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Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2019-2020

Table of contents

• Introduction
  • Purpose of the Access to Information Act
  • Mandate of the institution
  • Organizational structure
  • Delegated authorities
  • Highlights of the report
• Administration of requests
  • Access to information requests
  • Requestor sources
  • Disposition of completed requests
  • Exemptions and exclusions
  • Extensions
  • Fees and costs
  • Consultations received from other institutions
• Internal operations
  • Training and development
  • New or revised policies, guidelines and procedures
  • Complaints, audits, and investigations
  • Monitoring processing times
  • Judicial review
  • Impact of COVID-19
• Annex A: Designation order
• Annex B: ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ 2019-2020 statistical report

Introduction

We are pleased to table the Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Access to Information Act (the Act) for fiscal year 2019-2020, as required under section 72 of the Act.

Nota: The Department is referred to in this report as ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ. Its legal name, however, remains the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, as set out in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act.

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act gives Canadian citizens and permanent residents, as well as individuals and corporations present in Canada, the right to seek access to federally-controlled information and records.

Mandate of the institution

¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ is Canada’s face to the world, working to advance Canada’s political and economic interests in the international community as well as to apply Canadian experience to help address global issues.

The Department's legal mandate, as set out in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, SC 2013, c. 33, s. 18, is to:

• conduct all diplomatic and consular relations on behalf of Canada;
• conduct all official communication between the Government of Canada and the government of any other country and between the Government of Canada and any international organization;
• conduct and manage international negotiations as they relate to Canada;
• coordinate Canada’s international economic relations;
• foster the expansion of Canada’s international trade and commerce;
• foster sustainable international development and poverty reduction in developing countries and provide humanitarian assistance during crises;
• coordinate the direction given by the Government of Canada to the heads of Canada’s diplomatic and consular missions;
• manage Canada’s diplomatic and consular missions;
• administer the foreign service of Canada;
• foster the development of international law and its application in Canada’s external relations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is also responsible for the Export and Import Permits Act, RSC 1985, c. E-19, which authorizes the government to control and monitor the trans-border flow of specified goods, and for the Special Economic Measures Act, SC 1992, c. 17, which authorizes the government to apply economic sanctions in response to a serious threat to international peace and security.

The Department also provides administrative support to other federal government institutions with personnel abroad.

Organizational structure

The Access to Information and Privacy Protection (ATIP) Division is responsible for the administration of the Act, including the processing of requests and consultations. The Director of the ATIP Division reports to the Corporate Secretary, who in turn reports to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In 2019-2020, the ATIP Division employed 59 Full-Time Equivalents to fulfill the Department’s obligations under both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. During most of the fiscal year, the Division’s staff included up to five consultants and one student.

The Division’s structure consists of a Director, five Deputy Directors, eight Team Leaders, one Senior Advisor, one Manager, one Administrative Assistant, forty-four Analysts, one System Administrators, one Administrative Coordinator and seven Clerks. This list includes the Privacy Policy and Governance Team which is comprised of a Team Leader and three Analysts who work exclusively on the application of the Privacy Act. It also includes one Team Leader and five Analysts dedicated to the Intake Team pilot project, which was launched in November 2018. Not all positions in the Division were staffed during the reporting period.

Delegated authorities

Consistent with Section 73 of the Access to Information Act, the Minister’s authority is delegated to the Deputy Ministers, to the Corporate Secretary, to the Director of the ATIP Division, and to the Deputy Directors of the ATIP Division.

Highlights of the report

Number of requests:

The number of Access to Information requests submitted to the Department has increased by 12% compared to the previous reporting period. When compared to the previous three reporting periods, the number of requests submitted has increased by 4%. The number of requests completed by the Department increased by 2% compared to the previous reporting period. When compared to the average of the previous three reporting periods, the number of requests completed has decreased by 7%. This decrease is mainly due to an unusually high performance in the year 2017-2018, otherwise the number of closed requests the year 2019-2020 is similar to 2016-17 and 2018-19.

Deemed refusal rate:

The Department’s deemed refusal rate in 2019-20 (i.e., the percentage of Access to Information requests that received a response beyond the deadline required under the Act) was 23%. This means that 77% of the Department’s responses to Access to Information requests were provided to requesters on time. The deemed refusal rate for the reporting period decreased by 32% compared to the 34% rate for the previous period.

Staffing:

In 2019-20, the Division had approximately 49 Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) working on Access to Information requests. This represented a 2% decrease over the previous reporting period. The Department took measures to improve its performance by staffing the ATIP Division with additional resources.

Innovation to improve operational efficiency:

During the reporting period, the ATIP Division has maintained its commitment to continuous improvement and innovation. Anchored by successfully piloted projects from previous years, the ATIP division has engaged a change-management consultant to advise in process modernization. The process modernization aims to further stream-line ATIP operations to ensure that the innovation, which began with LEAN training and the Intake Unit pilot project, continues in order to increase the department’s efficiency in meeting the information needs of Canadians.

In January of 2020, the ATIP Division began a telework pilot project within its access to information and privacy policy groups. By engaging with ATIP colleagues at other departments who had successful established telework initiatives, DCP implemented a policy that has proved invaluable in adapting operations during the covid-19 pandemic.  With the Telework Pilot in place, the ATIP policy and privacy policy teams were able to maintain functionality while physically absent from the office. The pilot also laid the foundation on which an expanded telework project could be built. The ATIP division continues in making strides toward full-implementation of telework to reflect the new default work-from-home reality.

Another project started in FY2019-20 the Epost, which uses a service offered by Canada Post that allows for the transmission of files, including large files, securely between senders, up to and including Protected B level. This should allow GAC to respond to all or almost all privacy and access to information requests electronically.

Administration of requests

The following section explains key elements of the Statistical Report to the Treasury Board Secretariat provided in annex B.

Access to information requests

In 2019-2020, the Department received 1,460 requests for information under the Access to Information Act. In addition, 471 requests were carried over from the previous fiscal year, for a total of 1,931 active requests.

During the reporting period, 1,269 requests were completed. As a result, 662 active files were carried over to the next reporting period.

Requestor sources

The sources of Access to Information requests received during the reporting period were as follows:

Disposition of completed requests

The disposition of requests completed during the reporting period was as follows:

Exemptions and exclusions

The exemptions under the Act most commonly applied by the Department during the reporting period were sub-sections 19(1) [personal information] and 15(1) [international affairs], as well as paragraphs 21(1)(a) [advice] and 21(1)(b) [consultations and deliberations].

Relevant pages processed and disclosed

During the reporting period, the Department disclosed 64,765 pages of the 112,798 relevant pages processed.

Extensions

During the reporting period, the Department claimed 318 extensions pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(a), 652 pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(b), and 31 pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(c).

Fees and costs

For the reporting period, the Department collected $4,310 in fees, and waived $2,035 in fees.

Consultations received from other institutions

When a request addressed to a Department contains records that are of interest to another government institution, the Department consults the ATIP Coordinator of that institution accordingly.

Given its mandate and various responsibilities at the international level, the Department played a key role under the Act on behalf of other institutions of the Government of Canada. Specifically, the Department consulted foreign governments and organizations on behalf of other federal government institutions when the latter needed to determine whether they could release records that originated abroad. During the reporting period, the Department received 746 consultations from other government institutions, comprising over 16,541 pages. Most consultations originated from federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. However, a small percentage originated from other governments in Canada and abroad.

Internal operations

Training and development

During fiscal year 2019-2020, the ATIP Division continued to provide its analysts with the necessary training and tools to perform their jobs effectively, notably by ensuring that all staff members had learning plans in their performance evaluation agreements. The ATIP division continues to develop tools and guidance to assist analysts in their application of the Access to Information Act and ensure consistency of approach. Internal training initiatives for the ATIP Division also include the ATIP mentorship program, and guest speakers from the ATIP community.

The ATIP Division benefited from its Professional Development Program, which allows the Department to train and promote its analysts from junior to senior levels. This program has been very successful in addressing recruitment, retention and succession planning issues. At the end of the fiscal year, 14 employees were in the program and further recruitment was underway.

The ATIP Division continues to foster dialogue with internal clients. Within the reporting period, the ATIP division expanded its efforts to address the appetite for training within the department. This yielded benefits such as relationship-building between analysts and subject matter experts, skill-building opportunities for analysts in the Professional Development Program, and ensured continuous training offerings throughout the Department. With larger outreach and expanded employee resources, the ATIP division has delivered training to a record number of officers. During the report period, DCP trained approximately 80 liaison officers and 388 subject-matter experts, an increase of 235% over last year.

In addition, during this reporting period, 184 employees completed an online interactive ATIP awareness tutorial, developed in collaboration with the Canadian Foreign Service Institute.

New or revised policies, guidelines and procedures

As a result of the Lean initiatives since 2017-18, efforts have been made to foster more effective dialogue between the ATIP Division and subject matter experts. A yearlong campaign has included outreach initiatives, and the provision of helpful statistics in order to identify areas for improvement. For example, the monthly Bureau Performance Report that is circulated by the Corporate Secretary and encompasses all bureaus whose internal deadlines have been missed. This has yielded a significant response from bureaus, and a renewed awareness of tasking deadlines.

The Intake Team is no longer a pilot project. Its centralization of administrative functions has demonstrated its benefits. The Intake Team also serves as a training unit and assists in the onboarding of new employees. Once new employees have completed their term with the Intake Team, they are transitioned to regular portfolios. Upon this transition, they are further supported by the ATIP Division’s Mentorship Program, another Lean initiative.

The Department continued to place a heavy emphasis on educating departmental officials on their ATIP roles and responsibilities to ensure compliance and efficiencies.

A telework pilot project was implemented with the Privacy team and the Policy and governance team in January 2020. This has allowed both teams to remain at full efficiency when COVID-19 confinement was declared in March 2020.

Complaints, audits, and investigations

During fiscal year 2019-2020, 58 complaints were made to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada regarding Access to Information requests to the Department. The reasons for the complaints were as follows:

Over the course of the reporting period, 82 complaints against the Department were closed. The findings on closed complaints were as follows:

The Department demonstrated its commitment to clearing its inventory of complaints and sought to address any problems identified, notably through training. Ongoing efforts are being made to improve performance and meeting obligations under the Access to Information Act. The ATIP division increased the resources assigned to complaints, creating a dedicated complaints team, with one senior analyst (PM-04) and one team leader (PM-05). The Division sought opportunities to collaborate with the Office of the Information Commissioner, at all levels. The dedicated complaints team met with representatives of the OIC to build and strengthen relationships, and establish a list of priorities that will enable the Department to more efficiently address its complaint inventory. Additionally, monthly meetings between the management teams of both organizations were put in place to maintain a steady line of communication between them.

Monitoring processing times

The Department monitored the processing time for requests and tracked their status. The tools in place for this purpose included:

• An Active Tasking Report (weekly): This report identified all current active taskings within the Department. For each tasking, it included the responsible area and bureau, type of tasking, a summary of the request, and the name of the assigned analyst.
• A File Discussion (weekly): This meeting included all managers in the ATIP Division. It provided an opportunity to monitor the status of all active requests and resolve issues that could impede their timely completion.
• A report is used to monitor individual analyst performance and help with workload distribution.
• The monthly Bureau Performance Report was introduced to increase management awareness of departmental areas experiencing longer delays in responding to ATIP tasks.

Judicial review

On July 18, 2019, an Application for Judicial Review under Section 41 of the Access to Information Act was filed with the Federal Court of Canada (T-1170-19 Shin Imai v. Minister of Foreign Affairs). The review was still before the Federal Court at the end of the reporting period.

Impact of COVID-19

On March 13, 2020, the Government of Canada announced a lockdown of government building restricting access only to critical staff due to the COVID-19 crisis. This resulted in a complete stop of access to information processing at ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ decreasing by at least 4% the total expected output. Measure to implement a telework capability were already in march which allowed a small access to information policy and governance team as well as a privacy policy team to continue working, while all other employees were forced to remain home without being able to complete their workload.

Annex A: Designation order

Annex B: ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ 2019-2020 statistical report

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: ¶¶ÒùÊÓƵ

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-31

Section 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Informal requests

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only. TBS/SCT 350-62

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

Section 3: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

3.2 Exemptions

3.3 Exclusions

3.4 Format of information released

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

3.5.3 Other complexities

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

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

3.8 Requests for translation

Section 4: Extensions

4.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

4.2 Length of extensions

Section 5: Fees

Section 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

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

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Section 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

7.1 Requests with Legal Services

7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 8: Complaints and investigations

Section 9: Court Action

9.1 Court actions on complaints received before June 21, 2019 and on-going

9.2 Court actions on complaints received after June 21, 2019

Section 10: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

10.1 Costs

10.2 Human Resources