2018 to 2019 Annual Report on the Access to Information Act

On this page

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Mandate of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
• 3. Organization
• 4. Delegation Order
• 5. Interpretation of the statistical report for requests under the Access to Information Act
• 6. Other requests
• 7. Disposition of completed requests
• 8. Completion time and extensions
• 9. Exemptions invoked
• 10. Exclusions invoked
• 11. Reporting on Access to Information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act
• 12. Costs
• 13. Education and training
• 14. Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives
• 15. Complaints, investigations and federal court cases
• 16. Monitoring of compliance and requests
• 17. Information about programs and information holdings
• Appendix A: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act
• Appendix B: Delegation Order

1. Introduction

The Access to Information Act gives Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and all individuals and corporations present in Canada the right of access to records under the control of a government institution subject to the act. The act complements, but does not replace, other means of obtaining government information.

This report is prepared and tabled in Parliament in accordance with section 94 of the Access to Information Act and section 20 of the Service Fees Act. It covers the period from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019.

2. Mandate of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

As the administrative arm of the Treasury Board, the Secretariat has a dual mandate: to support the Treasury Board as a committee of ministers and to fulfill the statutory responsibilities of a central government agency. The Treasury Board’s mandate is derived from the Financial Administration Act.

To fulfill its mandate, the Secretariat has 3 roles:

• a challenge and oversight role, which includes supporting Cabinet decision making, reporting on the government’s management and budgetary performance, and developing government-wide management policies and directives
• a community-enabling role, which involves helping organizations improve management performance and program results
• a leadership role, which involves driving and modelling excellence in public sector pract ices

The Secretariat is tasked with providing advice and support to Treasury Board ministers in their role of ensuring value-for-money, as well as providing oversight of the financial management functions in departments and agencies.

The Secretariat makes recommendations and provides advice to the Treasury Board on policies, directives, regulations, and program expenditure proposals with respect to the management of the government's resources. Its responsibilities for the general management of the government affect initiatives, issues, and activities that cut across all policy sectors managed by federal departments and organizational entities (as reported in the Main Estimates). The Secretariat is also responsible for the comptrollership function of government.

Within the Secretariat, the Comptroller General of Canada provides government-wide leadership, direction, oversight and capacity building for financial management, internal audit and the management of assets and acquired services. The Chief Human Resources Officer provides government-wide leadership on people management through policies, programs and strategic engagements, and by centrally managing labour relations, compensation, pensions and benefits, and contributing to the management of executives. The Chief Information Officer provides government-wide leadership, direction, oversight and capacity building for information management, information technology, government security (including identity management), access to information, privacy, and internal and external service delivery.

3. Organization

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is part of the Ministerial Services Division of the Secretariat’s Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs Sector. This office is responsible for implementing and managing programs and services relating to the Secretariat’s administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, as well as providing advice to Secretariat employees as they fulfill their obligations under both acts.

In fiscal year 2018 to 2019, the ATIP Office consisted of a director supported by ATIP officers at various levels and a part-time university student. A total of 4 consultants (all 4 contracts equivalent to one full-time resource) and a part-time casual employee were hired to assist with privacy policy and to address the backlog of older complex operational files. There were 2 categories of responsibility, which included the following key activities:

Privacy Policy and Processes (3.85 officers, 1 consultant)

• Provided expertise on privacy policy to internal clients
• Developed procedures to optimize operations performance
• Produced privacy awareness and training program material
• Coordinated and reviewed updates to the Secretariat’s Info Source chapter
• Oversaw day-to-day issues management
• Provided advice and review of proactive disclosures and C-58 preparation 

Operations (11.85 officers, 3 consultants and 1 part-time student)

• Provided training and expertise on access to information to internal clients
• Provided database administration via an intake unit
• Processed access to information and privacy requests
• Carried out consultations with government organizations or third parties
• Responded to calls and informal requests for information
• Acted as the point of contact to resolve formal complaints by oversight bodies
• Maintained dialogue with sectors and other federal government institutions
• Provided advice and review of proactive disclosures and C-58 preparation
• Prepared the Secretariat’s annual reports to Parliament on the administration of the acts

4. Delegation Order

Delegation orders set out what powers, duties and functions for the administration of the Access to Information Act have been delegated by the head of the institution, and to whom.

The President has delegated most of the responsibilities set out in the Access to Information Act to the following Secretariat officials: the Secretary of the Treasury Board, the Assistant Secretary of Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, the Senior Director of Ministerial Services, and the Director of ATIP.

A copy of the approved Secretariat Delegation Order can be found in Appendix B.

5. Interpretation of the statistical report for requests under the Access to Information Act

Statistical reporting on the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act has been in place since 1983. The statistical reports prepared by government institutions provide aggregate data on the application of the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act legislation. This information is made public on an annual basis in a statistical information bulletin and is included with the annual reports on access to information and privacy tabled in Parliament by each institution.

The Secretariat’s statistical report on the Access to Information Act for fiscal year 2018 to 2019 is provided in Appendix A.

Table 1 presents an overview of fiscal year 2018 to 2019 statistics on the Secretariat’s processing of access to information requests in relation to statistics for the 3 previous years.

In the reporting period from April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019, the Secretariat received a total of 564 new requests under the Access to Information Act. This represents a decrease of 10 requests (2%) from last year’s total of 574. In addition to the new requests, 150 requests were carried forward from fiscal year 2017 to 2018.

Of the 564 requests received during the 2018 to 2019 reporting period, 283 (50%) were from the media, 111 (20%) were from the public, 85 (15%) were from individuals who declined to identify themselves, 43 (8%) were from businesses, 31 (6%) were from organizations, and 11 (2%) were from academia.

The Secretariat successfully completed 518 requests during the 2018 to 2019 reporting period, which was 39 fewer than the previous year and represents a decrease of 7%. Additionally, the Secretariat processed 29,717 fewer pages, a decrease of 39%, compared to the previous year. Both of these decreases are a result of fewer temporary resources hired to work on ATIP files than in Fiscal Year 2017 to 2018.

Of the 518 requests completed, 51 requests (10%) were requests for which the Secretariat had no records and 31 requests (6%)  were abandoned by the applicant. In addition, 11 requests (2%) pertained to subjects outside the Secretariat’s mandate and were transferred to other federal institutions for processing. Compared to the previous year, this represents a decrease of 44% of misdirected requests, which, in our opinion, continues to be attributed to more institutions participating in the ATIP Online Request service.

Of the remaining 425 requests completed, a total of 411 requests (97%) were fully or partially disclosed. Records were sought and provided on paper in 35 cases and in electronic format in 376 cases. This represents an increase of 18% of requests being provided in electronic format relative to the previous year.

A total of 77 requests involved the review and processing of more than 100 pages (39 fewer than the previous year), and resulted in a total of 28,140 pages processed compared to last year’s total of 44,975 pages. Processing of large files takes significantly longer given complexity and volume.

Consistent with trends across the Government of Canada, the number of requests carried forward within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat has increased from 82 requests in fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to a high of 196 requests in fiscal year 2018 to 2019, an increase of 139%. Fiscal year 2018 to 2019 displayed the largest number of requests carried forward relative to the previous reporting period (46 more or a 31% increase).

The staff turnover within the ATIP Office, which was partially addressed through staffing activities throughout the year, presented various operational challenges to the Secretariat. Despite these challenges, the ATIP Office was successful in achieving a 97% on‑time compliance rate, an improvement over 93% from the previous year.

6. Other requests

During the reporting period, the Secretariat received 301 access to information consultation requests from other federal institutions involving Secretariat records or issues, which is an increase of 81 requests (37%) from the previous year. A significant portion of this increase, 31 requests (38%), was a result of the Privy Council Office’s archival review process prior to transferring documents to Library and Archives Canada.

The Secretariat was asked to review a total of 8,616 pages of information as part of these consultations, which declined by 13% from last year’s total of 9,861 pages.

The ATIP Office processed 232 informal requests (not subject to the Access to Information Act) compared to last year’s total of 357, which represents a decrease of 35%. Informal requests are processed as part of the Secretariat’s broader objective of providing Canadians with relevant information on an informal and timely basis, and in the spirit of transparency and open government. In fiscal year 2018 to 2019, a total of 22,151 pages were released informally compared to 10,000 pages the previous year, representing an increase of 121%.

As in previous years, the ATIP Office acted as a source of expertise for Secretariat officials, providing advice and guidance on the provisions of the legislation on over 300 occasions, which was 30 more than the previous year and represents an increase of 11%. The office was consulted regularly on the disclosure and collection of data on a wide range of subjects, and provided advice to ensure transparency and compliance with the legislation. This included consultations on publications to be posted on the Open Government website, surveys and forms, proactive disclosures, advice on information management and security of information, and the review of audits to be posted on the Internet.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office experienced a significant increase in consultation requests for proactive disclosure activities, 356 requests in fiscal year 2018 to 2019 compared to 204 in fiscal year 2017 to 2018, representing an increase of 75%. The ATIP Office anticipates this trend to continue in future years.

Throughout the year, the ATIP Office continued to receive frequent telephone calls and emails from the general public seeking guidance on how to obtain information under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, and where to forward their requests. Many of these enquiries were redirected to other federal government institutions, and occasionally, to provincial Freedom of Information and Privacy offices.

7. Disposition of completed requests

In fiscal year 2018 to 2019, a total of 518 requests were completed, with information disclosed in accordance with the provisions of the legislation. Table 2 provides an overview of the disposition of the completed requests.

A notable proportion of the requests that fell within the Secretariat’s mandate were only partially disclosed due to the nature of the Secretariat’s business, which involves a significant number of Cabinet confidences and sensitive advice and recommendations to the President of the Treasury Board. Given that the President is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act government-wide, the Secretariat often receives requests that fall within the mandates of other federal departments. Such requests are registered, reviewed and either transferred to the appropriate organization upon their acceptance or closed/abandoned after advising the requester of the appropriate organization.

8. Completion time and extensions

The legislation sets timelines for responding to access to information requests and allows for extensions when the response requires the review of a large amount of information or consultations with other organizations.

Table 3 provides the response times for the 518 access to information requests that the Secretariat completed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

The Secretariat received a number of requests that fell under the mandate of other government organizations and addressed these within 15 days of receipt. Requests that were processed after 30 days required consultations with other federal organizations or the Secretariat’s Legal Services Division in order to confirm Cabinet confidences. During the reporting period, the Secretariat sought extensions in 363 instances (70%) mainly to consult with other government institutions, legal services, or third parties, but in some cases because the original time limit unreasonably interfered with operations. Overall, of the 518 requests, 503 (97%) were completed within the prescribed time limits, including all extensions, which were taken in accordance with sub-paragraphs 9(1)(a), (b) and (c) of the Access to Information Act.

This year, the access to information requests received by the Secretariat were often complex and pertained to briefing materials prepared for the President and the Secretary of the Treasury Board, open government initiatives, security, changes proposed to the Access to Information Act, statistical information on the Government of Canada’s management of human resources and on the Pay Modernization initiative.

Of the 46,241 pages reviewed, 17,222 pages (37%) pertained to 11 of the 15 late files closed. The ATIP Office continued to address files from previous fiscal years with only one remaining file outstanding prior to 2016. 

Several critical factors contributed to the Secretariat’s on-time response rate of 97%: weekly statistical performance reports, strong case file management, information sessions with Secretariat officials and sector contacts, and a streamlined process for confirmation of Cabinet confidences and delegation orders.

9. Exemptions invoked

The Access to Information Act allows, and in some instances requires, that information relating to the internal decision-making processes of government, national security, law enforcement or trade secrets be exempted and not released.

In fiscal year 2018 to 2019, the Secretariat invoked a total of 641 exemptions as per specific sections of the Access to Information Act. The breakdown of the exemptions is as follows:

• Section 13: Exempting records obtained in confidence from other levels of government (0)
• Section 14:  Exempting records expected to be injurious to federal-provincial relations (4)
• Section 15: Exempting records expected to be injurious to the Government of Canada in the conduct of international affairs, and subversive activities and the defence of Canada (30)
• Section 16: Exempting records containing law enforcement and security information (40)
• Section 18: Exempting records expected to prejudice the economic interests of Canada (27)
• Section 19: Exempting records containing personal information (88)
• Section 20: Exempting records containing third-party business information (89)
• Section 21: Exempting records containing information related to the internal decision-making processes of government (309)
• Section 22: Exempting records containing test procedures, tests and audits (6)
• Section 23: Exempting records related to solicitor-client privilege (38)
• Section 24: Exempting records where there are statutory prohibitions against disclosure (5)
• Section 26: Exempting records where information is to be published within 90 days (3)

10. Exclusions invoked

The Access to Information Act does not apply to information that is already publicly available, such as government publications and material in libraries and museums. It also excludes material such as Cabinet confidences. Consistent with the act, exclusions were invoked 349 times:

• Section 68(a) for information that could be found in the public domain (2)
• Section 69 for confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada (347)

A large number of Secretariat documents are classified as Cabinet confidences due to the fact that the Secretariat provides administrative support to the Treasury Board, which is a Cabinet committee.

11. Reporting on Access to Information fees for the purposes 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.

12. Costs

During fiscal year 2018 to 2019, the ATIP Office incurred $812,473 in salary costs and $127,391 in other administrative costs (consultants, software licences, office equipment and supplies, training) to administer the Access to Information Act.

These costs do not include resources expended by the Secretariat’s program areas to meet the requirements of the act.

13. Education and training

During the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, the ATIP Office continued to expand on its outreach activities by offering training sessions to the Secretariat’s employees on a regular basis. Similar to the previous year, 22 sessions were provided to 599 government officials. Some of these sessions were adapted to the specific needs of divisional teams and sectors of the Secretariat. Of the 22 sessions, a total of 9 were delivered to inform government officials of the new proposed provisions found within Bill C-58.

Throughout the reporting period, the ATIP Office continued to work in close collaboration with the Information and Privacy Policy Division within the Office of the Chief Information Officer to assist in forwarding Access to Information and Privacy policy development by providing operational expertise and guidance on various topics.

Again this year, in support of Right to Know Week, the ATIP Office held an open door day to showcase its services and promote sound information management practices and answer questions about the access to information process. The ATIP Office continued its engagement activities with sector liaison officers to discuss best practices, expectations and the implementation of a number of new initiatives.

To mark Data Privacy Day, the ATIP Office promoted the importance of sound privacy management practices and the shared responsibility of employees for safeguarding personal information in their day-to-day activities. In addition, the ATIP Office prepared a short quiz for TBS employees to test their privacy knowledge and to learn more about privacy protection requirements and the tools and resources available in TBS’s internal Privacy Management Framework.

14. Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

During the 2018 to 2019 reporting period, the ATIP Office implemented a number of initiatives both within its operational unit and with stakeholders in the institution. These initiatives were in keeping with a continued approach to streamlining its operational processes.

The ATIP Office policy unit continued to provide ongoing support to Secretariat programs on open government initiatives, including increased engagement with Canadians and with industry stakeholders. This support also included review and assessment of records destined to be published on the Open Government Portal.

With the proposed proactive publication provisions of Part II of Bill C-58, proactive disclosure was a significant focus of the ATIP Office during the reporting period. Over the course of the year, the ATIP Office engaged with Secretariat officials on the proposed provisions, established roles and responsibilities, and developed internal processes in preparation to meet legislated timeframes of Bill C-58.

Over the past 3 years, there has been a notable increase in internal requests from TBS program officials for privacy-related advice and guidance from the ATIP Office. The upward trend can be attributed to the number of new and forward-looking program initiatives involving the potential collection, use and disclosure of personal information, the growing interest in the use of cloud technologies, and the increase in government-wide employee engagement and public outreach. This year, the ATIP Office continued to support TBS program officials in ensuring compliance with privacy legislation and policy requirements by providing privacy advice and developing new tools for TBS’s internal Privacy Management Framework.

In September 2017, the ATIP Office approached the Secretariat’s Internal Audit and Evaluation Bureau to undertake a department-wide privacy audit and evaluation in order to assess the soundness and effectiveness of privacy practices at the Secretariat. Results of this engagement will be available early next fiscal year.

Finally, in order to ensure continued compliance with the acts and related policies, the ATIP Office disseminated a variety of tools and checklists, and held face-to-face meetings with program officials to ensure compliance with relevant policy and legislative requirements.

15. Complaints, investigations and federal court cases

Requesters are entitled to file a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada regarding the processing of their requests.

The reasons for the new complaints were as follows:

• 9 complaints pertained to time limits (extensions taken or time taken to respond to requests).
• 9 complaints related to refusal of records (invoking exemption and/or exclusion of information and allegations of missing records).
• 1 complaint concerned the institution’s duty to assist
• Of the 19 complaint investigations received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, 3 were closed within the same reporting period: 1 was discontinued, 1 was well founded, and 1 was not-well founded. The remaining 16 complaints were still under investigation at the end of the reporting period.

The Office of the Information Commissioner issued findings on a total of 18 complaint investigations during the reporting period, of which 3 were received in fiscal year 2018 to 2019. The nature of these complaints and their findings are summarized below:

• 18 complaint investigations were related to the refusal of records (invoking exemption and/or exclusion of information, allegations of missing records) and time extensions taken

There were no new court cases in fiscal year 2018 to 2019. There have been no court cases against the Secretariat in relation to the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act since 2004.

16. Monitoring of compliance and requests

The ATIP Office distributes weekly compliance statistics that are shared with the program areas and senior management for all access to information requests.

17. Information about programs and information holdings

TBS publishes an inventory of its information holdings, as well as relevant details about personal information under its control.

The primary purpose of this series of publications containing information about, and collected by, the Government of Canada is to assist individuals in exercising their rights under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It also supports the federal government’s commitment to facilitate access to information regarding its activities.

A description of the Secretariat’s functions, programs, activities and related information holdings can be found in Treasury Board Secretariat - Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information (Info Source).

As part of the annual update of its Info Source chapter, the ATIP Office updated its publication on TBS information holdings based on feedback provided by program sectors and by the Information and Privacy Policy Division during their last annual review. In addition, efforts were made to align the chapter as much as possible with the Canada.ca Content Style Guide, while continuing to meet the Info Source Decentralized Publishing Requirements.

Appendix A: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

• In this section

  • Part 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act
  • Part 2: Requests closed during the reporting period
  • Part 3: Extensions
  • Part 4: Fees
  • Part 5: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations
  • Part 6: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences
  • Part 7: Complaints and investigations
  • Part 8: Court action
  • Part 9: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2019-03-31

Appendix B: Delegation Order

• In this section

  • Schedule A – Sections of the Access to Information Act to be delegated

I, undersigned, President of the Treasury Board, pursuant to section 95 of the Access to Information Act, hereby designate the ATIP advisors, the Access to Information and Privacy Team Leader, the Access to Information and Privacy Manager, the Access to Information and Privacy Director, the Senior Director of Ministerial Services, the Assistant Secretary, Strategic Communications and Ministerial Affairs, and the Secretary, or persons occupying those positions on an acting basis, to exercise signing authorities or perform any of the President’s powers, duties or functions as head of institution that are specified in the attached Schedule A. This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

Original signed by

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos
President of the Treasury Board
Date: 2019-12-13

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2019,
Catalogue No. BT1-5/1E-PDF
ISSN: 2371-2910