Access to Information and Privacy Statistical Report for the 2018 to 2019 Fiscal Year

From Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Openness, transparency and accountability are guiding principles of the Government of Canada.

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act both came into effect on July 1, 1983.

Paragraph 70(1)(d) of the Access to Information Act assigns responsibility to the President of the Treasury Board, as the designated minister, to collect statistics on an annual basis. These statistics are used to assess the performance of the Government of Canada’s access to information and privacy programs.

This statistical report is an annual report of statistical information about the Government of Canada’s access to information and privacy programs across all federal institutions subject to the two Acts for the period of April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. It also presents cumulative data from July 1, 1983, to March 31, 2019.

With respect to requests made under the Access to Information Act, five institutions received 80.8% of all requests received by the government in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year. With respect to requests for personal information made under the Privacy Act, five institutions received 73.2% of all requests received by the government in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year. As a result, the performance of these institutions is of particular interest when considering the performance of the programs. In order to provide Canadians with a more detailed view of the Government of Canada’s access to information and privacy programs, this Report includes an Annex that presents disaggregated data for these five institutions.

The complete statistical dataset will be made available in open format on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal.

Each institution subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act tables an annual report in Parliament on the administration of each act in their institution. These reports can be found on institutions’ websites.

Access to Information Act statistics for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year
In this section
Privacy Act statistics for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year
In this section
Annex: more detailed analysis
In this section
- Requests under the Access to Information Act
  - Timeliness
- Requests under the Privacy Act
  - Timeliness

2018–19 Access to information statistics
(CSV, 305 KB)

2018–19 Privacy statistics
(CSV, 256 KB)

Access to Information Act statistics for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year

Requests under the Access to Information Act

123,421 requests were received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, an overall increase of 16.2% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Of the 150,792 requests that were either received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year or outstanding from the previous fiscal year, 83% were closed. This is an increase from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year: of the 125,329 requests received in the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year or outstanding from the previous fiscal year, 78% were closed.

Table 1 shows the number of requests received, closed and carried over under the Access to Information Act for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 1: requests received, closed and carried over under the *Access to Information Act*, fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Requests under the Access to Information Act	Number of requests
Outstanding from 2017 to 2018 reporting period^{table 1 note 1}	27,371
Received during 2018 to 2019 reporting period	123,421
Total	150,792
Closed during 2018 to 2019 reporting period	125,060
Carried over to 2019 to 2020 reporting period	25,732
Table 1 Notes Table 1 Note 1 Due to administrative errors, there are small inconsistencies between the data for the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year and the data for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year. Return to table 1 note 1 referrer

Figure 1 shows the number of requests received, closed and carried over under the Access to Information Act from fiscal year 2017 to 2018 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019

requests received, closed and carried over under the Access to Information Act, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019 . Text version below: — **Figure 1: requests received, closed and carried over under the *Access to Information Act*, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019**

Figure 1: requests received, closed and carried over under the *Access to Information Act*, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Requests under the Access to Information Act	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Outstanding from previous reporting period	19,074	27,371
Received during reporting period	106,255	123,421
Closed during reporting period	97,705	125,060
Carried over to next reporting period	27,624	25,732

10 government institutions received 87.5% of the 123,421 requests received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 2 shows data on requests received under the Access to Information Act for the 10 institutions that received the most requests in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 2: *Access to Information Act* requests received in fiscal year 2018 to 2019, top 10 institutions
Rank	Name of institution	Number of requests received	Requests received as percentage	Number of pages processed^{table 2 note 1}
1	Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada	82,387	66.8	6,058,588
2	Canada Border Services Agency	7,673	6.2	1,157,130
3	Royal Canadian Mounted Police	4,436	3.6	678,303
4	Canada Revenue Agency	2,931	2.4	2,013,227
5	National Defence	2,275	1.8	203,685
6	Health Canada	1,942	1.6	955,667
7	Environment and Climate Change Canada	1,794	1.5	79,626
8	Department of Finance Canada	1,724	1.4	61,007
9	Employment and Social Development Canada	1,409	1.1	118,818
10	Library and Archives of Canada	1,384	1.1	511,920
Other institutions		15,466	12.5	3,715,224
Total		123,421	100.0	15,553,195
Table 2 Notes Table 2 Note 1 The number of pages processed for each institution represents the total processed pages for closed requests. It does not include the number of pages processed for requests that were carried over into the next reporting period. Return to table 2 note 1 referrer

Government-wide, businesses (private sector) accounted for 48% of requests received, and the public accounted for 29.7% of requests received.

Table 3 shows the sources of requests made under the Access to Information Act in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 3: sources of received *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Source	Number of requests	Percentage of requests
Business (private sector)	59,211	48.0
Public	36,683	29.7
Media	8,602	7.0
Organization^{table 3 note 1}	5,610	4.5
Academia	3,866	3.1
Decline to identify^{table 3 note 2}	9,449	7.7
Total	123,421	100.0
Table 3 Notes Table 3 Note 1 The category “organization” includes, associations, unions, non-for-profit and voluntary organizations, offices of members of Parliament, political parties and non-government organizations. It also includes requesters that selected “organization” when submitting their request. Return to table 3 note 1 referrer Table 3 Note 2 The category “decline to identify” includes requesters that selected “decline to identify” when submitting their request. It also includes instances where the requester did not select any of the available categories when submitting a hard-copy application. Return to table 3 note 2 referrer

Figure 2 shows the sources of Access to Information Act requests received from fiscal year 2017 to 2018 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019 for all institutions.

sources of received Access to Information Act requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019. Text version below: — **Figure 2: sources of received *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019**

Figure 2: sources of received *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Source	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Business	48,806	59,211
Public	34,641	36,683
Media	7,808	8,602
Organization	5,059	5,610
Academia	3,657	3,866
Decline to identify	6,284	9,449

Timeliness

Of the 125,060 requests closed in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, 73.1% were closed within the legislated timeline, including extensions. This is a decrease of 3.1% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Table 4 shows Access to Information Act requests closed within the legislated timeline, including extensions, for fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

Table 4: status of closed *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Status of closed requests	Requests as percentage		Number of requests
Status of closed requests	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Closed within legislated timeline, including extensions	76.2	73.1	74,453	91,402
Closed beyond legislated timeline, including extensions	23.8	26.9	23,252	33,658
Total	100.0	100.0	97,705	125,060

The percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines has decreased by 14.4% over the last five fiscal years, from 87.5% in the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year to 73.1% in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Figure 3 shows Access to Information Act requests closed within legislated timelines, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

Access to Information Act requests closed within legislated timelines, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019. Text version below: — **Figure 3: *Access to Information Act* requests closed within legislated timelines, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019**

Figure 3: *Access to Information Act* requests closed within legislated timelines, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Status of closed request	2014 to 2015	2015 to 2016	2016 to 2017	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Closed within legislated timeline, including extensions	87.5%	85.9%	80.7%	76.2%	73.1%
Closed beyond legislated timeline, including extensions	12.5%	14.1%	19.3%	23.8%	26.9%

Of 125,060 requests closed in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, 69,729, or 55.8%, were closed within the initial legislated timeline of 30 days. Compared with the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year, this figure has remained relatively consistent, increasing by 0.4%

Table 5 shows the disposition of Access to Information Act requests, and the time required to close these requests, for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 5: disposition and time required to close *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Disposition of requests (including requests for which extensions were required)	Closure time^{table 5 note 1}
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
All disclosed	1,793	19,251	9,338	1,575	417	721	613	33,709
Disclosed in part	2,015	30,970	19,736	7,606	2,575	4,068	4,383	71,353
All exempted	278	234	88	151	60	71	43	925
All excluded	160	101	63	120	20	11	8	483
No records exist	2,064	3,033	915	304	68	141	65	6,590
Request transferred	446	34	3	1	1	1	0	486
Request abandoned^{table 5 note 2}	7,504	1,664	507	248	98	265	957	11,243
Neither confirmed nor denied^{table 5 note 3}	68	114	62	8	2	9	8	271
Total number of requests	14,328	55,401	30,713	10,013	3,241	5,287	6,077	125,060
Total as percentage	11.5	44.3	24.6	8.0	2.6	4.2	4.9	100.0
Table 5 Notes Table 5 Note 1 The number of days to close requests or consultations refers to calendar days. Return to table 5 note 1 referrer Table 5 Note 2 An abandoned request is a request that has been formally withdrawn by the requester, or the requester did not respond to a notice indicating that the request will be closed if they do not respond within a specified time period. Return to table 5 note 2 referrer Table 5 Note 3 The category “neither confirmed nor denied” relate to requests for which subsection 10(2) of the Access to Information Act was invoked: “The head of a government institution may but is not required to indicate under subsection 10(1) whether a record exists.” Return to table 5 note 3 referrer

Table 6 shows Access to Information Act requests closed in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by the number of days required to close them.

Table 6: time required to close *Access to Information Act* requests in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019, according to time period
Closure time	Requests as percentage		Number of requests
Closure time	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
1 to 15 days	8.9	11.5	8,646	14,328
16 to 30 days	46.6	44.3	45,497	55,401
31 to 60 days	22.6	24.6	22,103	30,713
61 to 120 days	11.1	8.0	10,810	10,013
121 to 180 days	3.5	2.6	3,457	3,241
181 to 365 days	3.6	4.2	3,474	5,287
More than 365 days	3.8	4.9	3,718	6,077
Total	100.0	100.0	97,705	125,060
Note: The Access to Information Act provides for the extension of the time limit to respond to a request beyond 30 days if it involves a large number of records or necessitates a search through a large number of records and meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution; external consultations are necessary and cannot reasonably be expected to be closed within the original time limit; or notice to a third party is required to advise the third party that their information is the subject of a request. The data in this table reflects all closed requests, including requests for which extensions were taken.

Figure 4 shows Access to Information Act requests closed from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by the number of days required to close them.

time required to close Access to Information Act requests, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019 . Text version below: — **Figure 4: *Access to Information Act* requests closed from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by closure time**

Figure 4: *Access to Information Act* requests closed from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by closure time
Closure time	2014 to 2015	2015 to 2016	2016 to 2017	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
0 to 30 days	65.1%	64.1%	64.5%	55.4%	55.8%
31 to 60 days	19.6%	21.3%	18.0%	22.6%	24.6%
61 to 120 days	8.0%	7.5%	9.5%	11.1%	8.0%
121 days or more	7.3%	7.1%	8.0%	10.9%	11.7%

Table 7 shows the number of Access to Information Act requests closed beyond the legislated timeline (deemed refusals) for fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by principal reason for the refusal.

Table 7: Deemed refusals of *Access to Information Act* requests for fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by principal reason
Principal reason	Total number of requests closed beyond the legislated timeline including extensions (deemed refusal)
Workload	31,012
External consultation	654
Internal consultation	413
Other^{table 7 note 1}	1,579
Total	33,658
Table 7 Notes Table 7 Note 1 Other reasons include the unavailability of key officials, difficulties in obtaining relevant records, labour disputes and lengthy power outages. Return to table 7 note 1 referrer Note: Deemed refusals are requests that were closed neither in the initial 30-day legislated timeline nor within the timeframe covered by an extension

Of the 33,658 requests closed beyond the legislated timeline, 85.4% were past the timeline with no extension taken. This is an increase of 3.1% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Table 8 shows the number of Access to Information Act requests that were closed beyond the legislated timeline in fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by number of days past the timeline.

Table 8: number of days past deadline for *Access to Information Act* requests closed beyond the legislated timeline including extensions, fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Number of days past legislated timeline	Number of requests past legislated timeline where no extension was taken	Number of requests past legislated timeline where an extension was taken	Total requests closed beyond the legislated timeline including extensions	Total as percentage
1 to 15 days	15,228	819	16,047	47.7
16 to 30 days	1,531	333	1,864	5.5
31 to 60 days	1,836	473	2,309	6.9
61 to 120 days	1,892	616	2,508	7.5
121 to 180 days	1,074	449	1,523	4.5
181 to 365 days	3,553	973	4,526	13.4
More than 365 days	3,639	1,242	4,881	14.5
Total	28,753	4,905	33,658	100.0

Disposition

Records were disclosed either in full or in part for 84% of closed requests. This is an increase of 1.2% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Table 9 shows the disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests for fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

Table 9: disposition of closed *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Disposition of closed requests	Requests as percentage		Number of requests
Disposition of closed requests	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
All disclosed	25.0	27.0	24,433	33,709
Disclosed in part	57.8	57.1	56,452	71,353
All exempted	0.7	0.7	668	925
All excluded	0.4	0.4	348	483
No records exist	7.3	5.3	7,089	6,590
Request transferred	0.8	0.4	734	486
Request abandoned	7.9	9.0	7,705	11,243
Neither confirmed nor denied	0.3	0.2	276	271
Total	100.0	100.0	97,705	125,060

Figure 5 shows the disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019.. Text version below: — **Figure 5: disposition of closed *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019.**

Figure 5: disposition of closed *Access to Information Act* requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Disposition of closed requests	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
All disclosed	24,433	33,709
Disclosed in part	56,452	71,353
All exempted	668	925
All excluded	348	483
No records exist	7,089	6,590
Request transferred	734	486
Request abandoned	7,705	11,243
Neither confirmed nor denied	276	271

Complexity

In the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, government institutions processed about 15.6 million pages for closed requests, a decrease of about 12 million pages over the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year. The significant decrease in the number of pages processed reflects that the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year included a single request involving approximately 14.8 million pages.

Of the 15.6 million pages processed, 68.8% were disclosed either in full or in part. This is a decrease of 18.4% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Government institutions undertook consultations with parties outside the federal government in 8.4% of all closed requests.

Table 10 shows the number of relevant pages processed and disclosed in response to Access to Information Act requests closed in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by manner of disposition.

Table 10: relevant pages processed and disclosed in response to *Access to Information Act* requests closed in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by disposition
Disposition of requests	Number of pages processed		Number of pages disclosed		Number of requests^{table 10 note 1}
Disposition of requests	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
All disclosed	17,088,864	2,290,602	17,005,921	1,994,219	24,433	33,709
Disclosed in part	9,201,216	11,597,664	7,010,977	8,701,382	56,452	71,353
All exempted	295,304	1,169,056	0	0	668	925
All excluded	37,052	52,720	0	0	348	483
Request abandoned^{table 10 note 2}	912,900	443,153	126,599	96,034	7,705	11,243
Total	27,535,336^{table 10 note 3}	15,553,195^{table 10 note 4}	24,143,497	10,791,635^{table 10 note 4}	89,606	117,713
Table 10 Notes Table 10 Note 1 The total number of requests for each reporting period reflects the total number of requests closed in each period with the exception of those categorized as “no records exist,” “request transferred” or “neither confirmed nor denied.” Return to table 10 note 1 referrer Table 10 Note 2 Some records may have been disclosed to the requester before the request’s abandonment. Return to table 10 note 2 referrer Table 10 Note 3 Due to administrative errors, there is a small inconsistency between the number of pages processed in the ATIP report for 2017 to 2018 fiscal year and the ATIP report for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year. Return to table 10 note 3 referrer Table 10 Note 4 The number of pages decreased significantly from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year due to 1 request involving approximately 14.8 million pages. Return to table 10 note 4 referrer

Figure 6 shows the number of pages processed in response to closed Access to Information Act requests from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

number of pages processed regarding closed Access to Information Act requests, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019 fiscal year. Text version below: — **Figure 6: number of pages processed in response to closed *Access to Information Act* requests, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019**

Figure 6: number of pages processed regarding closed *Access to Information Act* requests, from fiscal year 2014 to 2015 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019 fiscal year
	2014 to 2015	2015 to 2016	2016 to 2017	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Total number of pages processed	9,919,349	9,025,729	16,047,246	27,535,336	15,553,195

Note: The number of pages processed rose significantly in the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year due to 1 request of approximately 14.8 million pages.

Table 11 shows the number of complex Access to Information Act requests closed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by disposition.

Table 11: complex *Access to Information Act* requests closed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by disposition
Disposition	Consultation required	Assessment of fees	Legal advice sought	Other^{table 11 note 1}	Total
All disclosed	1,221	0	17	581	1,819
Disclosed in part	8,588	9	342	1,336	10,275
All exempted	175	0	14	24	213
All excluded	236	0	28	19	283
Request abandoned	270	13	10	168	461
Neither confirmed nor denied	4	0	0	1	5
Total	10,494	22	411	2,129	13,056
Table 11 Notes Table 11 Note 1 Other considerations include requests for the contents of a database, requests to process audio or video recordings, high-profile subject matter, instances in which records are located in another region or country, and instances in which the records are in a language other than English or French. Return to table 11 note 1 referrer

Extensions

39.6% of all extensions taken for closed requests cited paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Access to Information Act as a reason for the extension, relating to interference with government operations. 20.3% of all extensions taken for closed requests were for 30 days or less; 93.9% were for 120 days or less.

Table 12 shows the number of Access to Information Act requests that were closed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019 where extensions were invoked, by length of the extension.

Table 12: *Access to Information Act* requests closed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019 with reasons for and length of extensions
Length of extensions^{table 12 note 1}	9(1)(a) - Interference with operations	9(1)(b) - Consultation		9(1)(c) - Third-party notice	Total
Length of extensions^{table 12 note 1}	9(1)(a) - Interference with operations	Section 69^{table 12 note 2}	Other^{table 12 note 3}	9(1)(c) - Third-party notice	Total
30 days or less	2,186	77	1,321	161	3,745
31 to 60 days	2,116	230	3,851	1,739	7,936
61 to 120 days	2,462	769	2,104	323	5,658
121 to 180 days	302	54	263	65	684
181 to 365 days	166	8	145	34	353
365 days or more	73	1	14	4	92
Total	7,305	1,139	7,698	2,326	18,468
Table 12 Notes Table 12 Note 1 The timelines associated with extensions begin at the end of the initial 30-day response period. Return to table 12 note 1 referrer Table 12 Note 2 Section 69 of the Access to Information Act states that the act does not apply to confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. Return to table 12 note 2 referrer Table 12 Note 3 “Other” includes consultations with one or more of the following: other federal government institutions, provincial and municipal governments, foreign states, international organizations of states, Aboriginal governments, non-governmental organizations or individuals. Return to table 12 note 3 referrer

Exemptions^{Footnote 1}

The tables that follow show the number of Access to Information Act requests closed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019 that were subject to particular exemptions under the Act.

Table 13a: exemptions for information obtained in confidence
Provision	Number of requests
13(1)(a)	6,138
13(1)(b)	243
13(1)(c)	708
13(1)(d)	280
13(1)(e)	25

Table 13b: exemptions for federal-provincial affairs
Provision	Number of requests
14	613
14(a)	483
14(b)	201

Table 13c: exemptions for international affairs and defence
Provision	Number of requests
15(1)	14,656
15(1) International Affairs	2,666
15(1) Defence	1,565
15(1) Subversive activities	13,641

Table 13d: exemptions for law enforcement and investigations
Provision	Number of requests
16(1)(a)(i)	549
16(1)(a)(ii)	271
16(1)(a)(iii)	669
16(1)(b)	898
16(1)(c)	20,972
16(1)(d)	40
16(2)	1,624
16(2)(a)	36
16(2)(b)	39
16(2)(c)	3,284
16(3)	20
16.1(1)(a)	2
16.1(1)(b)	26
16.1(1)(c)	30
16.1(1)(d)	43
16.2(1)	10
16.3	3
16.31	1
16.4(1)(a)	0
16.4(1)(b)	0
16.5	35
16.6	6

Table 13e: exemptions for safety of individuals
Provision	Number of requests
17	1,795

Table 13f: exemptions for economic interests of Canada
Provision	Number of requests
18(a)	216
18(b)	503
18(c)	15
18(d)	318
18.1(1)(a)	46
18.1(1)(b)	63
18.1(1)(c)	21
18.1(1)(d)	25

Table 13g: exemptions for personal information
Provision	Number of requests
19(1)	52,374

Table 13h: exemptions for third-party information
Provision	Number of requests
20(1)(a)	119
20(1)(b)	2,849
20(1)(b.1)	80
20(1)(c)	2,282
20(1)(d)	569
20.1	18
20.2	0
20.4	0

Table 13i: exemptions for operations of government
Provision	Number of requests
21(1)(a)	4,946
21(1)(b)	5,172
21(1)(c)	1,091
21(1)(d)	400

Table 13j: exemptions for testing procedures, tests and audits
Provision	Number of requests
22	284
22.1(1)	27

Table 13k: exemptions for solicitor-client privilege
Provision	Number of requests
23	2,531

Table 13l: exemptions for protected information (patents and trade-marks)
Provision	Number of requests
23.1	0

Table 13m: exemptions for statutory prohibitions
Provision	Number of requests
24(1)	2,334

Table 13n: exemptions for information to be published
Provision	Number of requests
26	110

Exclusions^{Footnote 2}

The tables that follow show the number of Access to Information Act requests closed in fiscal year 2018 to 2019 that were subject to particular exclusions under the Act.

Table 14a: exclusions for non-application (Act does not apply to certain materials)
Provision	Number of requests
68(a)	553
68(b)	5
68(c)	13
68.1	47
68.2(a)	1
68.2(b)	1

Table 14b: exclusions for Cabinet confidences
Provision	Number of requests
69(1)	98
69(1)(a)	260
69(1)(b)	12
69(1)(c)	69
69(1)(d)	210
69(1)(e)	425
69(1)(f)	43
69(1)(g) re (a)	1,234
69(1)(g) re (b)	20
69(1)(g) re (c)	732
69(1)(g) re (d)	427
69(1)(g) re (e)	794
69(1)(g) re (f)	336

Table 14c: exclusions for certificate under the *Canada Evidence Act*
Provision	Number of requests
69.1(1)	0

Consultations

The number of requests for consultations between federal government institutions in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year increased by 8.2% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year. The number of pages to review increased by 15.7%.

Table 15a shows the number of requests for consultation in fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019 between government institutions and the number of pages reviewed in connection with those requests.

Table 15a: number of requests for consultation and number of pages reviewed in connection with those requests, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Consultations	Number of requests for consultations		Number of pages to review
Consultations	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Received during reporting period	9,338	9,692	493,913	480,689
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	949	1,434	156,002	271,251
Total	10,287	11,126	649,915	751,940
Closed during the reporting period	8,880	9,356	433,559	490,453
Pending at the end of the reporting period	1,407	1,766	216,356	261,416

Table 15b shows, by recommendation, the number of requests for consultation that were closed within particular timeframes in fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

Table 15b: requests for consultation between government institutions closed within particular timeframes in fiscal year 2018 to 2019, by recommendation
Recommendation	Number of days required to close consultation requests
Recommendation	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	2,236	1,543	933	274	61	47	15	5,109
Disclose in part	688	868	868	548	162	133	90	3,357
Exempt entirely	55	46	43	27	7	4	4	186
Exclude entirely	18	20	5	0	1	2	0	46
Consult other institution^{table 15b note 1}	70	34	32	20	7	7	5	175
Other	278	85	47	31	14	11	17	483
Total	3,345	2,596	1,928	900	252	204	131	9,356
Table 15b Notes Table 15b Note 1 “Consult other institution” refers to a government institution’s recommendation that the institution that consulted them contact additional government institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. Return to table 15b note 1 referrer

Fees and costs

The annual cost to administer the Government of Canada’s access to information program increased by 6.7% to about $74.4 million in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, with the average cost per closed request declining by 16.7% to about $595 per request.

Table 16 shows the fees and costs associated with administering the Access to Information Act for fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and for fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

Table 16: fees and costs of *Access to Information Act* operations, 2017 to 2018 fiscal year and 2018 to 2019 fiscal year
Description	Amount
Description	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Cost of institutions’ operations^{table 16 note 1}	$69,810,554.00	$73,373,705.00
Cost of ATIP Online Request Service^{table 16 note 2}	N/A	$1,079,623
Total	$69,810,554.00	$74,453,328
Requests closed	97,705	125,060
Average cost per closed request^{table 16 note 3}	$714.50	$595.34
Pages processed	27,536,336	15,553,195
Average cost per processed page	$2.54	$4.79
Number of requests in which fees were collected	94,775	116,443
Fees collected	$476,710.00	$582,473.00
Average fees collected per request	$5.03	$5.00
Number of requests in which fees were waived or refunded	7,184	7,093
Fees waived or refunded	$48,747.00	$40,968.00
Average fees waived per request	$6.79	$5.78
Table 16 Notes Table 16 Note 1 Cost of operations includes salaries, overtime, goods and services, contracts and all other expenses specific to access to information and privacy offices. Cost of operations does not include costs associated with time spent by business areas searching for and reviewing records. Return to table 16 note 1 referrer Table 16 Note 2 The 2018 to 2019 fiscal year is the first year in which the cost of the ATIP Online Request Service (AORS) is reported. Return to table 16 note 2 referrer Table 16 Note 3 This calculation uses the cost of operations in the reporting period to obtain the average cost per closed request. Because the cost of operations also includes the processing costs of some requests that will be carried over into the next reporting period, the average cost per closed request is an approximation. Return to table 16 note 3 referrer

Informal requests for government information

An informal request is a request for information made to a government institution subject to the Access to Information Act that is either not made or not processed under the act.

Informal requests include:

formal requests that were discontinued in favour of providing information informally, in consultation with the requester
requests where the information sought is already publicly available online
requests where the response involves re-releasing information that was made available in response to previously closed formal requests, summaries of which are found online.

Informal requests do not include:

responses to parliamentary questions or media enquiries
requests made internally within a government institution to share information between sectors

Unlike in the case of formal requests:

fees cannot be charged for informal requests
there are no deadlines for responding to informal requests
requesters have no statutory right of complaint to the Information Commissioner

In the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, 59.6% of informal requests were closed within 30 days. This is a decrease of 3.5% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Table 17 shows the time required to close informal requests in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 17: time required to close informal requests, fiscal year 2018 to 2019
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
	Closure time
Number of requests	8,487	3,013	2,477	1,306	576	3,005	437	19,301

Access to Information Act requests since 1983

The statistics that follow reflect the best available data since 1983. The categories have been adjusted in some cases in order to compare data across the years.

Table 18 shows the number of Access to Information Act requests received and closed since 1983.

Table 18: number of *Access to Information Act* requests since 1983
Requests under the Access to Information Act	Number of requests
Requests received	1,102,952
Requests closed	1,071,916

Figure 7 shows the disposition of Access to Information Act requests closed since 1983.

disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests since 1983. Text version below: — **Figure 7: disposition of closed *Access to Information Act* requests since 1983**

Figure 7: disposition of closed *Access to Information Act* requests since 1983
Disposition of closed requests	Requests as percentage
All disclosed	25.8%
Disclosed in part	51.0%
Unable to process	18.4%
Withheld entirely	2.2%
Other	2.5%

Notes:

“Unable to process” includes the categories “no records exist,”^{Footnote 3} “abandoned”^{Footnote 4} and “requests that could not be processed.”^{Footnote 5}
“Withheld entirely” includes the categories “all exempted” and “all excluded.”
“Other” includes the categories “transferred,” “neither confirmed nor denied” and “treated informally.”

Table 19 shows the disposition of Access to Information Act requests closed since 1983.

Table 19: disposition of closed *Access to Information Act* requests since 1983
Disposition of closed requests	Requests as percentage	Number of requests
Disclosed in part	51.0	547,191
All disclosed	25.8	276,734
All exempted	1.6	17,310
All excluded	0.6	6,106
No records exist	4.7	50,170
Abandoned	4.9	52,376
Transferred	1.1	11,739
Neither confirmed nor denied	0.1	1,527
Treated informally^{table 19 note 1}	1.3	14,057
Requests that could not be processed^{table 19 note 1}	8.8	94,706
Total	100.0	1,071,916
Table 19 Notes Table 19 Note 1 The number of requests has remained constant since the 2013 to 2014 fiscal year. Return to table 19 note 1 referrer

Table 20 shows Access to Information Act requests closed since 1983, by the number of days required to close them.

Table 20: time required to close *Access to Information Act* requests since 1983
Closure time (including requests for which extensions were required)	Requests as percentage	Number of requests
0 to 30 days	59.7	640,085
31 to 60 days	19.7	210,678
61 days or more	20.6	221,153
Total	100.0	1,071,916

Table 21 shows the fees and costs associated with administering the Access to Information Act since 1983.

Table 21: fees and costs of *Access to Information Act* since 1983
Descriptions	Amount
Requests closed	1,071,916
Cost of operations^{table 21 note 1}	$1,266,462,859.23
Average cost per closed request^{table 21 note 2}	$1,181.49
Fees collected	$8,372,924.02
Average fees collected per closed request^{table 21 note 3}	$7.81
Fees waived	$3,692,114.94
Average fees waived per closed request^{table 21 note 4}	$3.44
Table 21 Notes Table 21 Note 1 This amount is adjusted to the rate of inflation. Before the 2018 to 2019 reporting period, the cost of operations was not adjusted to the rate of inflation. Return to table 21 note 1 referrer Table 21 Note 2 This calculation uses the cost of operations to obtain the average cost per closed request since 1983. Because the cost of operations also included the processing costs of some requests that were carried over to the next reporting period, the average cost per closed request is an approximation. Return to table 21 note 2 referrer Table 21 Note 3 This calculation uses the amount of fees collected to obtain the average fees collected per closed request since 1983. However, in actuality, fees would not have been collected for every closed request. Return to table 21 note 3 referrer Table 21 Note 4 This calculation uses the amount of fees waived since 1983 to obtain the average fees waived per closed request. However, in actuality, fees would not have been waived for every closed request. Return to table 21 note 4 referrer

Privacy Act statistics for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year

Requests under the Privacy Act

74,566 requests were received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, an increase of 9.7% from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year.

Of the 102,137 requests that were either received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year or outstanding from the previous period, 73.3% were closed. This is an increase from the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year: of the 89,171 requests received in the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year or outstanding from the previous period, 69.1% were closed.

Table 22 shows the number of requests received, closed and carried over under the Privacy Act for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 22: requests received, closed and carried over under the *Privacy Act*, fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Requests under the Privacy Act	Number of requests
Outstanding from 2017 to 2018 reporting period^{table 22 note 1}	27,571
Received during 2018 to 2019 reporting period	74,566
Total	102,137
Closed during 2018 to 2019 reporting period	74,874
Carried over to 2019 to 2020 reporting period	27,263
Table 22 Notes Table 22 Note 1 Due to administrative errors, there are small inconsistencies between the statistical data for the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year and the statistical data for the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year regarding the number of requests or consultations left outstanding at the end of the 2017 to 2018 reporting period. Return to table 22 note 1 referrer

Figure 8 shows the number of requests received, closed and carried over under the Privacy Act from fiscal year 2017 to 2018 to fiscal year 2018 to 2019.

requests received and closed under the Privacy Act, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019. Text version below: — **Figure 8: requests received, closed and carried over under the *Privacy Act*, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019**

Figure 8: requests received and closed under the *Privacy Act*, fiscal year 2017 to 2018 and fiscal year 2018 to 2019
Requests under the Privacy Act	2017 to 2018	2018 to 2019
Outstanding from previous reporting period	21,204	27,571
Requests received during reporting period	67,967	74,566
Closed during reporting period	61,574	74,874
Carried over to next reporting period	27,597	27,263

10 government institutions received 92.6% of the 74,566 requests received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 23 shows data on requests received under the Privacy Act for the 10 institutions that received the most requests in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year.

Table 23: *Privacy Act* requests received in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year, top 10 institutions
Rank	Name of institution	Number of requests received	Requests received as percentage	Pages processed^{table 23 note 1}
1	Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada	15,655	21.0	1,197,202
2	Canada Border Services Agency	13,447	18.0	678,337
3	Employment and Social Development Canada	12,678	17.0	979,247
4	National Defence	6,637	8.9	3,034,777
5	Correctional Service of Canada	6,134	8.2	412,659
6	Canada Revenue Agency	4,789	6.4	896,837
7	Royal Canadian Mounted Police	4,289	5.8	465,201
8	Immigration and Refugee Board	3,372	4.5	153,188
9	Canadian Security Intelligence Service	1,048	1.4	23,564
10	Statistics Canada	1,012	1.4	15,244
Other institutions		5,505	7.4	1,481,954
Total		74,566	100.0	9,338,210
Table 23 Notes Table 23 Note 1 The number of pages processed per government institution represents the total processed pages for closed requests. This does not include the number of pages processed for requests that were carried over into the next reporting period. Return to table 23 note 1 referrer