Health Canada Access to Information Act Annual Report 2012-2013

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Table of Contents

Introduction

I. Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act (the Act) gives the Canadian public a right to access information contained in federal government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

The Act requires the head of every federal government institution to submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act following the close of each fiscal year. This annual report is prepared and is being tabled before each House of Parliament in accordance with section 72 of the Act. This report summarizes how Health Canada has fulfilled its access to information responsibilities during the fiscal year 2012-2013.

II. About Health Canada

Health Canada (HC) is the federal department responsible for helping the people of Canada maintain and improve their health.

HC is committed to improving the lives of all of Canada's people and to making this country's population among the healthiest in the world as measured by longevity, lifestyle and effective use of the public health care system.

By working with others in a manner that fosters the trust of Canadians, HC strives to:

HC has regional offices in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic and Northern Regions.

For more information about HC, please visit our website.

Access to Information Infrastructure

I. The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Division

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Division is housed in the Planning, Integration and Management Services Directorate of the Corporate Services Branch at Health Canada.

In June 2012, under the HC and the Public Health Agency of Canada (the Agency) Shared Services Partnership Agreement, HC and the Agency established a shared service for Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) by merging resources to allow for a streamlined and consistent approach to applying the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act across both institutions. Although the shared service was established, HC and the Agency maintain separate ATIP Coordinators, who have been delegated with all access to information (ATI) authorities for their respective institutions. This report will address ATI requests that fall under HC. A separate report has been prepared for the Agency's ATI requests.

In 2012-2013, the Act was administered at HC by 22.19 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees with the support of consultant services (11.4 full-time FTE) and some part time, casual employees and students for a total complement of 34.16.

The ATIP Coordinator is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of effective policies, guidelines, systems and procedures in order to enable efficient processing of requests under the Act. The Coordinator is also responsible for related policies, systems and procedures stemming from the Act. The Division is responsible for all HC ATI legislative requirements pursuant to the Act such as:

II. Reading Room

Section 71 of the Act requires government institutions to provide facilities where members of the public may inspect any manuals used by employees of the institution in administering or carrying out programs or activities of the institution that affect the public. HC has a reading room available where members of the public may make arrangements to review materials.

The following HC location in Ottawa has been designated as a public reading room.

Delegation of Authority

The Delegation Order is attached as Appendix A.

Requests under the Access to Information Act - Statistical Figures, Interpretation and Explanation

I. Statistical Report

This section of the report includes an interpretation and explanation of the data contained in HC's statistical report which summarizes ATI related activity for the period between April 1, 2012 and March 31, 2013 (Appendix B).

II. Number of Access Requests and Case Load

Number of Access Requests

The number of new access to information requests increased significantly over the past five years. In 2008-09 there were 1,158 ATI requests compared with 1,765 in 2012-2013 which is a 52% increase over five years.

Source of Requests: Trends

Of the 1,765 ATI requests received by HC in 2012-2013, 1076 were from the business sector, representing 61% of all new requests. This is consistent with the 63% average over the last five reporting cycles. The breakdown of requests follows:

Source of Requests
Source Number of Requests
Business (Private Sector) 1076
Public 318
Media 203
OrganizationTable 1 footnote 1 144
Academia 24
Table 1 footnote 1

Examples - Associations, Political Parties and Unions

Return to table 1 footnote 1 referrer

The graphic below identifies the total requests received from the business sector over a five year span.

Total Requests Received from Business Sector 2008-2013

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Text description

The Total Requests Received from Business Sector 2008-2013 graphic illustrates the percentage of requests received stemming from the Business Sector compared to the total number of requests received over the past five fiscal years.

  • Fiscal year 2008-2009: a total of 1,158 requests received, 63% stemming from the Business Sector
  • Fiscal year 2009-2010: a total of 1,481 requests received, 69% stemming from the Business Sector
  • Fiscal year 2010-2011: a total of 1,602 requests received, 60% stemming from the Business Sector
  • Fiscal year 2011-2012: a total of 1,763 requests received, 62% stemming from the Business Sector
  • Fiscal year 2012-2013: a total of 1,765 requests received, 61% stemming from the Business Sector

The majority of the requests received by HC are from businesses seeking information related to pharmaceuticals, medical devices and natural health products. As a result, HC must conduct a large number of complex third party consultations involving confidential business information. These records often involve large volumes of technical and scientific, which can take additional time to review. The Department continued in 2012 to implement business processes for consulting with third parties pursuant to the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Merck Frosst v. Health Canada. HC now conducts an initial line by line review of all document content and highlights the areas that contain information pursuant to section 20 of the Act prior to consulting with the third party.

Informal Requests

As a best practice, whenever feasible to do so, HC processes requests informally referred to "access informal". The Department has increased the use of this processing method which includes, releases of previously released ATI packages and requests for specific data that does not require the release of records. In 2012-2013, HC processed 524 requests as "access informal" compared to 65 requests in 2011-2012.

In addition to "access informal" requests, where possible, HC provides information informally, which includes information that is publically available and a link to a website will be forwarded to the requester. Requests treated in this manner are classified as "treated informally" for the purpose of statistical reporting. In 2012-2013, HC processed 89 requests that were "treated informally".

Case Load

During the 2012-2013 fiscal year, HC completed 1,689 of 2,274 (74%) active requests. Active requests included 1,765 new requests and 509 requests carried over from previous years.

ATI Requests Received and Completed by Fiscal Year

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The ATI Requests Received and Completed by Fiscal Year graphic illustrates the number of requests received and completed over the past five fiscal years.

  • Fiscal year 2008-2009: 1,158 requests received, and 950 requests completed
  • Fiscal year 2009-2010: 1,481 requests received, and 1,504 requests completed
  • Fiscal year 2010-2011: 1,602 requests received, and 1,535 requests completed
  • Fiscal year 2011-2012: 1,763 requests received, and 1,866 requests completed
  • Fiscal year 2012-2013: 1,765 requests received, and 1,689 requests completed

Note: More ATI requests are completed than received when the institution completes requests that were carried-over from previous years as well as those received within the fiscal year.

In 2012-2013, HC reviewed 713,096 pages of records in response to ATI requests. Over a five year period, this represents a 108% increase in the number of pages reviewed. In 2012-2013, the average number of pages reviewed per request was 422 compared with 360 five years ago.

Pages Reviewed by Fiscal Year

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The Pages Reviewed by Fiscal Year graphic illustrates the number of pages reviewed over the past five fiscal years.

  • Fiscal year 2008-2009: 342,429 pages reviewed
  • Fiscal year 2009-2010: 442,521 pages reviewed
  • Fiscal year 2010-2011: 467,336 pages reviewed
  • Fiscal year 2011-2012: 771,793 pages reviewed
  • Fiscal year 2012-2013: 713,096 pages reviewed

Posting of Completed ATI Requests

HC proactively posts on its website monthly summaries of completed ATI requests to assist and facilitate the right of access of Canadians to the Department's records.

Consultations Completed from Other Institutions

In 2012-2013, HC completed 174 consultations (9,167 pages) from other federal institutions, and completed three consultations from other jurisdictions. Six federal institutions accounted for 50% of requests, as indicated in the graphic below:

Percentage of Consultations Completed for Other Federal Institutions

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Text description

The Percentage of Consultations Completed for Other Federal Institutions graphic illustrates the percentage of consultations completed for other federal institutions during the fiscal year 2012-2013.

  • Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC): 11%
  • Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): 5%
  • Privy Council Office (PCO): 13%
  • Environment Canada: 8%
  • Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC): 9%
  • Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA): 5%
  • "Other (Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), etc...)": 50%

Percentage of Pages Reviewed for Consultations Completed for Other Federal Institutions

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The Percentage of Pages Reviewed for Consultations Completed for Other Federal Institutions graphic illustrates the percentage of consultations completed for other federal institutions during the fiscal year 2012-2013.

  • Privy Council Office (PCO): 10%
  • Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): 2%
  • Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC): 9%
  • Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA): 0.4%
  • Environment Canada: 4%
  • Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC): 19%
  • "Other (Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), etc...)": 57%

III. Disposition of Requests Completed

Completed requests were classified as follows:

Disposition of Requests Completed by Percentage, 2012-2013

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The Disposition of Requests Completed by Percentage, 2012-2013 graphic illustrates the disposition of requests completed by percentage during the fiscal year 2012-2013.

  • Disclosed in part: 54%
  • All disclosed: 14%
  • No records exist: 12%
  • Request abandoned: 11%
  • Treated informally: 5%
  • All exempted: 3%
  • Request transferred: 0.6%
  • All excluded: 0.4%

IV. Exemptions Invoked

Sections 13 through 24 of the Act set out the exemptions intended to protect information pertaining to a particular public or private interest, and section 26 of the Act is a discretionary exception relating to the publication of information.

The vast majority of the 2,148 exemptions invoked by HC fell under three sections of the Act - section 19 (personal information), section 20 (third party information), and section 21 (operations of government). Together, these accounted for 1,869 or 87%, of the exemptions applied in 2012-2013. It is worth noting that the invocation of section 20 on 627 occasions necessitated numerous consultations with third parties, many of whom were large multi-national corporations. This has a significant impact on resources, both with the ATIP Division and the Legal Services Unit.

Principle Exemptions Applied, 2012-2013
Exemptions Number of Times Applied
Section 19 - Personal information 863
Section 20 - Third party information 627
Section 21 - Operations of Government 379
Section 16 - Law enforcement and investigation 82
Section 23 - Solicitor-client privilege 56
Section 14 - Federal-provincial affairs 50
Section 13 - Obtained in confidence 28
Section 15 - Injurious to international affairs 18
Section 22 - Prejudices results of tests or audits 18
Section 17 - Threatens the safety of individuals 12
Section 18 - Economic interests 10
Section 24 - Restricted under Schedule II 4
Section 26 - Will be published within 90 days 1

V. Exclusions Cited

The Act does not apply to published material, material available to the public for purchase or for public reference (section 68); nor does it apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council (section 69). Requests containing proposed exclusions under section 69 require consultation with the Privy Council Office.

During the 2012-2013 reporting period, exclusions under sections 68 and 69 were invoked 87 times.

VI. Disposition and Completion Time

HC tracks the disposition of closed requests and the length of time taken to process them. Of the total caseload of 2,274 requests, HC completed 1,689 cases and carried over 585 active requests to fiscal year 2013-2014.

HC was able to respond within 30 days or less in 814 (48%) of completed cases. The remaining requests can be categorized into 31 to 60 days, 61 to 120 days, and 121 days or more. These include files that meet the legislative timeframes under the Act for extensions.

Percentage of Files Per Completion Time Categories

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The Percentage of Files Per Completion Time Categories graphic illustrates the percentage of files per completion time per categories over the past two fiscal years.

  • 30 days or less: 55% during fiscal year 2011-2012 and 48% during fiscal year 2012-2013
  • 31 to 60 days: 9% during fiscal year 2011-2012 and 13% during fiscal year 2012-2013
  • 61 to 120 days: 12% during fiscal year 2011-2012 and 18% during fiscal year 2012-2013
  • More than 121 days: 24% during fiscal year 2011-2012 and 21% during fiscal year 2012-2013

VII. Extensions

Legal extensions were most frequently invoked to provide time to complete third party consultations and notifications, and to process voluminous records. In 2012-2013, HC invoked 757 extensions under section 9(1) of the Act, a decrease from 979 in 2011-2012. Of these extensions, 95 (13%) of these extensions were for 30 days or less which included: 62 to search through or for a large volume of records; 32 to complete consultations; and 1 to notify a third party in accordance with subsection 27(1) of the Act. The remaining 662 (87%) extensions required greater than 30 days which included: 150 address a large volume of records; 271 to complete consultation; and 241 to conduct third party notifications.

VIII. Translations

No translation was required to respond to 2012-2013 access requests.

IX. Format of Information Released

Although 844 requests were sent out in paper format, this represents only 22% of the total pages released. Comparatively, 291 requests were released electronically, representing 78% of pages released.

HC's imaging software allows the Department to respond to formal ATI requests using Portable Document Format (PDF) which provides more delivery options to the public. Released documents can be mailed on CD-ROM which eliminates the need for photocopying. Documents can also be delivered through ePosting for faster delivery when the requester provides an email address. It is anticipated that the use of electronic formats for the release of information will continue to grow in future years.

X. Fees

The Act authorizes fees for certain aspects of processing formal requests and the fee structure is prescribed in ATI Regulations. However, HC cannot charge fees for reviewing records, overhead or shipping, nor can it charge for the first five hours needed to search for a record or prepare any part of it for disclosure.

Based on requests completed in 2012-2013, HC collected $7,115 in application fees and $4,083 in search fees for a total of $11,198 submitted to the Receiver General for Canada. In addition, HC waived $3,353 in fees for 242 requests in accordance with its duty to assist applicants.

In 2012-2013, HC began to look at the current processes in place regarding fees. HC will continue to assess the process and policy with regard to applying and collecting fees and will look to TBS for guidance on this issue.

XI. Costs

HC spent a total of $3,506,258 on ATI functions in 2012-2013. Of this total: salaries accounted for $1,517,117 and administration for $1,989,141, most of which was used to retain temporary help to address the volume and complexity of requests. Staffing for the fiscal year amounted to 22.19 full-time employees dedicated to ATI activities. These figures do not include administrative support, management, reporting, monitoring and policy resources nor their overhead cost which contributed to overall support of the operations of the application of the Act.

Training and Awareness

Orientation and Awareness

HC continued to increase awareness among employees of their responsibilities under the Act by publishing helpful tips and tools on the intranet site, as well as through Broadcast News messages (a daily electronic newsletter sent to every HC employee). Management from across the Department has been informed of the newly created shared service for ATIP and is being kept updated on the transformation agenda through regular updates at branch executive committee meetings and other fora.

Training for HC Employees

Within the Division there is one employee designated as a full time training coordinator. Training sessions regarding the Act and related processes are delivered to HC employees on a regular basis at HC. Twenty-nine (29) "ATI 101" training courses, with 364 attendees, took place during 2012-2013. The basic objectives of the course are to impart an understanding of the Act, roles and responsibilities, the handling of formal and informal requests, basic grounds to withhold information and how to process an ATI request. Additionally, a series of "crash courses" customized for specific teams, were attended by a total of 300 employees. Four (4) customized training sessions were attended by 22 executives to raise awareness of obligations under the Act.

Informal Briefing

The ATIP Coordinator at HC, along with the Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services Branch, provided briefings at Branch Executive Committees within the Department on responsibilities related to the Act, and provided information on the newly created shared service, the results of the business process review exercise and the transformation agenda. These sessions were well received and highlighted the importance of regular communications and updates to the department.

New and/or Revised Institution Specific Access to Information Related Policies, Guidelines and Procedures

I. Development and Revision of Policies, Guidelines and Procedures

In 2012-2013, a business process review was undertaken in order to identify areas where ATIP, as a newly created shared service, could streamline processes and procedures to create efficiencies. The ATIP management team and staff members continue to be engaged in the implementation of strengthened business processes.

Policies

No new policies were implemented in 2012-2013.

Guidelines

No new guidelines were developed in 2012-2013.

Standard Operating Procedures

A new business process was implemented to guide consultations with third parties regarding the application of section 20 of the Act. This was necessary in order to implement the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Merck Frosst v. Health Canada.

II. ATIP Division and the Transformation Agenda

The HC-Agency Shared Services Partnership, launched in 2012, harmonized HC and the Agency ATIP operations which include treatment of ATI and Privacy requests, as well as privacy policy and other key functions. Separate ATIP Coordinator functions remained in place for HC and the Agency for 2012-2013. As part of this move to a shared service, a transformation agenda was developed, the main components of which are identified below:

ATIP Delegation Order

In 2012-2013 the ATIP delegation orders were reviewed to ensure that they aligned with the structure of the ATIP Division and to streamline processes and efficiencies.

Business Process Review

A business process review was completed in the fall of 2012. The management team and staff members continue to be engaged in the implementation of strengthened processes around ATIP requests.

ATIP IT System

An Information Technology (IT) case management and imaging system was procured to improve the ability to track and respond to requests, enhance efficiencies, streamline office of the primary interest (OPI) ATIP processes, and enhance reporting capacity.

Governance and Outreach

There is an increased focus on employee engagement within the Division and stakeholder engagement through meetings with branches, central agencies and other government departments.

Organizational Review

An organizational structure was developed and approved by senior management which will strengthen and stabilize the ATIP function by permanently resourcing to meet increased workload. Competitive staffing processes were launched to fill vacant positions and to support the new structure.

Complaints and Court Applications for Reviews

I. Complaints to the Information Commissioner

During 2012-2013, 35 complaints under the Act were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC), compared with 62 in 2011-2012, representing a 44% decrease. Of the 46 complaints closed in 2012-2013, four (4) complaints were related to time extensions, eight (8) complaints related to exemptions, and 25 were recorded under delays or deemed refusals.

Considering the large number of access to information requests received by HC in 2012-2013 (1,765), and keeping in mind their complexity and the sensitive nature of the information, the Department takes pride that it was able to reduce the number of complaints to fewer than 2% of total requests.

The findings from the OIC as a result of complaints resolved in 2012-2013 are as follows: 23 were well founded, 13 were abandoned, 6 were not well founded, 2 were resolved with mediation and 2 were dismissed.

The Department continues to review OIC recommendations and where appropriate incorporate lessons learned in business functions.

Total Number of Complaints Processed
Complaints Processed Number of Complaints
Received in 2012-2013 35
Outstanding from 2011-2012 60
Closed in 2012-2013 46
Carried forward to 2013-2014 49

II. Types of Complaints and their Disposition Completed in 2012-2013

Types of Complaints and their Disposition Completed
Subject of Complaint Number of Closed Complaints Final Disposition by OIC
Time Extension 4
  • 1 Not Well Founded; no action required
  • 2 Well Founded; remedial action taken
  • 1 Well Founded; no action required
Deemed Refusal (delay) 25
  • 12 Abandoned; no action required
  • 1 Dismissed; no action required
  • 1 Well Founded; remedial action taken
  • 10 Well Founded; no action required
  • 1 Resolution Mediated; no action required
Cabinet Confidence Exclusion 0  
Other 9
  • 1 Dismissed; no action required
  • 5 Not Well Founded; no action required
  • 1 Well Founded; remedial action taken
  • 2 Well Founded; no action required
Exemption 8
  • 1 Abandoned; no action required
  • 1 Well Founded; remedial action taken
  • 5 Well Founded; no action required
  • 1 Resolution Mediated; no action required
Totals 46
  • 23 Well Founded
  • 13 Abandoned
  • 6 Not Well Founded
  • 2 Resolution Mediated
  • 2 Dismissed

III. Applications/Appeals Submitted to the Federal Court / Federal Court of Appeal

Although HC was engaged in on-going litigation during 2012-2013, there were no applications or appeals submitted to the Federal Court of the Federal Court of Appeal during the this time period.

IV. Responses to Recommendations raised by other Agents of Parliament

There were no recommendations raised by other Agents of Parliament during fiscal year 2012-2013.

Appendix A: Access to Information Act - Delegation Order

Access to Information Act - Delegation Order

Pursuant to the powers of delegation conferred upon me by Section 73 of the Access to Information Act, the person exercising the functions and position of departmental Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator and the respective successor, including in the Coordinator's absence, a person or officer designated in writing to act in the place of the holder of such functions and position is hereby authorized to exercise these powers, duties or functions of the Minister as the head of the government institution under the Act, set out in the attached schedule.

The person exercising the functions and position of departmental Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator and the respective successor, including in the Coordinator's absence, a person or officer designated in writing to act in the place of the holder of such functions and position, is hereby authorized to exercise these powers, duties or functions of the Minister as the head of the government institution under the Act, set out in sections 6, 8, 9 and 10 of the Act.

This delegation order supersedes any previous order executed pursuant to section 73 of the Act.

Schedule to the Delegate Order

Delegation of Powers, Duties and Functions Pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information Act
Sections of Act Powers, Duties or Functions Responsible Position
6 Clarify a request ATIP Co-ordinator
7(a) Issue notice where access requested ATIP Co-ordinator
8(1) Transfer to another institution or to accept transfer from another institution ATIP Co-ordinator
9 Extension of time limits ATIP Co-ordinator
11(2), (3), (4), (5), (6) Additional fees and waiver of fees ATIP Co-ordinator
12(2), (3) Language of access ATIP Co-ordinator
13 Refuse to disclose information obtained in confidence ATIP Co-ordinator
14 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to federal-provincial affairs ATIP Co-ordinator
15 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to international affairs and/or defence ATIP Co-ordinator
16 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to law enforcement and investigations ATIP Co-ordinator
17 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to the safety of individuals ATIP Co-ordinator
18 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to the economic interest of Canada ATIP Co-ordinator
19 Refuse to disclose personal information ATIP Co-ordinator
19(2)(a), (b), (c) Disclose personal information when authorized ATIP Co-ordinator
20 Refuse to disclose or disclose third party information ATIP Co-ordinator
21 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to advice and recommendations for the government institution ATIP Co-ordinator
22 Refuse to disclose information pertaining to testing procedures ATIP Co-ordinator
23 Refuse to disclose information subject to solicitor-client privilege ATIP Co-ordinator
24 Refuse to disclose information subject to statutory prohibitions ATIP Co-ordinator
25 Sever information ATIP Co-ordinator
26 Refuse to disclose information to be published ATIP Co-ordinator
27(1), (4) Carry-out third party notification ATIP Co-ordinator
28(1), (2), (4) Receive third party representation; make a decision as to whether to disclose the record or part thereof and notify the third party of the right to appeal to the Federal court ATIP Co-ordinator
29(1) Disclose information on the recommendation of the Information Commissioner ATIP Co-ordinator
33 Advise the Information Commissioner of third party involvement ATIP Co-ordinator
35(2) Make representations to the Information Commissioner during an investigation ATIP Co-ordinator
37(4) Give access to records ATIP Co-ordinator
43(1) Issue a notice to a third party of an application for Court review ATIP Co-ordinator
44(2) Issue a notice to an applicant that a third party has applied for Court review ATIP Co-ordinator
52(2), (3) Request special rules for hearings ATIP Co-ordinator
69 Refuse to disclose Cabinet confidences ATIP Co-ordinator
71(2) Refuse to disclose information from manuals ATIP Co-ordinator
72(1) Prepare an Annual Report to Parliament ATIP Co-ordinator
77 Carry out responsibilities conferred on the head of the institution by the regulations made under section 77 which are not included above ATIP Co-ordinator

Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act - 2012-2013

Part 1 - Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of Requests
Requests Number of Requests
Received during reporting period 1,765
Outstanding from previous reporting period 509
Total 2,274
Closed during reporting period 1,689
Carried over to next reporting period 585
1.2 Sources of requests
Source Number of Requests
Media 203
Academia 24
Business (Private Sector) 1,076
Organization 144
Public 318
Total 1,765

Part 2 - Requests closed during the reporting period

2.1 Disposition and completion time
Disposition of requests Completion Time
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 2 116 55 35 16 4 1 229
Disclosed in part 13 259 121 231 84 106 92 906
All exempted 19 25 4 4 1 2 1 56
All excluded 1 2 1 0 0 4 0 8
No records exist 36 140 21 8 0 0 0 205
Request transferred 8 2 0 0 0 0 0 10
Request abandoned 67 52 15 18 13 9 12 186
Treated informally 18 54 9 3 3 0 2 89
Total 164 650 226 299 117 125 108 1,689
2.2 Exemptions
Section Number of requests
13(1)(a) 9
13(1)(b) 5
13(1)(c) 13
13(1)(d) 1
13(1)(e) 0
14(a) 33
14(b) 17
15(1) - I.A.Footnote 1 18
15(1) - Def.Footnote 2 0
15(1) - S.A.Footnote 3 0
16(1)(a)(i) 2
16(1)(a)(ii) 3
16(1)(a)(iii) 0
16(1)(b) 1
16(1)(c) 12
16(1)(d) 0
16(2)(a) 4
16(2)(b) 1
16(2)(c) 43
16(3) 0
16.1(1)(a) 1
16.1(1)(b) 0
16.1(1)(c) 3
16.1(1)(d) 0
16.2(1) 12
16.3 0
16.4(1)(a) 0
16.4(1)(b) 0
16.5 0
17 12
18(a) 3
18(b) 3
18(c) 2
18(d) 1
18.1(1)(a) 0
18.1(1)(b) 0
18.1(1)(c) 1
18.1(1)(d) 0
19(1) 863
20(1)(a) 32
20(1)(b) 399
20(1)(b.1) 1
20(1)(c) 148
20(1)(d) 46
20.1 1
20.2 0
20.4 0
21(1)(a) 134
21(1)(b) 180
21(1)(c) 49
21(1)(d) 16
22 18
22.1(1) 0
23 56
24(1) 4
26 1

Table 2 footnotes

Table 2.2 footnote 1

I.A.: International Affairs

Return to table 2.2 footnote 1 referrer

Table 2.2 footnote 2

Def.: Defence of Canada

Return to table 2.2 footnote 2 referrer

Table 2.2 footnote 3

S.A.: Subversive Activities

Return to table 2.2 footnote 3 referrer

2.3 Exclusions
Section Number of requests
68(a) 32
68(b) 0
68(c) 0
68.1 1
68.2(a) 0
68.2(b) 0
69(1)(a) 1
69(1)(b) 0
69(1)(c) 0
69(1)(d) 7
69(1)(e) 10
69(1)(f) 2
69(1)(g) re (a) 11
69(1)(g) re (b) 0
69(1)(g) re (c) 8
69(1)(g) re (d) 2
69(1)(g) re (e) 10
69(1)(g) re (f) 3
69.1(1) 0
2.4 Format of information released
Disposition Paper Electronic Other formats
All disclosed 190 39 0
Disclosed in part 654 252 0
Total 844 291 0

2.5 Complexity

2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed
Disposition of requests Number of pages processed Number of pages disclosed Number of requests
All disclosed 43,098 43,027 229
Disclosed in part 297,394 201,268 906
All exempted 3,611 0 56
All excluded 207 0 8
Request abandoned 35,090 0 186
2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
Disposition Less than 100 pages processed 101-500 pages processed 501-1,000 pages processed 1,001-5,000 pages processed More than 5,000 pages processed
Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed
All disclosed 196 4,179 24 4,752 5 3,537 3 3,533 1 27,026
Disclosed in part 583 13,586 206 40,546 51 25,266 60 86,410 6 35,460
All exempted 51 0 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0
All excluded 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Abandoned 167 0 9 0 3 0 6 0 1 0
Total 1,005 17,765 241 45,298 61 28,803 70 89,943 8 62,486
2.5.3 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation required Assessment of fees Legal advice sought Other Total
All disclosed 26 1 0 3 30
Disclosed in part 463 17 1 11 492
All exempted 6 2 0 2 10
All excluded 5 0 0 0 5
Abandoned 22 13 0 10 45
Total 522 33 1 26 582

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Number of requests closed past the statutory deadline Principal Reason
Workload External consultation Internal consultation Other
440 329 56 1 54
2.6.2 Number of days past deadline
Number of days past deadline Number of requests past deadline where no extension was taken Number of requests past deadline where an extension was taken Total
1 to 15 days 61 28 89
16 to 30 days 22 34 56
31 to 60 days 28 28 56
61 to 120 days 40 51 91
121 to 180 days 9 37 46
181 to 365 days 16 61 77
More than 365 days 4 21 25
Total 180 260 440
2.7 Requests for translation
Translation Requests Accepted Refused Total
English to French 0 0 0
French to English 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0

Part 3 - Extensions

3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
Disposition of requests where an extension was taken 9(1)(a)
Interference with operations
9(1)(b)
Consultation
9(1)(c)
Third party notice
Section 69 Other
All disclosed 29 0 31 10
Disclosed in part 153 10 221 214
All exempted 3 0 3 1
All excluded 1 3 1 0
No records exist 4 0 4 0
Request abandoned 22 0 30 17
Total 212 13 290 242
3.2 Length of extensions
Length of extensions 9(1)(a)
Interference with operations
9(1)(b)
Consultation
9(1)(c)
Third party notice
Section 69 Other
30 days or less 62 0 32 1
31 to 60 days 69 5 144 103
61 to 120 days 68 8 109 50
121 to 180 days 10 0 4 19
181 to 365 days 3 0 1 45
365 days or more 0 0 0 24
Total 212 13 290 242

Part 4 - Fees

4 Fees
Fee Type Fee Collected Fee Waived or Refunded
Number of requests Amount Number of requests Amount
Application 1,256 $6,280 393 $1,965
Search 22 $4,083 27 $2,323
Production 0 $0 0 $0
Programming 0 $0 0 $0
Preparation 0 $0 0 $0
Alternative format 0 $0 0 $0
Reproduction 0 $0 0 $0
Total 1,278 $10,363 420 $4,288

Part 5 - Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

5.1 Consultations received from other government institutions and organizations
Consultations Other government institutions Number of pages to review Other organizations Number of pages to review
Received during reporting period 186 9,384 4 42
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 6 70 1 162
Total 192 9,454 5 204
Closed during the reporting period 174 9,193 3 13
Pending at the end of the reporting period 18 261 2 191
5.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government institutions
Recommendation Number of days required to complete consultation requests
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 67 69 13 1 0 0 1 151
Disclose in part 5 6 4 0 0 0 0 15
Exempt entirely 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 6
Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 77 77 18 1 0 0 1 174
5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations
Recommendation Number of days required to complete consultation requests
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 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3
Disclose in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 3

Part 6 - Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

6 Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences
Number of days Number of responses received Number of responses received past deadline
1 to 15 2 0
16 to 30 6 2
31 to 60 6 6
61 to 120 7 7
121 to 180 10 10
181 to 365 4 4
More than 365 0 0
Total 35 29

Part 7 - Resources related to the Access to Information Act

7.1 Costs
Expenditures Amount
Salaries $1,475,563
Overtime $41,554
Goods and Services $1,989,141
Professional services contracts $1,851,071  
Other $138,070  
Total $3,506,258
7.2 Human Resources
Resources Dedicated full-time to ATI activities Dedicated part-time to ATI activities Total
Full-time employees 13.28 8.91 22.19
Part-time and casual employees 0.10 0.28 0.38
Regional staff 0 0 0
Consultants and agency personnel 9.80 1.60 11.40
Students 0 0.19 0.19
Total 23.18 10.98 34.16

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