)

The Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada provides a recourse mechanism to the national transportation sector regarding administrative actions taken by the Minister of Transport and the Canadian Transportation Agency under various pieces of federal transportation legislation. The Tribunal holds review and appeal hearings at the request of those affected by these administrative decisions.

Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada (EPTC)

The EPTC is an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal that carries out review hearings of Administrative Monetary Penalties and Compliance Orders issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) enforcement officers. The EPTC is independent from ECCC and was formerly known as Environmental Protection Review Canada.

National Joint Council

The NJC is the forum for co-development, consultation and information sharing between the government as employer and public service bargaining agents.

Organizational Structure

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is responsible for administering the Privacy 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 for the purpose of the Privacy Act and the Privacy Regulations signed by the ATSSC 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 the Corporate Services Branch. Oversight of the ATIP Office is administered by the Director, Planning and Communications. The ATIP Office consists of the manager and two analysts, as well as support services of an ATIP consultant 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 73.1 of the Privacy Act during this reporting period.

Performance for 2020-2021

The ATSSC received a total of 153 formal requests under the Act. With one request carried over from last fiscal year, 151 of the 154 active requests were completed. Three requests were carried forward into the new fiscal year. The ATSSC responded to 93% (140 requests) of the received requests, within legislative deadlines. A copy of the Statistical Report on the “Privacy Act” is included in Appendix B.

The number of requests received over the last few years has grown exponentially (Figure 1). As of the first full reporting period since the ATSSC was created (2015-16) to this current reporting period, the number of requests received have increased by 5000%. This is likely due to the increasing awareness of the ATSSC as an institution as well as the implementation of the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request Service (AORS) in 2018-2019.

Figure 1: Requests Received

Along with processing requests received under the Act, the ATIP Office provides recommendations to other institutions regarding the release of records that concern the ATSSC. During this reporting period, the ATSSC received one consultation request from another federal institution. The request was carried over to the next reporting period.

Consultation requests received from other government institutions have remained consistent throughout the years as depicted in Figure 1, apart from a high number of consultation requests received in 2015-2016.

Extensions and Completion Times for Closed Requests

As indicated in Figure 2 below, the ATSSC responded to 131 requests within 1-15 days, six requests within 16-30 days and seven requests within 31-60 days. A response was provided within 61 to 120 days for the remaining seven requests. Of the 151 completed requests, three (approximately 2%) resulted in a full disclosure of the records, and eight (approximately 5%) resulted in a partial disclosure. One hundred and forty of the 151 requests were completed within the statutory time frame. The remaining 11 requests did not meet the statutory deadline due to workload (two), and other (nine).

Figure 2: Disposition and Completion Time

Pursuant to the Privacy Act, 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 15(a)(i) of the Act)
• consultations are necessary (paragraph 15(a)(ii) of the Act)
• additional time is necessary for translation or conversion into another format

During this reporting period, eight extensions were required. Seven extensions were taken under 15(a)(i) (interference with operations) and one extension was taken under 15(a)(b) (translation purposes).

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 records have been digitized and stored in an accessible repository and not all administrative tribunals are equipped with e-registry services. During this reporting period, five requests were affected by challenges brought forward by the pandemic.

Training and Awareness

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 privacy policy and guidance instruments. During this reporting period, the ATSSC did not implement any new or revised institution-specific policies, guidelines or procedures.

Complaints and Audits

This reporting period, the ATSSC received six notices, pursuant to section 31 of the Act, from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) to notify the ATSSC about complaints received against the organization. One complaint related to processing delays and five complaints related to the application of exemptions on records.

In addition, the ATSSC received findings from the OPC on 11 complaints. The complaints were not well-founded in 10 cases and well-founded/resolved in one case. No privacy-related audits were completed during this fiscal year.

Monitoring

The monitoring of privacy requests was conducted through the case management system, which captures all relevant and necessary information to assess compliance with the legislated requirements and reporting obligations. The system was updated as new requests were received or the status of a file was changed. Weekly meetings between the ATIP Manager and the ATIP Analyst 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.

Material Privacy Breaches

A privacy breach is deemed material if the breach involves sensitive personal information that could reasonably be expected to cause serious injury or harm to the individual, or involves a large number of affected individuals. During this reporting period, the ATSSC did not experience any material privacy breaches.

Privacy Impact Assessments

Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) are used to identify the potential privacy risks of new or redesigned federal government activities or services. They also help eliminate or reduce those risks to an acceptable level.

During this reporting period, one PIA was completed to assess the overall privacy risks associated with the personal information handled by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT).

Public Interest Disclosures

Subsection 8(2) of the Act stipulates under which circumstances personal information under the control of a government institution may be disclosed. Paragraph 8(2)(m) states that disclosure of personal information is permitted for any purpose where, in the opinion of the head of the institution, the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy that could result from the disclosure, or the disclosure would clearly benefit the individual to whom the information relates. During this reporting period, no disclosures were made pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act.

Appendix A

Schedule

Powers, duties and functions delegated pursuant to subsection 73(1) of the Privacy Act and the Privacy Regulations

Legend:

CA

Chief Administrator

DG

Director General, Corporate Services

D

Director, Planning and Communications

M

Manager, Access to Information and Privacy

Appendix B

Privacy Act
Statistical Report

Name of institution: Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada

Reporting period: 4/1/2020 to 3/31/2021