Health Canada Access to Information Act Annual Report 2012-2013
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Access to Information Infrastructure
- Delegation of Authority
- Requests under the Access to Information Act - Statistical Figures, Interpretation and Explanation
- Training and Awareness
- New and/or Revised Institution Specific Access to Information Related Policies, Guidelines and Procedures
- Complaints and Court Applications for Reviews
- Appendix A: Access to Information Act - Delegation Order
- Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act - 2012-2013
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:
- Prevent and reduce risks to individual health and the overall environment;
- Promote healthier lifestyles;
- Ensure high quality health services that are efficient and accessible;
- Integrate renewal of the health care system with longer term plans in the areas of prevention, health promotion and protection;
- Reduce health inequalities in Canadian society; and
- Provide health information to help Canadians make informed decisions.
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:
- Responding to access to information requests within the statutory time frame as well as meeting the duty to assist requesters;
- Providing advice and guidance to departmental employees on the application of the Act and Treasury Board of Canada policies and directives;
- Developing corporate-wide access to information protocols and practices to guide the ATI process;
- Promoting staff awareness and providing training on the Act;
- Ensuring that a comprehensive description of institutional responsibilities is published in Info Source, including for programs and functions, classes of records and all manuals;
- Preparing the annual report to Parliament and other statutory reports; and
- Liaising with the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), other federal departments and agencies, provincial ministries of health and other key stakeholders.
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.
- Access to Information and Privacy Division
1600 Scott Street, Holland Cross
Tower B, 7th Floor, Suite 700
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
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 | Number of Requests |
---|---|
Business (Private Sector) | 1076 |
Public | 318 |
Media | 203 |
OrganizationTable 1 footnote 1 | 144 |
Academia | 24 |
|
The graphic below identifies the total requests received from the business sector over a five year span.
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.
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.
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:
III. Disposition of Requests Completed
Completed requests were classified as follows:
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.
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.
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.
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
Subject of Complaint | Number of Closed Complaints | Final Disposition by OIC |
---|---|---|
Time Extension | 4 |
|
Deemed Refusal (delay) | 25 |
|
Cabinet Confidence Exclusion | 0 | |
Other | 9 |
|
Exemption | 8 |
|
Totals | 46 |
|
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.
- Minister of Health
- Date: March 20, 2007
Schedule to the Delegate Order
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
- TBS/SCT 350-62
- Name of institution: Health Canada
- Reporting period: 2012-04-01 to 2013-03-31
Part 1 - Requests under the Access to Information Act
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 |
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
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 |
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
|
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 |
Disposition | Paper | Electronic | Other formats |
---|---|---|---|
All disclosed | 190 | 39 | 0 |
Disclosed in part | 654 | 252 | 0 |
Total | 844 | 291 | 0 |
2.5 Complexity
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 |
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 |
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
Number of requests closed past the statutory deadline | Principal Reason | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Workload | External consultation | Internal consultation | Other | |
440 | 329 | 56 | 1 | 54 |
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 |
Translation Requests | Accepted | Refused | Total |
---|---|---|---|
English to French | 0 | 0 | 0 |
French to English | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Part 3 - Extensions
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 |
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
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
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 |
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 |
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
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
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 |
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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