Annual report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2023-2024

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 2023-2024
  • Overview of 2023-2024 requests under the Access to Information Act
    • Deemed refusals
    • Sources of requests
    • Completion times
    • Active requests that are outstanding from the previous reporting periods
    • Active complaints that are outstanding from the previous reporting periods
    • Extensions
    • Completion time of consultations on cabinet confidences
  • Consultations
  • Consultations processed
  • Overview of information released
  • Disposition
  • Exemptions and exclusions
  • 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
  • Digital Strategy
  • Facilitating access for Indigenous requesters
• 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: 2023-24 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 purpose of this 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. 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, 2023 to March 31, 2024.

The report is tabled in both the House of Commons and the Senate on any of the first 15 sitting days on which the house is sitting after September 1, 2024.

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.

The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) is a special operating agency of DFO that works to ensure the safety of mariners in Canadian waters and protect Canada’s marine environment. It supports Canada’s economic growth through the safe and efficient movement of maritime trade. CCG helps to ensure our country’s sovereignty and security through its presence in Canadian waters. The CCG also support 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 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 the 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 reports to the Director General, Public Affairs Branch.

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.

The Operations Division is responsible for the following activities:

• processing requests under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act
• responding to consultation requests from other governments or other federal institutions
• supporting DFO’s legislative compliance obligations under the Acts by providing advice and guidance to senior management and staff of DFO on ATIP legislation
• representing DFO in ATIP communities of practitioners, such as at TBS ATIP Community meetings
• drafting and implementing internal ATIP procedures, guidance documents and working aids on the administration of the Acts

The Operations Division 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
• a team of analysts responsible for the overall processing of requests including the review of records

The ATIP Policy and Privacy Division (PPD) acts as the ATIP Policy and Governance centre for DFO and is responsible for many of the remaining responsibilities related to the administration of the Act. PPD:

• provides advice to departmental officials on access to information and privacy matters
• oversees proactive publication and reporting requirements, which includes updating DFO’s Info Source chapter, and producing statistical reports and annual reports on the administration of the Acts
• investigates and responds to suspected privacy breach incidents
• supports DFO programs in completing Privacy Impact Assessments, Personal Information Banks, and Privacy Notice Statements in compliance with TBS requirements
• advises senior management on changes related to the Acts and relevant Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) policies
• liaises with the wider ATIP community
• supports the ATIP Program with staffing processes and  hiring contracted resources
• maintains its case management tools, including leading strategic projects to improve the overall delivery of the ATIP program
• tracks departmental performance and coordinates 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 Office of Primary Interest (OPI) within the Department who act as liaisons for their respective region, sector, or program.

In total, throughout the course of this reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat employed approximately 26.93 full-time equivalents (FTEs) devoted to Access to Information Act activities. This included 22.31 full-time employees, 1.52 part-time and casual employees, 2 consultants and 1.1 students.  

For the purpose of Part 2 of the ATIA, the responsibility for meeting proactive publication requirements falls to three sectors within DFO: Strategic Policy, the Chief Financial Officer, and People and Culture.

During this reporting period, DFO was not party to any service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act.

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 2023-24

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 2023-24 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 2023-24 requests under the Access to Information Act

The analysis in this section compares data from DFO’s 2023-24 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act with data from 2021-22 to produce a three-year trend analysis.

In 2023-24, DFO received 626 requests under the Access to Information Act; this represents a 33% increase compared to the previous reporting period. DFO also processed 153 requests outstanding from previous reporting periods. Of the 779 requests processed, DFO completed 563 and carried forward 216 into the next reporting period.

Compliance remains excellent for 2023-24. Of the 563 requests completed, 532 were closed within the statutory deadline. As shown in Table 1 below, compliance for 2023-24 was 94.4% and illustrates fluctuations in workload over the past three years.

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 2023-24 reporting period, the ATIP Secretariat closed 31 requests (5.5%) 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 626 requests DFO received during the reporting period, the top three categories of requesters who self-identified were: business (private sector) with 238 requests (38%), followed members of the general public with 214 requests (34.2%), and the media with 74 requests (11.8%).  These represent 84% of requesters. 

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 563 requests completed during the reporting period, 259 requests (46%) were completed in 30 days or less, 81 requests (15%) were completed in 31 to 60 days, 112 requests (20%) completed in 61 to 120 days, 46 requests (8%) were completed in 121 to 180 days, 41 requests (7%) were completed in 181 to 365 days, and 24 requests (4%) required more than 365 days to process.

Active requests that are outstanding from the previous reporting periods

As shown in Table 2, DFO carried over a total of 216 active requests to the next reporting period. The table provides an overview of these requests according to the reporting period in which they were received. As of March 31, 2024, 70% of the active requests carried forward into the next reporting period were within their legislative timelines.  Additionally, the majority (78%) of the active requests carried forward into 2024-25 were received during the 2023-24 reporting period.

Active Complaints that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

As shown in Table 3, DFO had 19 active complaints with the Information Commissioner as of the last day of the reporting period. The table provides an overview of these complaints carried over to the next reporting period, according to the reporting period in which they 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, extensions were taken for 294 requests for reasons relating to 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c) of the Act. When taking an extension, multiple reasons may be cited. Combined, there were 477 instances were reasons for taking extensions were cited in the following manner:

• 220 extensions taken cited paragraph 9(1)(a), due to a large volume of records where processing them within the original time limit would have unreasonably interfered with departmental operations
• 159 extensions taken cited paragraph 9(1)(b) in order to consult with other institutions or organizations. Of these, 133 involved consultations with other government departments and 26 were to consult with DFO’s Legal Services Unit on the application of section 69 for Cabinet Confidences
• 98 extensions taken cited paragraph 9(1)(c) in order to consult with third parties

Length of extensions

The length of an extension depends on the reason for the extension. For example, consultations on Cabinet Confidences often take 120 days, whereas third party notification processes take 60 days.

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 56 consultations in 2023-24. One response was received within 30 days, seven were received between 31 and 60 days, 22 were received between 61 and 120 days, five between 121 and 180 days, 15 between 181 and 365 days, and six responses were received in more than 365 days.

No consultation on Cabinet Confidences was forwarded to PCO during the 2023-2024 reporting period.

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 are defined as federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. Organizations include the governments of Canadian provinces, territories, and municipalities as well as governments of foreign states and international bodies of states.

Consultations processed

In 2023-24, DFO received 116 consultation requests and an additional 11 remained outstanding from the previous reporting period, for a total of 127 requests processed. Of the 127, DFO completed 118 requests and carried forward 9 into the next reporting period.

Recommendations and completion time

During the reporting period, 84 of the consultation requests completed by DFO were received from other Government of Canada institutions. Of these requests, 61 (73%) were completed within 30 days and 23 (27%) took more than 30 days to complete. In 64 requests (76%), DFO recommended that the consulting institution disclose the information in its entirety.

DFO completed 34 consultation requests from organizations outside the Government of Canada in 2023-24; 26 of these (76%) were completed within 30 days and 8 of these (24%) took more than 30 days to complete.

Overview of information released

In 2023-24, the ATIP Secretariat processed a total of 590,583 relevant pages under the Access to Information Act. Of these, 376,782 pages processed (64%) were disclosed in whole or in part.

During the reporting period, DFO continued to receive requests through postal mail. Of all requests received under the Access to Information Act, 141 (22.5%) were by mail of which 125 were from a sole requester who submitted all their requests 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. Among the requests for information completed during the reporting year, the format of disclosure involved was as follows: 2 in paper format, 361 in e-record format, 55 in data set format, 3 in video and 13 in audio.  

Disposition

Table 4 shows the manner in which the 563 requests completed by DFO in 2023-24 were finalized.

No request was treated for which the disposition was neither confirmed nor denied. 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.

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).

Table 5 shows the three most frequently invoked exceptions by DFO in 2023-24, which have not changed when compared to the previous reporting period.

See Appendix B for further information on the exemptions and exclusions invoked by DFO in 2023-24, 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.

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 can request copies informally. During the 2023-24 reporting period, DFO processed 660 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 2021-2022 reporting period.  The ATIP Secretariat also responded to demands for ad-hoc training sessions which were offered upon request and tailored to programs’ needs. ATIP also provides training further to files being treated or when trends in ATIP indicate a need for training on a specific subject matter related to either Access to Information or Privacy. 

Training and awareness content was updated regularly to enhance participants’ learning experience in a hybrid environment through the use of various interactive tools and in office technologies. Virtual training continued to allow DFO to meet the training needs of various groups across the Department including in its regions. During the 2023-24 reporting period, 1213 participants received ATIP training through the sessions offered by the ATIP Secretariat, 54 of these participants were Executives. These sessions focused on processing access to information requests and protecting and managing personal information.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Secretariate also made additional efforts to promote courses offered by the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) to DFO employees. During this reporting period, 357 participants completed CSPS ATIP-related training courses.

Table 6 highlights all ATIP-related training activities undertaken during the reporting period.

The ATIP Secretariat continued to publish various articles to promote training and awareness about privacy protection principles as well as about ATIP request processes and best practices, and to ensure all employees have completed mandatory training and are aware of policies, procedures and legal responsibilities under both Acts.

Additionally, the ATIP Secretariat continued to engage ATIP contacts across the Department through regular meetings. These meetings serve as an additional forum to share new information and guidance to ATIP contacts about a variety of topics, such as the records retrieval process, meeting proactive publication requirements, the Privacy Impact Assessment process, ATIP related responsibilities and expectations, and opportunities for improvements within the Department.

In September the ATIP Secretariat observed Right To Know (RTK) Week, to raise awareness of the right of access to government information and to foster freedom of information as essential to both democracy and good governance. Events included a hybrid and well-attended in-person Speaker Panel event centered on Indigenous data sovereignty, government institutions’ collection and use of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, and barriers faced by Indigenous peoples with respect to accessing government information. The panel of speakers included officials from DFO, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC). RTK week activities also included an interactive magazine, a RTW Week quiz, and a frequently visited information booth.

Policies, guidelines and procedures

The ATIP Secretariat continued to implement TBS policy instruments, including revisions and updates introduced during the reporting period, and made revisions to the department’s ATIP policy suite as needed. The suite of 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, Framework for Proactive Disclosure and related tools such as Guidelines for the Informal Release of Information and various forms and templates to ensure departmental compliance to legal ATIP requirements.

Proactive publication under Part 2 of the ATIA

DFO is subject to Part 2 of the Act and the DFO-CCG Framework for Proactive Disclosure provides guidance to facilitate efficient proactive publication process 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. 

With specific regards to sections 74 to 78 and sections 82 to 88 of the Act, during the reporting period, ATIP continued its engagement with non-ATIP employees from across the Department to guide and inform them on meeting proactive publication requirements such as publishing the titles and tracking numbers of memoranda for the Minister and Deputy Minister, and publishing binders from Committee appearances to Parliament. ATIP also reviewed DFO’s internal process for publishing the required information and, in this reporting period, shared best practices and lessons learned with employees who became involved in the coordination to meet publishing requirements.

Within DFO, the responsibility of proactive publications falls to three sectors: Strategic Policy, the Chief Financial Officer, and People and Culture.

Strategic policy

The leads responsible for proactive publications are the Public Affairs Branch and (PAB) and Strategic Policy and Priorities (SPP). These leads ensure the on-time publication of reports tabled in Parliament, titles and tracking numbers of memoranda, transition materials for new or incoming deputy heads or ministers, packages of briefing materials prepared for an appearance before a committee of Parliament, and question period notes.

Standard Operating Procedures are in place to ensure that proactively published information is retrieved in both official languages, in an accessible format, and published within legislative timelines. These procedures ensure that information is reviewed by the offices of primary interest or content donor to ensure accuracy and completeness, reviewed by the ATIP Secretariat as necessary to ensure that it does not include information that would be exempted or excluded under the Act, and that it is web coded by DFO Digital & Creative Service as necessary before publishing within the legislated timeline.

Table 7 lists the sections of Part 2 of the ATIA for which  Strategic Policy is responsible.  

* When the Deputy Minister appears before committee together with the Minister, this briefing package is published in the Open Government Registry as an appearance by the Minister. Such appearances are counted here under Ministerial appearances (s.74(d)) while appearances by the DM alone are counted under s.88 (c).

Chief Financial Officer

The leads responsible for proactively publishing information on travel, hospitality, contracts exceeding $10,000 (including increases or decreases of $10,000 or more), and grants and contributions over $25,000 are Finance and Accounts Operations. This process follows a comprehensive departmental procedure.  

To ensure compliance with proactive disclosure guidelines, the departmental lead issues call letters to Senior Management.  These call letters include pre-populated templates with extracts of specific information derived from the department’s financial systems and/or details regarding business owners’ responsibilities along with a mandatory Senior Management Attestation form. 

Senior Management attests to the completeness and accurateness of the information, for ensuring updates to the departmental financial system and identifying additional information required for publication that is not already contained in the department’s financial system information. Upon receipt of the attestation, the CFO sector conducts further checks and balances to ensure all requirements are met for proactive disclosure.  Once this process is completed, the information is published on the Open Government Registry.

Table 8 lists the sections of Part 2 of the ATIA for which  the Chief Financial Officer is responsible.

People and culture

The lead responsible for proactive publication is Corporate Enterprise Management. Within Corporate Enterprise Management, the  Organization and Classification Centre of Expertise (OCCOE) is responsible for implementing the classification of positions within the department. At the end of each month, files pertaining to the reclassification of positions are verified for compliance and OCCOE oversees the proactive publication of these reclassifications on a quarterly basis.

Table 9 lists the sections of Part 2 of the ATIA for which People and Culture is responsible.

During the reporting period, DFO maintained a 100% on-time compliance rate on all proactive publications requirements with the exception of reclassification of positions. Proactive publication of positions reclassified during Q4 2022-2023 was delayed by 10 days due to the federal civil servants’ strike in April 2023, thereby resulting in a 75% compliance rate in meeting the statutory requirement under section 85 of the Act.  

Initiatives and projects to improve Access to Information

Digital Strategy

The ATIP Secretariat continued to expand upon its Digital Strategy that was initiated in the 2019-2020 reporting period. The ATIP Secretariat’s implementation of digital solutions over the years has resulted in the department continuing to meet its legislative obligations to provide responsive records to requesters while reducing the departmental carbon footprint.

In 2023-2024, the department made an acquisition which will serve both ATIA and Privacy Act requests when implemented following a review and assessment of available options to replace its current ATIP Request Processing Software Solution (RPSS). The new solution will leverage new technology and result in more efficient processing of all requests. Implementation of the new ATIP RPSS is already underway and expected to be complete in 2024-2025. 

Additionally DFO continues to use the Access Online Management Tool (AOMT) which is administered by TBS. The latest version of AOMT allows federal institutions to send documents such as extension letters and release packages; the tool allows for multiple exchanges with requesters.

Facilitating access for Indigenous requesters

In response to advancing Indigenous reconciliation and facilitating culturally appropriate access to information services for Indigenous requesters, DFO maintains a practice to waive the prescribed $5.00 application fee for Indigenous requesters in keeping with the TBS Access to Information Notice 2024-01: Advancing Indigenous Reconciliation: Waiver of $5 Application Fee.

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 2023-24, DFO received six letters from the OIC indicating their intent to order DFO to disclose records subject to ATI requests. All of them resulted in formal orders from the OIC, to which DFO complied.

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: $3,065
• Fees waived or refunded: $65
• Cost of operating program: $2,498,297    

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, it is entered into the case management system and assigned to an analyst. All requests, including requests for consultations or advice on ATIP related matters are entered into the case management system for tracking. This tracking of deadlines is essential as analysts work on numerous requests at any time, each with multiple actions with specific deadlines. 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, and if necessary, the Director and / or Deputy Directors of the ATIP Secretariat get involved in files where they can use their authority as the Minister’s delegates under the Acts to promote compliance with deadlines and deliverables. Upon request, ATIP provides performance reports to OPIs.

The department also proactively discloses records to meet statutory requirements or in response to requests outside the formal ATIP process. Although proactive publication requirements are pursuant to Part 2 of the ATIA, the ATIP program reviews records before disclosures are made to ensure that information disclosed is in accordance with the Acts. A cornerstone to this success of meeting statutory proactive publication requirements can be attributed to the DFO-CCG Framework on Proactive Disclosures that was developed and implemented in 2019.

In response to frequent inquiries from departmental programs for guidance on releasing information, on a case-by case basis ATIP provides clear guidance on a range of ATIP practices to implement including practices that will ensure privacy protections are in place. 

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: 2023-2024 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