Access to Information Act - Annual Report 2023-2024

Introduction

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions, to promote an open and democratic society, and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions.

This Annual Report for 2023-2024 is presented to Parliament in accordance with section 94 of the Access to Information Act (ATIA), which requires government institutions to report annually on their administration of the Act. In addition, this Annual Report is prepared and tabled in accordance with section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

The legislation to establish the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians Act (NSICOP Act), received Royal Assent in June 2017. The Committee is composed of up to eleven members, no more than three of whom may be from the Senate and no more than eight of whom may be from the House of Commons. Each member must hold a Top Secret security clearance.

The mandate of the Committee is to review:

1. the legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative, and financial framework for national security and intelligence;
2. any activity carried out by a department or agency that relates to national security or intelligence, unless the activity is an ongoing operation, and the appropriate Minister determines that the review would be injurious to national security; and
3. any matter relating to national security or intelligence referred to it by a minister of the Crown.

To fulfill its mandate, the Committee is entitled to have access to any information, with few exceptions, that is under the control of a department and that is related to the fulfillment of the Committee’s mandate. 

The Committee is required to submit to the Prime Minister an annual report of the reviews it conducted during the preceding year. It may also issue a special report at any time on any matter related to its mandate. A declassified version of those reports must be laid before both Houses of Parliament (in certain cases, the Committee may decide to include only a summary of a special report in its annual report). There are two categories of information that may be redacted from a report on the direction of the Prime Minister: information which would be injurious to national security, national defence or international relations if disclosed; and information that is subject to specific legal privileges, most commonly solicitor-client privilege.    

Through its public reports and its outreach activities to non-governmental organizations, academics and university students, the Committee aims to provide as much information to the public as possible, within the parameters of the NSICOP Act.

In 2023-2024, the Committee submitted its 2022 Annual Report and a Special Report on the Federal Policing Mandate of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to the Prime Minister. Both reports have been tabled in Parliament. It also initiated a review of foreign interference in Canada’s democratic processes.

Organizational structure

The Secretariat of the NSICOP was established pursuant to the NSICOP Act. Its Executive Director is the deputy head of the Secretariat and is responsible for its control, management and all its administrative and operational matters. The Executive Director delegates the coordination of and response to Privacy Act requests to the Manager, Corporate and Administrative Services.

The Secretariat applies the policies and guidelines of the Treasury Board on access to information and privacy.

Delegation order

The Minister heading each government institution is responsible for the implementation of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) within his or her institution. The Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (LGHC) is the Minister responsible for the Secretariat.

The Delegation Order was signed by the LGHC in 2023. The persons holding the position or acting in the position of Executive Director and the Director of Operations have full delegation to exercise or perform any of the powers, duties, and functions under the ATIA.   

Performance 2023-2024

Section 16.6 of the ATIA provides that the Secretariat of the NSICOP “shall refuse to disclose any record requested under this Part that contains information obtained or created by it or on its behalf in the course of assisting the Committee in fulfilling its mandate”.  

During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the Secretariat received four requests for information which were completed within 1 to 15 days. Out of those four requests, three resulted in no documentation. One request resulted in the disclosure of 1 page.

The Secretariat also received three consultation requests from other government organizations during this period. Of these consultations, the Secretariat recommended the disclosure of the relevant document in its entirety for one request, the partial disclosure of the document for one request, and that the document be exempt in its entirety for the remaining request. All three consultations were completed within 1 to 15 days.  

The Secretariat does not currently have any active requests or complaints which are outstanding from previous reporting periods.

In compliance with mandatory proactive disclosure requirements for government organizations, the Secretariat’s website includes its latest Departmental Results Report, Departmental Plan and Quarterly Financial Reports at the Secretariat of the NSICOP. The Secretariat also publishes information concerning travel and hospitality expenses, reclassification of positions, and contracts over $10,000 at Open Canada.ca.

Training and awareness

All Secretariat employees are aware that the Secretariat is subject to the ATIA and are aware of their obligations pursuant to section 16.6 of the ATIA. No training was provided during the reporting period.  

Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

Pursuant to section 20 of the NSICOP Act, the Committee adopted comprehensive internal procedures for the Committee and the Secretariat to follow in the exercise of the Committee’s powers or the performance of its duties and functions. Those procedures refer to the obligations of the Secretariat in processing ATIA requests.  

Proactive publication under Part 2 of the ATIA

Proactive publication requirements table

All Government institutions as defined in section 3 of the Access to Information Act

Government institutions that are departments named in Schedule I to the Financial Administration Act or portions of the core public administration named in Schedule IV to that Act (i.e. government institutions for which Treasury Board is the employer)

Ministers

Initiatives and projects to improve access to information

The Manager, Corporate and Administrative Services, as delegated by the Executive Director, coordinates, and tracks all access to information requests. Upon completion, the manager creates the entries in the Open Government website. In addition, the Secretariat will respond to all informal access to information requests.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

There were no complaints, audits, or investigations during the reporting period.

Reporting on Access to information fees for the purpose of the Service Fees Act

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 payable: $5.00 application fee is the only fee charged for an ATI request.
• Total revenue: $0.00
• Fees waived or refunded: $25.00
• Cost of operating the program: $113.00

Monitoring compliance

There is no requirement for specific monitoring of ATIA requests. The Executive Director is made aware of all requests as soon as received and their progress and treatment are closely monitored.

Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Section 1 - Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Channel of requests

Section 2 - Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

2.2 Channels of informal requests

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

2.4 Pages released informally

2.5 Pages re-released informally

Section 3 - Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to act on requests

Section 4 - Requests closed during the reporting period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

4.2 Exemptions

4.3 Exclusions

4.4 Format of information released

4.5 Complexity

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

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

4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests

4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests

4.5.7 Other complexities

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines

4.7 Deemed refusals

4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated deadline

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

4.8 Requests for translation

Section 5 - Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of request

5.2 Length of extensions

Section 6 - Fees

Section 7 - Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

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

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

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the government of Canada

Section 8 - Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 9 - Investigations and reports of finding

9.1 Investigations

9.2 Investigations and reports of findings

Section 10 - Court action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

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

Section 11 - Resources related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated costs

11.2 Human resources

Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

Name of institution: National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Section 1: Open requests and complaints under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

1.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Section 2: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

2.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

2.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Section 3: Social Insurance Number

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act