Annual report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2022-2023

Table of contents

• Introduction
  • Purpose of the Access to Information Act
  • Mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Organizational structure
  • Departmental organization
  • Access to Information and Privacy Secretariat
• Delegation Order
• Performance 2022-23
  • Overview of 2022-23 requests under the Access to Information Act
    • Deemed refusals
    • Sources of requests
    • Completion times
    • Active requests carried over to next reporting period
    • Active complaints carried over to next reporting period
    • Extensions
    • Consultations
    • Overview of information released
    • Dispositions
    • Exemptions and exclusions
  • Impact of COVID-19 on the administration of the Access to Information Act
  • Informal requests
• Training and awareness
• Policies, guidelines and procedures
• Proactive publication under Part 2 of the ATIA
• Initiatives and projects to improve access to information
• Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints
• Reporting on access to information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act
• Monitoring compliance
• Appendix A: Delegation orders
• Appendix B: 2022-23 statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Introduction

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

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

Section 94(1) of the Access to Information Act requires that the head of every government institution prepare and submit an annual report to Parliament, which details the administration of the Act within the institution each fiscal year. The annual report is also prepared and tabled in accordance with section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

This annual report describes how Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) administered the Access to Information Act from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

Mandate of Fisheries and Oceans Canada

DFO is responsible for safeguarding Canadian waters and managing Canada's fisheries and oceans resources. DFO helps to ensure healthy and sustainable aquatic ecosystems through habitat protection and sound science. DFO supports economic growth in the marine and fisheries sectors, and innovation in areas such as aquaculture and biotechnology. DFO is committed to working with fishers, coastal and Indigenous communities to enable their continued prosperity from fish and seafood.

Organizational structure

Departmental organization

DFO has a presence across Canada, with the majority of employees working outside the national headquarters in one of the seven DFO regions or four CCG operational regions. National objectives, policies, procedures, and standards for DFO and CCG are established at national headquarters in Ottawa. Regions are responsible for delivering programs and activities according to national and regional priorities and within national performance parameters.

Access to Information and Privacy Secretariat

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Director reported to the Director General, Public Affairs Directorate during the reporting period.

The ATIP Director is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of effective ATIP-related policies, guidelines, systems and procedures. This accountability ensures that DFO’s responsibilities under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act (Acts) are met, and enables appropriate processing and proper disclosure of information.

The ATIP Secretariat is divided along two business lines according to their main functions and the business lines are managed by Deputy Directors. One business line is responsible for processing requests under the Acts; the other is responsible for all other activities related to the administration of the Acts at DFO.

The Operations Division is responsible for processing requests and providing issues management and is supported by:

• An Intake Unit, which oversees all incoming requests and liaises with requesters, programs and regions;
• An Administrative Support Group, which handles scanning/uploading records, file management and quality control; and
• A team of analysts and consultants, which is responsible for the overall processing of requests.

The ATIP Policy and Privacy Division (PPD) is responsible for many of the remaining responsibilities related to the administration of the Act. PPD acts as the Policy Centre for the Secretariat and provides advice to departmental officials on complex access to information matters, updates DFO’s Info Source chapter, investigates and responds to suspected privacy breach incidents, provides guidance to and assists program areas in conducting privacy impact assessments, oversees DFO’s disclosures under subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act, overseesproactive disclosures of information including requirements under Part 2 of the Act, advises senior management on changes related to the Act and relevant Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) policies, and liaises with the wider ATIP community.

PPD is also responsible for tracking departmental performance, supporting the Operations Division with staffing processes, hiring contracted resources, maintaining case management technology, leading strategic projects to improve the overall delivery of the ATIP program, and coordinating access to information training to ensure the ongoing sound application of the Acts.

The ATIP Secretariat works with a network of ATIP contacts from each region and sector who act as liaisons for their respective programs within the Department.

In total, throughout the course of this reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat employed 23 full-time equivalents (FTEs) devoted to Access to Information Act activities. This included 19.5 full-time employees, 0.5 part-time and casual employees, 2.3 consultants and 0.8 students.  

Delegation Order

Responsibility for the administration of the Access to Information Act at DFO is delegated from the Minister to the Director and Deputy Directors of the ATIP Secretariat. A copy of the Delegation Order is included as Appendix A.

Performance 2022-23

The Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is prepared by government institutions to assist TBS with analyzing trends and exercising oversight.

DFO’s complete 2022-23 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is included as Appendix B. Previous years’ statistical reports can be obtained from the ATIP Secretariat upon request.

Overview of 2022-23 requests under the Access to Information Act

The analysis in this section compares data from DFO’s 2022-23 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act with data from 2020-21 to produce a three-year trend analysis.

In 2022-23, DFO received 470 requests under the Access to Information Act and had 182 requests outstanding from previous reporting periods. Of these 652 requests, DFO completed 499 and carried forward 153 into the next reporting period.

As shown in Table 1 below, compliance for 2022-23 was 92.2 %. Total figures for 2022-23 reveal that 499 requests were closed, of this figure 460 closed within statutory deadline. Available data shows an excellent compliance rate over the last three years.

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

Compliance for 2022-23 remains excellent; figures show that 92.2% of request files were closed on or before their statutory or extended deadline.

Deemed refusals

When a government institution fails to respond to a request or give access to a record (in whole or in part) within the time limits set out in the Act (30 calendar days or the length of time taken under an extension), the institution is deemed to have refused access. This situation is commonly referred to as a deemed refusal.

During the 2022-23 reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat closed 39 requests (8%) past the legislated timeline.

The principal reason for delay in the requests closed past the statutory deadline is related to interference with operations/workload.

Sources of requests

Of the 470 requests received during the reporting period, the top three categories of requesters who self-identified were: members of the general public with 158 requests (34%); followed by the private sector businesses with 115 requests (25%); and the media with 82 requests (17%). The remaining requests originated from the following: organizations, with 58 requests (12%); individuals who declined to self-identify, with 52 requests (11%); and academia, with five requests (1%).

Completion times

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 499 requests completed during the reporting period, 237 requests (47%) were completed in 30 days or less, 78 requests (16%) were completed in 31 to 60 days, 92 requests (18%) completed in 61 to 120 days, 35 requests (7%) were completed in 121 to 180 days, 28 requests (6%) were completed in 181-365 days, and 29 requests (6%) required more than 365 days to process.

Active requests carried over to next reporting period

As shown in Table 2, DFO carried over 153 active requests to the next reporting period. Table 2 provides an overview of these requests according to the reporting period in which they were received. As of March 31, 2023, 75.82% of the active requests carried forward from previous years into the 2023-24 were within their legislative timelines.  Additionally, the majority (69.3%) of the active requests carried forward into 2023-24 were received during the 2022-23 reporting period.

Active Complaints carried over to next reporting period

Table 3 shows the active number of complaints as of the end of the reporting period, broken down by the specific reporting period in which the complaints were received.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Act provides for extensions to statutory time limits where consultations are necessary, and for requests for a large volume of records when processing the request within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the Department’s operations.

Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

During the reporting period, 421 extensions were taken for the following reasons:

• Under paragraph 9(1)(a), 189 extensions were taken due to requests for a large volume of records where processing them within the original time limit would have unreasonably interfered with departmental operations;
• Under paragraph 9(1)(b), 127 extensions were taken in order to consult with other institutions or organizations. Of these, 12 were to consult with DFO’s Legal Services Unit on the application of section 69 for Cabinet Confidences and 115 involved consultation with other government departments; and,
• Under paragraph 9(1)(c), 105 extensions were taken  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 120 days, whereas third party notification processes generally take 60 days. Of the 421 extensions taken,

• 132 for 30 days or less;
• 172 were for 31-60 days;
• 65 were for 61-120 days;
• 29 were for 121-180 days;
• 18 were for 181-365 days; and
• five were for 365 days or more.

Consultations

When other institutions and organizations retrieve information for access to information requests concerning or originating from DFO, they may consult the DFO ATIP Secretariat for recommendations on release. “Other institutions” refers to federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. Organizations include provincial, territorial,  municipal, and other countries’ governments.

Consultations processed

In 2022-23, DFO received 163 consultation requests and an additional 17 remained outstanding from the previous reporting period, for a total of 180 requests. Of the 180, DFO completed 169 requests and carried forward 11 into the next reporting period.

Recommendations and completion time

During the reporting period,132 of the consultation requests completed by DFO were received from other Government of Canada institutions. Of these requests, 93 (70%) were completed within 30 days and 39 (30%) took more than 30 days to complete. In 96 requests (73%), DFO recommended that the consulting institution disclose the information in its entirety.

DFO completed 37 consultation requests from organizations outside the Government of Canada in 2022-23; 22 of these (59%) were completed within 30 days and 15 of these (41%) took more than 30 days to complete.

Completion time of consultations on cabinet confidences

The ATIP Secretariat consults with DFO’s 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 for 6 consultations in 2022-23. Three of the responses were received for this request within 30 days and the other three were received between 61 and 120 days. No consultation on Cabinet Confidences was forwarded to PCO during the 2022-23 reporting period.

Overview of information released

In 2022-23, the ATIP Secretariat processed a total of 792,147 relevant pages. Compared to last year’s total of 328,934 pages, the number of pages processed in 2022-23 more than doubled.  

Of the relevant pages processed in 2022-23, 609,419 pages (77%) were disclosed in whole or in part. In comparison, in 2021-22, 128,169 pages (39%) of the relevant pages process were disclosed in whole or in part.

During the reporting period, DFO continued to receive requests through postal mail; of the requests received, 22 were by mail. When requests are complete, requesters may receive the information in paper or electronic formats, or they may view the records at a DFO office. During the reporting period, information was released in paper format for 27 requests.

Disposition

The 499 requests completed by DFO in 2022-23 were finalized in the following manner:

• All disclosed – In 81 requests (16%) treated, all relevant information was released in full to the requester.
• Disclosed in part – In 260 requests (52%) treated, information was partially disclosed to the requester.
• All exempted – In 14 requests (3%) treated, all relevant information was withheld (no disclosure to the requester).
• All excluded – In three requests treated (<1%), all information was excluded because all information requested qualified for exclusion under either Section 68, 68.1, 68.2, 69 or 69.1 of the Act.
• No records exist – In 103 requests (21%) treated, no relevant records existed under the control of DFO.
• Request abandoned – In 37 requests (7%) treated, the requester abandoned their request by formally withdrawing the request or by not responding to correspondence from the ATIP Secretariat; for instance, requests for clarification.
• Neither confirmed or denied – In one request treated (< 1%) DFO could neither confirm nor deny the existence of the requested information.

No request was processed for which a transfer was made to another government institution that had a greater interest in the subject, and no request was treated for which DFO declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner.

Exemptions and exclusions

The Access to Information Act gives the public a right of access to information contained in federal records under the control of government institutions, 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.

The three most frequently invoked exemptions in 2022-23 have not changed when compared to the previous reporting period.

Table 4 shows the three most commonly invoked exemptions by DFO in 2022-23.

Exclusions are provisions of the Act that remove certain records from the application of the legislation. Records excluded from the requirements of the 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 DFO during the reporting period. Published material was excluded in 44 requests and Cabinet Confidences exclusions were applied in 46 requests.

See Appendix B for further information on the exemptions and exclusions invoked by DFO in 2022-23, presented 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.

Impact of COVID-19 on the administration of the Access to Information Act

During the reporting period, COVID-19 did not have any impact on DFO’s ATIP operations.

Informal requests

Informal access requests are defined as requests for information made to the ATIP Secretariat, but not processed under the Act. The TBS Directive on Access Information Requests requires departments to publish summaries of their completed access to information requests online so that the public could request copies informally. During the 2022-23 reporting period, DFO processed 266 informal access requests for previously-released documents.

Training and awareness

As per the requirements of the DFO Privacy Policy, employees and managers at all levels must take privacy training at least once every five years. In support of this policy, DFO promotes awareness of federal access to information and privacy legislation and the corresponding responsibilities of DFO employees through ongoing training delivery, informative articles and awareness events.

The ATIP Secretariat continued offering training to employees and managers at all levels through a predictable 12-month training schedule which was implemented in the previous fiscal year. The ATIP Secretariat also observed an increase in requests for ad-hoc training which was offered upon request and tailored to programs’ needs.

Training and awareness content was also updated regularly to enhance participants’ learning experience in a hybrid environment through the use of various interactive tools and in office technologies. Hybrid  training also allowed DFO to meet the training needs of various groups  across the Department including in the regions. During the 2022-23 reporting period, 2,352 participants received ATIP training through the sessions offered by the ATIP Secretariat. These sessions focused on processing access to information requests; protecting and managing personal information; and meeting proactive publication requirements.

The ATIP Secretariate also made additional efforts to promote the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) to DFO employees which resulted in a 9% increase in overall participation compared to the previous fiscal year. During this reporting period, 741 participants completed CSPS ATIP-related training courses.

Table 5 highlights all ATIP-related training activities undertaken during the reporting period.

With specific regards to Part 2 of the Act on Proactive Publication, during the reporting period, DFO ATIP delivered a virtual bilingual information session to non-ATIP employees involved in meeting proactive publication requirements such as publishing the titles and tracking numbers of memoranda for the Minister and Deputy Minister. During this session for participants from across the department, ATIP provided an overview of the legal requirements, reviewed DFO’s internal process for publishing the required information, and shared best practices and lessons learned.  Informal ad hoc sessions were also provided regularly to employees who became involved in the coordination of this monthly exercise during the reporting period.

The ATIP Secretariat continued to publish various articles to provide employees with information and guidance about privacy protection principles as well as about ATIP requests processes and best practices.

Additionally, the ATIP Secretariat continued to engage ATIP contacts across the Department through regular meetings. These meetings served as an additional forum to share new information and guidance to ATIP contacts about the overall records retrieval process, proactive publications, responsibilities and expectations, and opportunities for improvements within the Department.

Policies, guidelines and procedures

The ATIP Secretariat continues to implement TBS policy instruments including revisions and updates introduced during the reporting period as well as implementing the department’s ATIP policy suite where appropriate. The suite of policy tools was developed to help DFO employees understand their responsibilities with regards to the protection of personal information. Included in the policy suite are the DFO Privacy Policy, Directive on Privacy Practices, the Standard on Privacy Breaches, the Standard on Permissible Disclosures of Personal Information and related tools such as Guidelines for the Informal Release of Information, the Privacy Impact Assessment: Needs Analysis, the Privacy Notice Template and Privacy Breach reporting forms.

Proactive publication under Part 2 of the ATIA

For the purposes of Part 2 of the Act, DFO is a government institution. The DFO-CCG Framework for Proactive Disclosure provides guidance to facilitate efficient access to information through a sustained compliance effort and detailed understanding of the roles and responsibilities that are required for effective delivery of proactive publication requirements under the Act. The framework applies to employees and managers as well as students, term and casual employees. 

DFO is subject to all requirements under sections 74 to 78 and sections 82 to 88 of the Act.  Table 6 lists these requirements, and information proactively published in keeping with these sections of the Act are available on DFO’s website under Transparency and on the Open Canada Registry.

During the reporting period, DFO maintained a 100% on-time compliance rate on all proactive publications within their set legislative timelines. In rare and specific occurrences, information that had been proactively published was updated to reflect necessary changes to the originally published information.

Initiatives and projects to improve Access to Information

The ATIP Secretariat continued to expand upon its Digital Strategy that was initiated in the 2019-2020 reporting period.  Over the reporting period, there was an increase in the use of the Access Online Management Tool (AOMT) for requests submitted to DFO and response packages sent back to requesters. DFO continued to use digital solutions such as epost Connect, WeTransfer and email to facilitate the transmission of ATI responses to requesters.

The ATIP Secretariat’s implementation of digital solutions has resulted in the department continuing to meet its legislative obligations for providing responsive records to requesters while reducing the departmental carbon footprint.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

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 Information Commissioner has the power to order institutions to release records at the end of an investigation when a complaint is well-founded. The Commissioner can also issue such orders as appropriate when new complaints cannot be resolved by the OIC’s informal resolution process. Additionally, the Information Commissioner publishes the results of investigations.

In 2022-23 DFO received six letters from the OIC indicating their intent to order DFO to disclose records subject to an ATI request. Of these, four resulted in formal orders from the OIC, to which DFO complied. In addition to these orders, DFO resolved complaints by conducting new searches for records and disclosing additional records that were either not initially provided to ATIP or protected by exemptions. DFO also engaged in discussions with the OIC to reconcile the list of complaints held by the OIC vs the list of complaints held by DFO in order to ensure accuracy and action was taken on key files requiring immediate attention.

Reporting on access to information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act

The Service Fees Act requires a responsible authority to report annually to Parliament on the fees collected by the institution.

With respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

• Enabling authority: Access to Information Act
• Fee payable: $5.00 application fee is the only fee charged for an ATI request.
• Total revenue: $2,130
• Fees waived or refunded: $220
• Cost of operating the program: $1,910

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 DFO 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 with specific deadlines, at any given time. Analysts meet with their respective 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 and Deputy Directors of the ATIP Secretariat get involved in files where they can use their authority as the Minister’s delegates to promote compliance with deadlines and deliverables.

The department also proactively discloses records to meet statutory proactive publication requirements under Part 2 of the Act. The ATIP program reviews records before disclosures are made to ensure that information disclosed is in accordance with the Acts. The department maintained 100% compliance with statutory proactive publication requirements while ensuring information published is in accordance with the Acts. A cornerstone to this success can be attributed to the DFO-CCG Framework on Proactive Disclosures that was developed and implemented in 2019.

Appendix A: Delegation orders

Description

Copy of the Delegation Order designating the director and deputy directors of the ATIP Secretariat to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Minister as the head of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, under the provisions of the Access to Information Act and related Regulations.

Appendix B: 2022-23 statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Channels of requests

Section 2: Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

2.2  Channels of informal requests

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

2.4 Pages released informally

2.5 Pages re-released informally

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to act on requests

Section 4: Requests closed during the reporting period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

4.2 Exemptions

4.3 Exclusions

4.4  Format of information released

4.5 Complexity

4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e-record formats

4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-record formats by size of requests

4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests

4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests

4.5.7 Other complexities

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines

4.7 Deemed refusals

4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

4.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

4.8  Requests for translation

Section 5: Extensions

5.1  Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

5.2 Length of extensions

Section 6: Fees

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

7.1  Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

7.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with legal services

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 9: Investigations and reports of finding

9.1 Investigations

9.2 Investigations and reports of finding

Section 10: Court Action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)

Section 11: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated costs

11.2  Human resources