2020 to 2021 Annual Report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

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© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement, 2021.

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ISSN 2562-623X

On this page

Introduction

Public Services and Procurement Canada is pleased to present to Parliament its annual report on the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act . This integrated report describes the activities that support compliance with both acts for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2020, and ending March 31, 2021.

Section 94 of the Access to Information Act, section 72 of the Privacy Act and section 20 of the Service Fees Act require that the head of every federal government institution submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act during the fiscal year.

In the spirit of efficiency, ease of access and continuous improvement, PSPC is responding to this obligation by submitting an integrated annual report.

Purpose of the acts

Access to Information Act

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions. In furtherance of that purpose, part 1 extends the present laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government; and part 2 sets out requirements for the proactive publication of information.

Privacy Act

The purpose of the Privacy Act is to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information. The Privacy Act protects an individual’s privacy by preventing others from having unlawful access to personal information. It also grants an individual specific rights regarding the collection, use and disclosure of this information.

About Public Services and Procurement Canada

Public Services and Procurement Canada, formerly Public Works and Government Services Canada, derives its mandate from the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act of 1996, which established the department as a common service provider. As such, the department plays an important role in the daily operations of the Government of Canada as a key provider of services for federal departments and agencies. The department supports them in the achievement of their mandated objectives in 5 service categories:

PSPC has 17,000 employees, and services are provided across Canada through 5 regional offices, as well as offices in Europe and Washington, DC, United States.

Delegation of authority

Pursuant to section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act and section 73(1) of the Privacy Act, the Minister of Public Services and Procurement has delegated the power, duties and functions of the administration of the acts to the access to information and privacy (ATIP) senior director and managers (with the exception of paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act). Certain administrative functions are also delegated to ATIP managers, team leaders and senior analysts to accelerate the processing of requests.Footnote 1

Organizational structure

The ATIP Directorate is responsible for the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act within PSPC. The ATIP senior director acts as the department’s ATIP coordinator. The directorate is overseen by the director general of the Corporate Secretariat and Accessibility Sector, who is also the department’s chief privacy officer.

In the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year, 51.202 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees administered the acts with the support of consultant services composed of 11.37 FTEs and casual employees composed of 2.67 FTEs, for a total complement of 65.243 FTEs.

Access to Information and Privacy reporting structure at Public Services and Procurement Canada

Organizational chart of the Public Services and Procurement Canada Access to Information and Privacy Directorate.—Text version below the chart.

Text version

Chart summary: Access to Information and Privacy reporting structure at Public Services and Procurement Canada

This organizational chart displays a hierarchy beginning with the ATIP coordinator of PSPC at the top. Directly below the ATIP coordinator are 5 divisions who report to the coordinator:

Below these divisions there is another level for ATIP liaison officers, who coordinate the retrieval, review and submission of information held by their branch or region in response to ATIP requests.

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act allow for the provision of services by a government institution to another government institution that is presided over by the same minister. In fiscal year 2020 to 2021, PSPC did not have any such service agreement under section 96 of the Access to Information Act and section 73.1 of the Privacy Act.

Performance for 2020 to 2021

In this section

Requests received

Access to information requests received and completed

Volume of access to information requests received and completed by fiscal year—Text version below the chart.

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Chart summary: Access to information requests received and completed

The department received a total of 800 requests pursuant to the Access to Information Act in the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, which represents an increase of 27% compared to the previous year. The increase is due to the role that PSPC played in supporting the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic such as the purchase of personal protective equipment and vaccines that evoked interest from the public. The compliance rate was 47.5% due to the fact that PSPC’s ATIP operations were disrupted by the pandemic and limited network access in the first 2 quarters of the fiscal year. Additionally, Procurement Branch saw a significant increase in the volume of access to information requests, but had limited capacity to process them within legislated timelines given their focus on emergency COVID-19 procurement. The majority of the access to information requests received by the department during 2020 to 2021 related to contracts, COVID-19 initiatives and briefing notes on various topics.

Privacy requests received and completed

Volume of privacy requests received and completed by fiscal year—Text version below the chart.

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Chart summary: Privacy requests received and completed

PSPC received a total of 353 privacy requests in the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, which represents a decrease of 29% from the previous year. The overall compliance rate for privacy requests was 70% for the reporting period, a significant decrease from the 92% compliance rate from the previous reporting period due to the fact that PSPC’s ATIP operations were disrupted by the pandemic and limited network access in the first 2 quarters of the fiscal year. The requests were mainly related to pension and pay files, labour relations matters, as well as employment, staffing and security records.

Pages reviewed

Number of pages reviewed under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act by fiscal year—Text version below the chart.

Text version
Table 1: Chart summary: Pages reviewed
Fiscal year Pages reviewed for requests under the Access to Information Act Pages reviewed for requests under the Privacy Act
2016 to 2017 241,000 103,000
2017 to 2018 210,000 257,000
2018 to 2019 225,000 271,000
2019 to 2020 466,000 147,000
2020 to 2021 272,000 162,000

In 2020 to 2021, PSPC reviewed 271,785 pages for requests received under the Access to Information Act and reviewed 161,594 pages for requests received under the Privacy Act.

Sources of requests under the Access to Information Act

As with the previous fiscal year, during the 2020 to 2021 reporting period PSPC received the majority (65.26%) of its requests under the Access to Information Act from 3 sources:

2020 to 2021 saw a significant increase (15% to 33%) in the percentage of requesters who declined to identify themselves from the previous year.

Sources of requests

Volume and percentage of access to information requests received by source—Text version below the chart.

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Chart summary: Sources of requests

Informal access requests under the Access to Information Act

PSPC publishes summaries of completed access to information requests pertaining to records that do not contain personal or third-party information on the open government portal. Members of the public can then submit informal requests for a copy of previously released information without having to pay the application fee.

In fiscal year 2020 to 2021, PSPC processed 197 informal access to information requests, which represents a decrease of 40% from the 331 informal requests processed during the 2019 to 2020 reporting period.

Exemptions

Access to Information Act

The department invoked exemptions on 287 requests (48%), and all information was disclosed in 114 requests (19%). The remaining 199 (33%) were either abandoned, transferred or no records existed.

The majority of exemptions invoked by PSPC fell under 3 sections of the Access to Information Act:

Of note, more than one section (exemption) can be applied to a specific request.

Privacy Act

The department invoked exemptions on 110 requests (29%), and all information was disclosed in 146 requests (38%). The remaining 125 requests (33%) were either abandoned or no records existed.

The majority of exemptions invoked by PSPC fell under 3 sections of the Privacy Act:

Of note, more than one section (exemption) can be applied to a specific request.

Exclusions

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act do not apply to or exclude certain types of information, specifically records that are already available to the public (section 68 of the Access to Information Act) and confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada (section 69 of the Access to Information Act and section 70 of the Privacy Act).

Overall in the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, PSPC applied exclusions to records requested under the Access to Information Act on 5 occasions pursuant to section 68, and cited section 69 in 73 exclusions.

No exclusions were applied under the Privacy Act during the reporting period.

Disclosure of personal information under subsection 8(2)

In accordance with subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act, under certain circumstances, a government institution may disclose personal information under its control without the consent of the individual to whom the information relates.

Thirteen disclosures of personal information were made during the reporting period under the Privacy Act pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(e), releasing the information to investigative bodies regarding 13 individuals. There was no disclosure made under paragraph 8(2)(m)—public interest or benefit to individual—of the Privacy Act during fiscal year 2020 to 2021.

Consultations

PSPC responded to 180 consultations from other government institutions and organizations for records relating to the department’s activities. These consultations totaled 23,045 pages, with 175 files (22,966 pages) relating to the Access to Information Act and 5 files (79 pages) relating to the Privacy Act. A total of 64% of access to information consultation files were responded to within 60 days against 45% for formal requests.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Access to Information Act permits the statutory time limits to be extended if consultations are necessary or if the request is for a larger volume of records, and if processing it within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the department.

PSPC invoked a total of 313 extensions during the 2020 to 2021 reporting period. Extensions were required in 117 instances in order to allow consultations with other government institutions. In 113 files, third-party consultations were necessary, and extensions taken accordingly. Extensions were required in 83 cases where the request necessitated a search through a large volume of records, which otherwise would have interfered with operations.

Section 15 of the Privacy Act permits the statutory time limits to be extended if consultations are necessary, if translation is required, or if the request is for a large volume of records and processing it within the original time limits would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the department.

PSPC invoked 67 extensions during the 2020 to 2021 reporting period. Of these, 62 were deemed necessary to allow the department to search for or through a large volume of records or to respond to the influx of records, which interfered with operations. A further 5 files required extensions to allow for consultations prior to responding. The department did not invoke any extensions for the purpose of translation.

Completion times

Access to information requests

Percentage of access to information requests completed within certain timeframes—Text version below the chart.

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Table 2: Chart summary: Access to information requests
Completion time Access to information requests
Within 30 days 29.45%
31 to 60 days 15.64%
61 to 120 days 24.29%
121 days or more 30.62%

Privacy requests

Percentage of privacy requests completed within certain timeframes—Text version below the chart.

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Table 3: Chart summary: Privacy requests
Completion time Privacy requests
Within 30 days 59.32%
31 to 60 days 24.41%
61 to 120 days 8.92%
121 days or more 7.35%

PSPC’s overall compliance rate for the 2020 to 2021 reporting period was 47.5% for requests under the Access to Information Act and 70.3% for requests under the Privacy Act. This is mainly due to the fact that PSPC’s ATIP operations were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and had limited network access in the first 2 quarters of the fiscal year. These compliance rates represent all files that were completed either within the initial 30 days or within an extension period taken for reasons of volume or consultations.

The percentage of requests under the Access to Information Act completed within the initial 30 days was 29.4%. Given the nature of PSPC’s mandate as a service provider and central purchasing agent, the department is often required to perform consultations in order to seek input from other institutions and complete all required actions on a file. Therefore, a large number of PSPC’s access to information files require extensions beyond the 30-day legislative period.

The percentage of requests under the Privacy Act completed within the initial 30 days was 59.31%, which represents a decrease of 22.26% from fiscal year 2019 to 2020.

Fees

The Access to Information Act requires a $5 application fee to make a request. Based on requests received during 2020 to 2021, PSPC collected $3,000 in application fees. In accordance with the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, issued on May 5, 2016, and the changes to the Access to Information Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, PSPC waived all fees prescribed by the act and its regulations, other than the $5 application fee set out in paragraph 7(1)(a) of the regulations. PSPC also waived or refunded a total of $1,000 in application fees. The total operating cost of the ATIP program at PSPC for fiscal year 2020 to 2021 was $6,841,428.

Disposition

Approximately 82% of all requests completed pursuant to the Access to Information Act during the 2020 to 2021 reporting period were either disclosed in part (58.47%) or fully disclosed (23.55%). Additionally, 16.74% of requests were abandoned.

Access to information request disposition

Volume and percentage of access to information requests by disposition decision—Text version below the chart.

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Chart summary: Access to information request disposition

Approximately 76% of all requests completed pursuant to the Privacy Act during the 2020 to 2021 reporting period were either disclosed in part (32.24%) or fully disclosed (43.58%). Additionally, 23.58% of requests were abandoned.

Privacy request disposition

Volume and percentage of privacy requests by disposition decision—Text version below the chart.

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Chart summary: Privacy request disposition

Impact of COVID-19

Exceptional measures have been taken by PSPC to support the Government of Canada’s response to COVID-19 and devote resources to new challenges. Initially, due to network access challenges, the shift to remote work significantly limited PSPC’s ability to process requests made under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. Consequently, most of the PSPC offices of primary interest (OPIs) were unable to respond to ATIP tasking and provide required documents.

The ATIP Directorate developed and implemented the following mitigating measures to adapt to the pandemic:

As the pandemic has continued into a second fiscal year, the impact of PSPC’s continued role in Canada’s COVID-19 response has resulted in continued challenges in the processing of ATIP files.

The statistical report on the capacity to receive and process requests during the pandemic is attached as Annex D: Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

Complaints and audits

Access to Information Act

During the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, PSPC was notified of 70 complaints received by the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada. Most of these complaints were related to delays or to the exemptions or exclusions applied.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Directorate processed and closed 27 complaint investigations. Of these, 7 were deemed well-founded, 4 were deemed not well-founded and 9 were discontinued, while 14 were settled or resolved to the satisfaction of the requester.

During the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, no audits were undertaken under the Access to Information Act. PSPC has worked collaboratively with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada by holding regular meetings to ensure prompt resolution of issues on common files.

Privacy Act

During the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, the department was notified of 7 privacy complaints received by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Most of these complaints were related to delays and missing records.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Directorate processed and closed 2 complaint investigations. Of these, 1 was deemed well-founded, settled and resolved, and 1 was deemed not well-founded.

During the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, no audits were undertaken under the Privacy Act.

Monitoring compliance

The ATIP Directorate provides a weekly “snapshot” report to senior executives that contains statistics on the number of requests received and processed under the acts. There is also a weekly summary report of upcoming requests soon to be disclosed under the Access to Information Act.

During the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, the ATIP Directorate produced quarterly dashboards intended to further support monitoring and increasing compliance within the department, including branch performance and complaints.

Appeal to the Federal Court of Canada

During the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year, no new application was filed with the Federal Court of Canada against PSPC pursuant to section 44 of the Access to Information Act.

Privacy impact assessments

In the course of fulfilling its mandate as a service provider, PSPC collects, retains, uses and discloses personal information. The ATIP Directorate’s Privacy Management Division provides advice and guidance to program officials throughout the privacy impact assessment (PIA) process for programs and activities, in accordance with the Treasury Board Interim Directive on Privacy Impact Assessment.

During the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year, PSPC completed two PIAs.

Electronic procurement solution

PSPC awarded a contract to Infosys Public Services to implement and manage an electronic procurement solution based on public cloud software as a service (SaaS) system. The electronic procurement solution delivered by Infosys Public Services and its partners—Ernst and Young, and SAP Inc.—is a cornerstone of procurement modernization. The solution is a bilingual (English and French) Government of Canada–wide SaaS that combines SAP Ariba, the world’s largest business commerce network, and SAP Fieldglass, an external resource management platform that helps organizations transform how they manage talent across multiple channels.

A PIA was authored, as electronic procurement solutions will provide modern and innovative e-tools and applications for all facets of the procurement process, including e-sourcing, contract lifecycle management, spend analysis, supplier relationship management and e-purchasing through catalogues. It also provides one portal for all acquisitions needs, facilitates suppliers’ interactions with the Government of Canada and provides greater accessibility for public sector clients to procure goods and services at the best value possible.

Receiver General for Canada: Treasury

This PIA is a high-level review of privacy compliance of payment issuance and receipt processing activities supported by existing central systems, mainly the Standard Payment System and the Government Banking System.

This PIA reviews and identifies any areas within the Receiver General payment function that may have risks. It also reviews the use of personal information and how data flows. This review provided the opportunity to ensure that the personal information being used was required for the continued operations of the Receiver General. Finally, this PIA included a privacy compliance analysis to ensure that all personal information continues to be properly used and protected in all Receiver General activities.

Summaries of all completed privacy impact assessments are posted on PSPC’s website.

Material privacy breaches

During the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year, PSPC has not received any reports of material privacy breaches nor reported any to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS).

Initiatives

To improve internal processes and client service in its administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, PSPC undertook the following initiatives during the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year:

The launch of the new Directive on Privacy Management did not occur as originally planned. In September 2020, PSPC implemented a framework for departmental policy instruments. While this framework provides mandatory procedures, it required further internal consultations as per the amended requirements. These consultations will occur in fiscal year 2021 to 2022.

Policies, guidelines and procedures

Proactive publication

Bill C-58, an act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts received royal assent and came into force on June 21, 2019. The most significant change brought by Bill C-58 was to amend the Access to Information Act to include legislative requirements for mandatory proactive publication of certain records produced by government institutions.

Building on the improvements made by Bill C-58, the government launched a review of the Access to Information Act in June 2020. The scope of the review focused on the streams of legislation, proactive publication, and processes and systems. The department contributed to the first stage of the review in fiscal year 2020 to 2021 by engaging with stakeholders on their perspectives and experiences regarding the identification of key Access to Information Act issues. The received input was consolidated into a high-level overview and shared with TBS.

PSPC remains at the forefront of the federal government in terms of readiness and engagement for proactive publication. As the department’s coordinator for the implementation of Bill C-58, PSPC’s ATIP Directorate continued to undertake the following activities in alignment with the legislative requirements for proactive publication under part 2 of the Access to Information Act in fiscal year 2020 to 2021:

As a result of the activities outlined above, PSPC successfully produced the following proactive publications under part 2 of the Access to Information Act during the 2020 to 2021 fiscal year:

Training and awareness

Through delivery of training and awareness activities, PSPC continues to strengthen an institution-wide familiarity with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and the obligations that arise from these 2 pieces of legislation.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many changes to the way public servants work. During the 2020 to 2021 reporting period, the ATIP Directorate entered into a new evolution of work era by adapting existing classroom training into virtual training sessions in order to continue offering fundamentals training while respecting public health authorities’ measures and guidelines.

PSPC delivered the following training sessions:

Data Privacy Day

Data Privacy Day is an international effort held annually on January 28 to create awareness about the importance of respecting privacy, safeguarding personal data and enabling trust. It commemorates the signing of the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection in 1981.

The ATIP Directorate marked Data Privacy Day 2021 by organizing the launch of the new “Privacy Breach Awareness” training, inviting employees to learn about privacy pertaining to PSPC, to recognize and handle privacy breaches, as well as why it is important to protect our own information, along with best practices to protect the personal information that employees handle every day.

Right to Know Week

International Right to Know Day originated at an international meeting of access to information advocates in 2002. Now celebrated annually on September 28, by approximately 40 countries and 60 non-governmental organizations, it has been expanded into a week-long event in Canada with the purpose of raising awareness about the right of individuals to access government information while promoting freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance. Openness and transparency empower citizens to hold their governments accountable and strengthen trust in democratic institutions.

This year’s Right to Know Week took place from September 28 to October 4, 2020. On September 28, PSPC posted information on its intranet to highlight the importance of the right of access in Canadian society, to inform all PSPC employees of efforts taken by the department to make the government more accessible to everyone, and to provide employees with the contact information of the governance division within the ATIP Directorate to learn more about access to information and proactive disclosure.

Annex A: Delegation of authorities charts for the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Table 4: Access to Information Act and its regulations
Position titles Access to Information Act Access to Information Regulations
Department minister and senior executives
Minister Full Full
Deputy Minister Full Full
Department Policy, Planning and Communications Branch
Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Planning and Communications Branch Full Full
Director General Full Full
Directortable 4 note 1 Full Full
Manager Restrictedtable 4 note 2 Full
Supervisor/senior advisor Restrictedtable 4 note 3 Restrictedtable 4 note 4
Officer Restrictedtable 4 note 5 N/A

Table 4 Notes

Table 4 Note 1

The director’s position was reclassified to senior director on September 3, 2019. The senior director exercises full delegated authority under the Access to Information on behalf of the Minister.

Return to table 4 note 1 referrer

Table 4 Note 2

Managers may exercise full authorities delegated under the Access to Information Act with the exception of section 6.1.

Return to table 4 note 2 referrer

Table 4 Note 3

Supervisors/senior advisors may fully exercise only the following sections of the Access to Information Act: 4(2.1), 7, 8(1), 9, 11(2), 19, 20, 23, 24(1), 25, 27(1), 27(4), 28(1)(b), 28(2), 28(4), 33.

Return to table 4 note 3 referrer

Table 4 Note 4

Supervisors/senior advisors may fully exercise only sections 6(1) and 8 of the Access to Information Regulations with the exception of section 8.1.

Return to table 4 note 4 referrer

Table 4 Note 5

Officers may fully exercise only the following sections of the Access to Information Act: 4(2.1), 9, 27(1), 27(4).

Return to table 4 note 5 referrer

Table 5: Privacy Act and its regulations
Position titles Privacy Act Privacy Regulations
Department minister and senior executives
Minister Full Full
Deputy Minister Full Full
Department Policy, Planning and Communications Branch
Assistant Deputy Minister, Policy, Planning and Communications Branch Full Full
Director General Full Full
Directortable 5 note 1 Full Full
Manager Restrictedtable 5 note 2 Full
Supervisor/senior advisor Restrictedtable 5 note 3 Restrictedtable 5 note 4
Officer Restrictedtable 5 note 5 N/A

Table 5 Notes

Table 5 Note 1

The director’s position was reclassified to senior director on September 3, 2019. The senior director exercises full delegated authority under the Privacy Act on behalf of the Minister.

Return to table 5 note 1 referrer

Table 5 Note 2

Managers may exercise full authorities delegated under the Privacy Act with the exception of paragraph 8(2)(m).

Return to table 5 note 2 referrer

Table 5 Note 3

Supervisors/senior advisors may fully exercise only the following sections of the Privacy Act: 14, 15, 26 and 27.

Return to table 5 note 3 referrer

Table 5 Note 4

Supervisors/senior advisors may fully exercise only section 9 of the Privacy Regulations.

Return to table 5 note 4 referrer

Table 5 Note 5

Officers may fully exercise only section 15 of the Privacy Act.

Return to table 5 note 5 referrer

Annex B: Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

In this section

Name of institution: Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Reporting period: April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

Table 6: 1.1 Number of requests
Type Number of requests
Received during reporting period 800
Outstanding from previous reporting period 309
Total 1,109
Closed during reporting period 602
Carried over to next reporting period 507
Table 7: 1.2 Sources of requests
Source Number of requests
Media 209
Academia 7
Business (private sector) 145
Organization 10
Public 168
Decline to identify 261
Total 800
Table 8: 1.3 Informal 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
24 3 17 68 43 39 3 197

Section 2: Decline to act on vexatious, made in bad faith or abuse of right requests

Table 9: Type and number of requests
Type Number of requests
Outstanding from previous reporting period 0
Sent during reporting period 0
Total 0
Approved by the information commissioner during reporting period 0
Declined by the information commissioner during reporting period 0
Carried over to the next reporting period 0

Section 3: Requests closed during the reporting period

Table 10: 3.1 Disposition and completion time of requests under the Access to Information Act
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 12 34 18 35 10 4 1 114
Disclosed in part 4 25 33 79 50 32 60 283
All exempted 0 0 0 1 2 1 0 4
All excluded 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
No records exist 14 27 38 23 8 0 0 110
Request transferred 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 8
Request abandoned 42 10 6 8 1 0 14 81
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Decline to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 81 96 95 146 71 37 76 602
Table 11: 3.2 Exemptions applied pursuant to the Access to Information Act
Section Number of requests
13(1)(a) 4
13(1)(b) 1
13(1)(c) 3
13(1)(d) 5
13(1)(e) 0
14 0
14(a) 3
14(b) 3
15(1) 23
15(1)—International Affairs 12
15(1)—Defence 12
15(1)—Subversive activities 0
16(1)(a)(i) 0
16(1)(a)(ii) 0
16(1)(a)(iii) 1
16(1)(b) 0
16(1)(c) 7
16(1)(d) 0
16(2) 11
16(2)(a) 0
16(2)(b) 0
16(2)(c) 31
16(3) 0
16.1(1)(a) 0
16.1(1)(b) 0
16.1(1)(c) 31
16.1(1)(d) 0
16.2(1) 1
16.3 0
16.31 0
16.4(1)(a) 0
16.4(1)(b) 0
16.5 0
16.6 0
17 2
18(a) 1
18(b) 42
18(c) 3
18(d) 17
18.1(1)(a) 0
18.1(1)(b) 1
18.1(1)(c) 0
18.1(1)(d) 1
19(1) 184
20(1)(a) 1
20(1)(b) 149
20(1)(b.1) 1
20(1)(c) 123
20(1)(d) 8
20.1 0
20.2 0
20.4 0
21(1)(a) 35
21(1)(b) 55
21(1)(c) 19
21(1)(d) 5
22 3
22.1(1) 1
23 46
23.1 0
24(1) 35
26 0
Table 12: 3.3 Exclusions applied pursuant to the Access to Information Act
Section Number of requests
68(a) 5
68(b) 0
68(c) 0
68.1 0
68.2(a) 0
68.2(b) 0
69(1) 5
69(1)(a) 1
69(1)(b) 0
69(1)(c) 0
69(1)(d) 7
69(1)(e) 2
69(1)(f) 0
69(1)(g) re (a) 19
69(1)(g) re (b) 0
69(1)(g) re (c) 17
69(1)(g) re (d) 8
69(1)(g) re (e) 14
69(1)(g) re (f) 0
69.1(1) 0
Table 13: 3.4 Format of information released under the Access to Information Act
Paper Electronic Other
13 384 0

3.5 Complexity

Table 14: 3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed under the Access to Information Act
Number of pages processed Number of pages disclosed Number of requests
271,785 156,245 484
Table 15: 3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests under the Access to Information Act
Disposition Less than 100 pages processed 101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000 pages processed 1,001 to 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 101 1,443 9 2,039 2 1,465 2 1,326 0 0
Disclosed in part 135 2,738 66 12,328 27 1,4091 42 55,613 13 65,202
All exempted 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 81 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 320 4,181 78 14,367 29 15,556 44 56,939 13 65,202
Table 16: 3.5.3 Other complexities for the access to information requests
Disposition Consultation required Assessment of fees Legal advice sought Other Total
All disclosed 10 0 0 19 29
Disclosed in part 163 0 0 37 200
All exempted 3 0 0 0 3
All excluded 0 0 0 1 1
Request abandoned 9 0 0 11 20
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0
Total 185 0 0 68 253
Table 17: 3.6 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines under the Access to Information Act
Type Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines 286
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%) 47.5

3.7 Deemed refusals

Table 18: 3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines under the Access to Information Act
Number of requests closed past the legislated timelines Principal reason
Interference with operations / workload External consultation Internal consultation Other
316 220 14 20 62
Table 19: 3.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines under the Access to Information Act (including any extension taken)
Number of days past legislated timelines Number of requests past legislated timeline where no extension was taken Number of requests past legislated timeline where an extension was taken Total
1 to 15 days 31 12 43
16 to 30 days 19 7 26
31 to 60 days 55 22 77
61 to 120 days 55 21 76
121 to 180 days 12 3 15
181 to 365 days 4 9 13
More than 365 days 9 57 66
Total 185 131 316
Table 20: 3.8 Requests for translation under the Access to Information Act
Translation requests Accepted Refused Total
English to French 0 0 0
French to English 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0

Section 4: Extensions

Table 21: 4.1 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 4 2 6 2
Disclosed in part 40 14 84 99
All exempted 0 0 0 3
All excluded 0 1 0 0
No records exist 30 0 1 0
Request abandoned 9 1 8 9
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 83 18 99 113
Table 22: 4.2 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 22 1 11 0
31 to 60 days 35 2 24 67
61 to 120 days 13 13 37 32
121 to 180 days 8 1 14 6
181 to 365 days 2 1 12 6
More than 365 days 3 0 1 2
Total 83 18 99 113

Section 5: Fees

Table 23: Fees collected and waived or refunded
Fee type Fee collected Fee waived or refunded
Requests Amount Requests Amount
Application 600 $3,000 200 $1,000
Other Fees 0 $0 0 $0
Total 600 $3,000 200 $1,000

Section 6: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Table 24: 6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations
Consultations Other Government of Canada institutions Number of pages to review Other organizations Number of pages to review
Received during reporting period 181 18,258 6 53
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 31 7,114 0 0
Total 212 25,372 6 53
Closed during the reporting period 175 22,926 5 40
Pending at the end of the reporting period 37 2,446 1 13
Table 25: 6.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada 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 20 34 30 18 12 8 0 122
Disclose in part 5 3 11 12 3 5 1 40
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 6
Other 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 6
Total 30 39 43 32 16 14 1 175
Table 26: 6.3 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 3 1 0 0 0 0 4
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 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 5

Section 7: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

Table 27: 7.1 Requests with Legal Services
Number of days Fewer than 100
pages processed
101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1000
pages processed
1001 to 5000
pages processed
More than 5000
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
1 to 15 8 56 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 5 115 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 3 77 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 10 119 1 178 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 1 4 0 0 0 0 1 1,265 0 0
181 to 365 1 3 0 0 0 0 2 3,244 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 28 374 2 178 0 0 3 4,509 0 0
Table 28: 7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office
Number of days Fewer than 100
pages processed
101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1000
pages processed
1001 to 5000
pages processed
More Than 5000
pages processed
Number of
requests
Pages
disclosed
Number of
requests
Pages
disclosed
Number of
requests
Number of
requests
Pages
disclosed
Number of
requests
Pages
disclosed
Number of
requests
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Section 8: Complaints and investigations

Table 29: Number of complaints and investigation notices received
Section 32: Notice of intention to investigate Subsection 30(5): Ceased to investigate Section 35: Formal representations Section 37: Reports of finding received Section 37: Reports of finding containing recommendations issued by the information commissioner Section 37: Reports of finding containing orders issued by the information commissioner
70 10 4 18 1 0

Section 9: Court actions

Table 30: 9.1 Court actions on complaints received before June 21, 2019 and on-going
Section 41 (before June 21, 2019) Section 42 Section 44
0 0 0
Table 31: 9.2 Court actions on complaints received after June 21, 2019 and on-going
Section 41 (after June 21, 2019)
Complainant (1) Institution (2) Third Party (3) Privacy Commissioner (4) Total
0 0 0 0 0

Section 10: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Table 32: 10.1 Costs
Expenditures Amount
Salaries $3,024,694
Overtime $28,604
Goods and services:
  • Professional services contracts ($1,219,107)
  • Other ($241,915)
$1,461,022
Total $4,514,320
Table 33: 10.2 Human Resources
Resources Person years dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees 32.070
Part-time and casual employees 1.950
Regional staff 0.000
Consultants and agency personnel 7.570
Students 0.000
Total 41.590

Annex C: Statistical report on the Privacy Act

In this section

Name of institution: Public Services and Procurement Canada.

Reporting period: April 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021.

Section 1: Requests under the Privacy Act

Table 34: Number of requests
Type Number of requests
Received during reporting period 353
Outstanding from previous reporting period 76
Total 429
Closed during reporting period 381
Carried over to next reporting period 48

Section 2: Requests closed during the reporting period

Table 35: 2.1 Disposition and completion time of requests under the Privacy Act
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 46 41 44 8 5 1 1 146
Disclosed in part 15 20 39 16 5 7 6 108
All exempted 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No records exist 18 14 5 9 0 0 0 46
Request abandoned 68 4 5 1 0 1 0 79
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 147 79 93 34 12 9 7 381
Table 36: 2.2 Exemptions applied pursuant to the Privacy Act
Section Number of requests
18(2) 0
19(1)(a) 0
19(1)(b) 0
19(1)(c) 0
19(1)(d) 0
19(1)(e) 0
19(1)(f) 0
20 0
21 0
22(1)(a)(i) 0
22(1)(a)(ii) 0
22(1)(a)(iii) 0
22(1)(b) 4
22(1)(c) 0
22(2) 0
22.1 1
22.2 0
22.3 0
22.4 0
23(a) 0
23(b) 0
24(a) 0
24(b) 0
25 0
26 106
27 5
27.1 0
28 0
Table 37: 2.3 Exclusions applied pursuant to the Privacy Act
Section Number of requests
69(1)(a) 0
69(1)(b) 0
69.1 0
70(1) 0
70(1)(a) 0
70(1)(b) 0
70(1)(c) 0
70(1)(d) 0
70(1)(e) 0
70(1)(f) 0
70.1 0
Table 38: 2.4 Format of information released under the Privacy Act
Paper Electronic Other
11 243 0

2.5 Complexity

Table 39: 2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed under the Privacy Act
Number of pages processed Number of pages disclosed Number of requests
161,594 124,480 335
Table 40: 2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests under the Privacy Act
Disposition Less than 100 pages processed 101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000 pages processed 1,001 to 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 77 2,643 40 10,300 22 15,391 7 9,096 0 0
Disclosed in part 14 568 34 7,551 22 13,887 32 42,579 6 22,465
All exempted 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 171 3,211 70 17,851 45 29,278 39 51,675 6 22,465
Table 41: 2.5.3 Other complexities for privacy requests
Disposition Consultation required Legal advice sought Interwoven information Other Total
All disclosed 2 0 0 1 3
Disclosed in part 4 0 93 8 105
All exempted 2 0 1 0 3
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0
Total 8 0 94 9 111
Table 42: 2.6 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines under the Privacy Act
Type Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines 268
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%) 70.3

2.7 Deemed refusals

Table 43: 2.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines under the Privacy Act
Number of requests closed past the statutory deadline Principal reason
Workload External consultation Internal consultation Other
113 101 3 0 9
Table 44: 2.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines under the Privacy Act (including any extension taken)
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 33 8 41
16 to 30 days 18 4 22
31 to 60 days 15 3 18
61 to 120 days 9 6 15
121 to 180 days 4 2 6
181 to 365 days 1 2 3
More than 365 days 2 6 8
Total 82 31 113
Table 45: 2.8 Requests for translation under the Privacy Act
Translation requests Accepted Refused Total
English to French 0 0 0
French to English 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0

Section 3: Disclosures under subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Table 46: Number of disclosures
Paragraph 8(2)(e) Paragraph 8(2)(m) Subsection 8(5) Total
13 0 0 13

Section 4: Requests for correction of personal information and notations

Table 47: Disposition for correction requests received
Disposition for correction requests received Number
Notations attached 0
Requests for correction accepted 0
Total 0

Section 5: Extensions

Table 48: 5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
Number of requests where an extension was taken 15(a)(i) Interference with operations 15 (a)(ii) Consultation 15(b)
Translation purposes or conversion
Further review required to determine exemptions Large volume of pages Large volume of requests Documents are difficult to obtain Cabinet confidence section (Section 70) External Internal
67 0 21 38 3 0 0 5 0
Table 49: 5.2 Length of extensions
Length of extensions 15(a)(i) Interference with operations 15 (a)(ii) Consultation 15(b)
Translation purposes or conversion
Further review required to determine exemptions Large volume of pages Large volume of requests Documents are difficult to obtain Cabinet confidence section (Section 70) External Internal
1 to 15 days 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 days 0 21 38 3 0 0 5 0
Total 0 21 38 3 0 0 5 0

Section 6: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Table 50: 6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations
Consultations Other Government of Canada institutions Number of pages to review Other organizations Number of pages to review
Received during the reporting period 4 72 0 0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 1 7 0 0
Total 5 79 0 0
Closed during the reporting period 5 79 0 0
Pending at the end of the reporting period 0 0 0 0
Table 51: 6.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada 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
All disclosed 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 5
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 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 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 5
Table 52: 6.3 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
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 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 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Section 7: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

Table 53: 7.1 Requests with Legal Services
Number of days Fewer Than 100 pages processed 101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000
pages processed
1,001 to 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
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Table 54: 7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office
Number of days Fewer Than 100 pages processed 101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000
pages processed
1,001 to 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
1 to 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Section 8: Complaints and investigations notices received

Table 55: Number of complaints and investigation notices received
Section 31 Section 33 Section 35 Court action Total
7 0 1 0 8

Section 9: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) and Personal Information Banks (PIB)

Number of PIAs completed: 2

Table 56: 9.2 Personal Information Banks
Personal information banks Active Created Terminated Modified
 Total 25 0 0 3

Section 10: Material Privacy Breaches

Number of material privacy breaches reported to TBS: 0

Number of material privacy breaches reported to OPC 0

Section 11: Resources related to the Privacy Act

Table 57: 11.1 Costs
Expenditures Amount
Salaries $1,666,696
Overtime $10,579
Goods and services:
  • Professional services contracts ($560,358)
  • Other ($89,475)
$649,833
Total $2,327,108
Table 58: 11.2 Human resources
Resources Person years dedicated to privacy activities
Full-time employees 19.132
Part-time and casual employees 0.721
Regional staff 0.000
Consultants and agency personnel 3.800
Students 0.000
Total 23.653

Annex D: Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Section 1: Capacity to receive requests

Table 59: Number of weeks our institution was able to receive requests through the different channels
Channels Number of weeks
Able to receive requests by mail 52
Able to receive requests by email 52
Able to receive request through the digital request service 52

Section 2: Capacity to process records

Table 60: 2.1 Number of weeks our institution was able to process paper records in different classification levels
Record classification Number of weeks at no capacity Number of weeks at partial capacity Number of weeks at full capacity Total number of weeks
Unclassified paper records 21 31 0 52
Protected B paper records 21 31 0 52
Secret and top secret paper records 21 31 0 52
Table 61: 2.2 Number of weeks our institution was able to process electronic records in different classification levels
Record classification Number of weeks at no capacity Number of weeks at partial capacity Number of weeks at full capacity Total number of weeks
Unclassified electronic records 0 26 26 52
Protected B electronic records 0 26 26 52
Secret and top secret electronic records 21 31 0 52
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