Annual report on the Access to Information Act 2017-18

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  • Purpose of the Access to Information Act
  • Mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Organizational structure
  • Departmental organization
  • ATIP Secretariat organization
• Delegation order
• Highlights of the statistical report, 2017 to 2018
  • Overview of 2017 to 2018 requests under the Access to Information Act
    • Sources of requests
    • Informal requests
  • Requests closed during the reporting period
    • Disposition and completion time
    • Exemptions and exclusions
    • Format of information released
    • Complexity
    • Deemed refusals
    • Extensions
    • Fees
    • Consultations
• Training and awareness
• Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives
• Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints or audits
  • Systemic investigation
  • Monitoring compliance
• Appendix A: delegation order
• Appendix B: 2017 to 2018 statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Introduction

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act came into effect on July 1, 1983, giving the public a right of access to information contained in government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

Section 72 of the Access to Information Act requires that the head of every government institution prepare and submit an annual report to Parliament, detailing the administration of the Act within the institution for each fiscal year.

This annual report describes how Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) administered the Access to Information Act from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

Mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) supports strong and sustainable economic growth in our marine and fisheries sectors and contributes to a prosperous economy through global commerce by supporting exports and advancing safe maritime trade. The department supports the innovation needed for a knowledge-based economy through research in expanding sectors such as aquaculture and biotechnology. The department contributes to a clean and healthy environment and sustainable aquatic ecosystems for Canadians through habitat protection, oceans management and ecosystems research.

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG), as a special operating agency within DFO, is responsible for services and programs that contribute to all 3 of the department's strategic outcomes while also contributing significantly to the safety, security, and accessibility of Canada's waterways. The CCG also supports other government organizations by providing a civilian fleet and a broadly distributed shore-based infrastructure.

Organizational structure

Departmental organization

DFO has a presence across Canada with the majority of employees working outside national headquarters in one of the department's 6 regions. National objectives, policies, procedures, and standards for the department and the Canadian Coast Guard are established at national headquarters, in Ottawa. Regions are responsible for delivering programs and activities in accordance with national and regional priorities and within national performance parameters.

ATIP Secretariat organization

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) director reports to the director general, Executive Secretariat, who in turn reports to the senior assistant deputy minister, Strategic Policy Sector. The ATIP director is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of effective ATIP-related policies, guidelines, systems and procedures. This accountability ensures that the department’s responsibilities under the Access to Information Act are met, and enables appropriate processing and proper disclosure of information. 

The ATIP Secretariat is divided between the business lines that process requests under the act and those that execute all the other responsibilities related to the administration of the act at DFO. The business lines that process requests are the:

• Operations Division, which processes access to information files and provides issues management
• Intake Unit, which oversees all incoming requests and liaises with requesters, programs and regions
• Administrative Support Group, which handles scanning, file management and quality control

The remaining 2 divisions, the Policy and Privacy Division and the Strategic Projects and Infrastructure Division, execute many of the remaining responsibilities related to the administration of the act. The Policy and Privacy Division (PPD), which acts as the policy centre for the secretariat, offers advice to departmental officials on complex access to information matters, updates the department’s Info Source chapter, and liaises with the ATIP community. The remaining responsibilities are undertaken by the Strategic Projects and Infrastructure Division (SPID), which tracks departmental performance, and supports operations through assisting with staffing processes, the hiring of contracted resources, maintaining technology, and coordinating the access to information training program to ensure the ongoing sound application of the acts. SPID is also responsible for various activities to ready the department to begin proactively publishing information as per the proposed legislative changes to the Access to Information Act.

The ATIP Secretariat works with a network of ATIP contacts located in each region and sector to act as liaisons for their respective parts of the department.

In total, throughout the course of this reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat employed approximately 17 full-time employees and 4 consultants, agency personnel and/or casual employees devoted to access to information activities.

Delegation order

Responsibility for the administration of the Access to Information Act at DFO is delegated from the minister to the director of the ATIP Secretariat and the deputy directors. A copy of the delegation order is found at Appendix A.

Highlights of the statistical report, 2017-18

The Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is prepared by government institutions to assist the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to analyze trends and exercise oversight.

DFO’s complete 2017-18 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is found in Appendix B. Previous years’ statistical reports can be obtained from the ATIP Secretariat upon request.

Overview of 2017 to 2018 requests under the Access to Information Act

The analysis in this section compares data found in DFO’s 2017-18 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act with data from 2014 to 2015, to produce a trend analysis over 4 years.

In 2017 to 2018, DFO received 466 requests under the Access to Information Act and had 103 requests outstanding from the previous reporting period. Of these 569 requests, DFO completed 481 and carried forward 88 into the next reporting period.

As shown in table 1 below, compliance for 2017 to 2018 is excellent for a second year in a row, up from 81% in 2015 to 2016. Total 2017 to 2018 figures reveal 99.6% of files were closed on or before their statutory or extended deadline. Only 2 of the 481 files closed were late and these were part of the pre-existing backlog, as well as being voluminous and complex.

The following table illustrates fluctuations in workload over the past 4 years.

Sources of requests

Of the 466 requests received during the reporting period, the top 3 categories of requester who self-identified were businesses (private sector), accounting for more than one-third of all requests (166), followed by 130 requests from the general public (28%) and 61 requests from the media (13%). The remaining requests originated from individuals who declined to self-identify (54), organizations (47), and academia (8).

Informal requests

Informal access requests are defined as requests for information made to the ATIP Secretariat, but not processed under the act. Since January 2012, Treasury Board Secretariat began to require departments to publish summaries of their complete access to information requests online, so that the public could request copies informally. For the purpose of the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act, this definition excludes the following:

• requests by DFO employees acting in their official capacity, such as internal service requests to review reports on security incidents, harassment complaints, evaluations or internal audits
• requests for strategic advice
• responses to Parliamentary Questions and media enquiries
• review of documents to be posted online

With these caveats, DFO processed 261 informal access requests for previously-released documents, up 71% from 2016 to 2017 (153 requests).

The majority of these requests (93%) were processed in under 30 days.

Requests closed during the reporting period

Disposition and completion time

Section 7 of the act requires institutions to provide a response to a requester within 30 days of receipt of their request, or to notify the requester that an extension is required. Of the 481 requests completed during the reporting period:

• 284 requests (59%) were completed in 30 days or less
• 49 requests (10%) were completed in 31 to 60 days
• 78 requests (16%) were completed in 61 to 120 days
• 34 requests (7%) were completed in 121 to 180 days
• 26 requests (5%) were completed in 181-365 days
• 10 requests (2%) required more than 365 days to process

Requests completed by the department in 2017 to 2018 were finalized in the following manner:

• all disclosed: in 52 cases (11%), all relevant information was released in full to the requester
• disclosed in part: in 291 instances (60%), requesters were granted partial access to information
• all exempted: in response to 5 requests (1%), all information was withheld from disclosure
• all excluded: in 7 requests (2%), no information was disclosed because all of the information requested qualified for exclusion under sections 68 or 69 of the act
• no records exist: in 86 cases (18%), no relevant records existed under the control of the department
• request transferred: in 4 instances (<1%), requests were transferred to another government institution that had a greater interest in the subject of the request
• request abandoned: requesters abandoned 33 requests (7%) by formally withdrawing the request or by not responding to correspondence from the ATIP Secretariat, for instance, requests for clarification
• neither confirm nor denied: in 3 requests (<1%), DFO was not able to confirm nor deny the existence of records

Exemptions and exclusions

The Access to Information Act gives the public a right of access to information contained in federal government records, subject to limited and specific exceptions. These exceptions are called exemptions and exclusions. Exemptions are provisions of the Act that allow or require the heads of federal government institutions to withhold information requested under the legislation.

In 2017 to 2018, the 5 most frequently invoked exemptions remained the same as in the previous reporting period.

The following table shows the five most commonly invoked exemptions by DFO in 2017 to 2018.

Exclusions are provisions of the act that remove certain records from the application of the legislation. Records excluded from the requirements of the Access to Information Act include published material and confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council (Cabinet Confidences) pursuant to sections 68 and 69, respectively, both of which were invoked by the department during the reporting period. Published material was excluded in 69 requests and 89 exclusions for Cabinet Confidences were applied.

See Appendix B for further information on the exemptions and exclusions invoked by DFO in 2017 to 2018, broken down by section, subsection and paragraph. For the purposes of this report, if an exemption or exclusion was claimed several times within the same request, it is reported only once in Appendix B.

Format of information released

When requests are complete, requesters may receive the information in paper or electronic formats, or they may view the records at any DFO office. Access to relevant documents was given, in whole or in part, for 343 requests. The information was released in paper copy in 53 (15%) of these requests, electronically in 283 requests (83%) and in alternative formats (audio and/or video) for 7 requests (2%).

Over the past 4 years, requesters have increasingly chosen to receive information electronically. Percentages of electronic releases have risen from 35% in 2014 to 2015, 50% in 2015 to 2016, 68% in 2016 to 2017, to 83% in 2017 to 2018. This reflects current efforts to provide faster response times to the public.

Complexity

In 2017 to 2018, the ATIP Secretariat processed a total of 339,901 relevant pages compared to 243,828 in 2016 to 2017, representing an increase of 39%.

Of the 339,901 relevant pages processed:

• 196,257 pages (58%) were disclosed in whole or in part
• 775 pages (<1%) were completely exempted or completely excluded
• 15,310 pages (5%) were part of requests abandoned by the requeste

Of the 481 requests completed during the reporting period:

• 41% (198 requests) required the processing of less than 100 relevant pages
• 20% (99 requests) had 101 to 500 pages
• 6% (27 requests) had 501 to 1,000 pages
• 11% (52 requests) had 1001 to 5,000 pages
• 3% (15 requests) involved the processing of more than 5,000 pages

No records were processed for the remaining 19% of requests. These requests were for records that did not exist or were transferred to another institution.

The department completed a number of requests involving factors that increased their complexity, including:

• the requirement to consult with other institutions, organizations or third parties (154 requests)
• other factors (194 requests), such as cases involving:
  • high-profile subject matter
  • information extracted from a database
  • the processing of audio and video recordings
  • records located in a region outside of national headquarters

Deemed refusals

The clearing of DFO’s backlog resulted in a significant reduction in the number of requests closed past the statutory deadline, as late files ceased to be carried over from previous reporting periods. In 2015 to 2016, the ATIP Secretariat closed 103 late requests or 19% of the total requests closed. In 2016 to 2017, the number was reduced to 6, or 1% of the total requests closed. In 2017 to 2018, only 2 requests were closed past the statutory deadline (<1%).

The principal reason for delay in the 2 late requests related to workload: due to the large volume of pages for each request and/or the complexity of the request, processing them within the statutory time limit was not possible. Additionally, the ATIP Secretariat assigns both access and privacy files within the same team of analysts, which means an increased workload in privacy can affect the timely completion of access requests. Other pressures included responding to complaints, and providing training sessions to departmental employees, both of which are also required under law and policy.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Act provides for the extension of statutory time limits if consultations are necessary, or if the request is for a large volume of records and processing the request within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the department.

Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

During the reporting period, time limits to process requests were taken for the following reasons:

• Paragraph 9(1)(a): extensions were taken 103 times because the request was for a large volume of records and processing the request within the original time limit would have unreasonably interfered with departmental operations.
• Paragraph 9(1)(b): extensions were taken 130 times to consult with other institutions or organizations. Of these, 17 were to consult with the Legal Services Unit/Privy Council Office (PCO) on the application of section 69 for Cabinet Confidences and 113 were to consult with other government departments.
• Paragraph 9(1)(c): time limits were extended 107 times to consult with third parties.

Length of extensions

The length of an extension correlates to the type of extension taken. For example, consultations on Cabinet Confidences often take 180 days, whereas third party notification processes usually take 60 days.

Of the 340 extensions taken:

• 71 were for 30 days or less
• 156 were for 31-60 days
• 53 were for 61-120 days
• 34 were for 121-180 days
• 21 were for 181-365 days
• 5 were for 365 days or more

Fees

In May 2016, the President of the Treasury Board issued an Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, which requires organizations to waive all fees except for a $5 application fee. As a result, the department has ceased to charge fees for the reproduction of paper copies of records and for the search of relevant records in response to a request. In addition, fees may be waived at the discretion of the ATIP director if, for example, there is a clear public interest in the requested information. In 2017 to 2018, the department waived or refunded fees in 20 instances amounting to $100 and collected $2,230 in the name of the Receiver General for Canada.

Consultations

Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

When other institutions and organizations retrieve information that concerns or originates from DFO in response to Access to Information Act requests, they may consult the DFO ATIP Secretariat for recommendations on release. Organizations include the governments of the provinces, territories and municipalities, and of other countries. Other institutions are defined as federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act.

In 2017 to 2018, DFO received a total of 207 consultation requests. Sixteen requests were outstanding from the previous reporting period. Of these 223 consultations, DFO completed 205 requests and carried forward 18 requests into the next reporting period.

Recommendations and completion time

All of the 205 consultation requests completed by DFO in 2017 to 2018 were consultations received from other government institutions. Of these requests, 76 (37%) were completed within 15 days, 107 (52%) were completed within 16-30 days, 18 (9%) were completed within 31-60 days, two (1%) were completed within 61-120 days, and two (1%) consultation requests took 121-180 days to complete. In 158 instances (77%), DFO recommended the consulting institution disclose the information entirely.

DFO received no consultation requests from organizations in 2017 to 2018.

Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

The ATIP Secretariat consults with the DFO Legal Services Unit regarding the application of all section 69 (Cabinet Confidence) exclusions. On occasion, Legal Services will forward the consultation to the Privy Council Office (PCO) for additional advice. For the purposes of the Statistical Report, when a consultation is forwarded in this manner, it is recorded as a PCO consultation instead of a Legal Services consultation.

The ATIP Secretariat received responses directly from Legal Services on 43 consultations in 2017 to 2018. Response times for these consultations ranged from 1-15 days (5 requests) to 121-180 days (7 requests). 

Training and awareness

DFO makes significant efforts to promote awareness of federal access to information legislation and the corresponding responsibilities of DFO employees, providing ongoing individual and group training sessions. While regions, sectors and divisions are encouraged to request training as the need arises, access to information training is mandatory for all DFO executives and individuals acting in an executive position for more than 4 months.

The ATIP Secretariat also offered awareness sessions to all employees of the department including the following course offerings:

• mandatory ATIP training for executives including a Bill C-58 awareness component
• Access to Information 101
• processing ATIP requests 101.

New this fiscal year, ATIP delivered training and awareness sessions on proactive disclosures to many sectors of the department and leadership tables in an effort to ready the department for royal assent of Bill C-58.

Overall in the 2017 to 2018 reporting period, the department provided access to information training and/or awareness sessions to 293 participants. These figures include all sessions (17) with an access to information component. This means that while some of the sessions were exclusive to access to information, others also included privacy elements in addition to access to information.

In addition to training offered by DFO, the department encourages employees to take access to information training offered by the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS). The ATIP Secretariat increased efforts to promote the CSPS training in 2017 to 2018, likely resulting in the spike in learners over the previous reporting period. CSPS provided access to information training to more than double the number of DFO participants (205 learners) than in the previous fiscal year of 86 learners. The following table highlights all access to information related training activities undertaken during the reporting period.

Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

On June 19, 2017, the Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board, introduced in the House of Commons Bill C-58, An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other acts.

Since the introduction of Bill C-58, the ATIP Secretariat has been actively engaged within the ATIP community and its oversight bodies on the proposed legislative changes in order to ready the department for royal assent. The secretariat continues to communicate the implications of the bill throughout the department, and has been working with key internal partners to modify business processes to prepare for the proactive publication requirements. Some of the initiatives include, but are not limited to, developing procedures for the processing of memorandum titles and question period notes, guidance for the proactive publication of briefing material packages and parliamentary appearance packages, and identifying roles and responsibilities within the department.

Other work completed by the ATIP Secretariat during the reporting period included an update of the department’s internal facing ATIP website to remove out-of-date guidance, publish communication pieces on DFO best practices and tips, and provide information on departmental ATIP training offerings.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints or audits

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) investigates complaints about federal institutions’ handling of access requests. The information commissioner has broad investigative powers to assist in mediating between dissatisfied requesters and government institutions. The commissioner cannot issue binding orders to government institutions in the course of an investigation, but may, with the requester’s consent, apply to the Federal Court for a judicial review of the matter. Further information on the responsibilities and activities of the OIC can be found on its website.

In 2017 to 2018, DFO received 12 new complaints on 10 different files. The department worked with the OIC to finalize 10 complaints on 10 different files. Of these finalized complaints, 6 were from 2017 to 2018, and 4 were carried over from previous fiscal years.

The department reviews the outcomes of the information commissioner report of finding or recommendations, and where appropriate, incorporates lessons learned into business processes. Of the 10 complaints resolved this reporting period, 6 were well-founded and resolved. The department released additional records/information for 2 of the files in response to the OIC’s investigation, and reached an earlier commitment date to release documents to the requester for 2 files. No action was required for the remaining 2 files.

Systemic investigation

On March 27, 2013, DFO was informed of a complaint made under the act for the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) to investigate an allegation of "systemic efforts by the Government of Canada to obstruct the timely access of Canadians to government scientists." DFO was one of the 7 institutions included in this investigation. The OIC concluded the investigation in early 2018 and recorded the complaints against the subject institutions and TBS as well-founded.

The OIC made 4 recommendations to TBS in response to the concerns raised by the investigation. TBS provided a response to the recommendations on behalf of the subject institutions, which detailed the steps taken by the government toward making federal science more accessible to the public and in empowering federal scientists to speak freely about their work.

The result of the investigation will be published in the OIC’s annual report which will be issued in the Spring of 2018.

Monitoring compliance

DFO makes every effort to meet statutory deadlines and actively monitors the time taken to process access to information requests. Monitoring begins as soon as a request is received by the ATIP Secretariat, entered into the case management system and assigned to an analyst. All requests, including requests for consultations and requests for informal advice or review of records, are entered into the case management system for tracking. This electronic tracking of deadlines is essential, as analysts work on numerous requests, each with multiple actions coming due, at any given time. Analysts meet with their team leaders on a weekly basis to identify issues with requests that might result in delays. Issues are raised with the ATIP management team, if necessary. The director of the ATIP Secretariat gets involved in files where he can use his authority as the minister’s delegate under the Access to Information Act to promote compliance with deadlines and deliverables.

Appendix A: Delegation order

Appendix B: 2017 to 2018 Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Reporting period: 2017-04-01 to 2018-03-31

Part 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.3 Informal requests

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

Part 2: Requests closed during the reporting period

* I.A.: International affairs Def.: Defence of Canada S.A.: Subversive activities

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 3: Extensions

Part 5: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Part 6: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

Part 9: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.