Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Privacy Act April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025

Introduction

The Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada (ATSSC) is pleased to present to Parliament its Annual Report on the administration of the Privacy Act (the Act). Under section 72 of the Act, the head of every federal government institution must prepare and table a report to Parliament outlining how the Act was administered each year. This report highlights our activities in applying the Act from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

The Act protects the privacy of individuals by setting strict rules for how federal institutions collect, use, and share personal information. It also gives people the right to access their own information held by the government.

We are fully committed to both the spirit and the intent of the Act. We promote a culture of openness and transparency, while ensuring that the personal information we hold is protected.

This report is not intended to fulfill reporting requirements for any non-operational (“paper”) subsidiaries of the institution, or any other non-operational institutions.

ATSSC mandate

The ATSSC was established with the coming into force on November 1, 2014, of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada Act. We are responsible for providing support services and facilities to 12 federal administrative tribunals and the National Joint Council by way of a single, integrated organization. The ATSSC supports the Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

We provide the specialized services each tribunal needs to support its mandate (such as registry, research and analysis, legal and other mandate or case activities), as well as internal services (such as human resources, financial services, information management and technology, accommodation, security, planning and communications). Through these specialized services, we help improve access to justice for Canadians.

The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is responsible for the ATSSC. The Chief Administrator is the Deputy Head and Chief Executive Officer of the ATSSC.

The administrative tribunals and other bodies we support include:

• Canada Agricultural Review Tribunal (CART)
• Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB)
• Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board (CCPERB)
• Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT)
• Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT)
• Competition Tribunal (CT)
• Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB)
• Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal (PSDPT)
• Social Security Tribunal of Canada (SST)
• Specific Claims Tribunal Canada (SCT)
• Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada (TATC)
• Environmental Protection Tribunal of Canada (EPTC)
• National Joint Council (NJC)

Organizational structure

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is responsible for administering the Act on behalf of the ATSSC. It ensures that the ATSSC follows legislation, regulations and government policies and creates organizational standards and guidelines related to the Act. The authority to carry out these responsibilities is formally set out in the Delegation Order for the Act signed by the ATSSC Chief Administrator (Appendix A – Delegation Order).

The ATSSC’s Chief Administrator delegates their powers, authorities and responsibilities to the:

• Director General, Corporate Services Branch

• Corporate Secretary, Corporate Secretariat

• ATIP Manager and Coordinator, Access to Information and Privacy Office

The Manager of the Access to Information and Privacy Office serves as the ATSSC’s ATIP Coordinator and has delegated authority for all Access to Information and Privacy matters. The ATIP Office is part of the Corporate Secretariat, which falls under the Corporate Services Branch. The Office coordinates all requests the ATSSC receives under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It includes one manager, one senior ATIP advisor and two analysts. During this reporting period, an ATIP consultant also supported the team with access and privacy activities.

The ATIP Office receives, coordinates and processes requests in line with the Act. It raises awareness about privacy across our organization and manages related reporting responsibilities under the Act. The Office also provides expert advice and guidance to senior management and ATSSC staff on how to apply and interpret the Act.

We have not entered into any service agreements under section 73.1 of the Act during this reporting period.

2024 to 2025 performance

This section highlights key information on the ATSSC’s performance for fiscal year 2024 to 2025. See Appendix B for the complete statistical report.

As shown in Table 1, we received 13 new formal requests during this reporting period, which is significantly lower than the previous year (211 requests). In addition, 1 request was carried forward from the previous fiscal year, for a total of 14 active requests. All 14 requests were completed and none were carried forward to the 2025 to 2026 reporting period.

We responded to 13 formal privacy requests within the legislated timelines, which represents 93% of the 14 requests closed in 2024 to 2025.

Over the past several years, there was a dramatic upward trend in the number of requests received—from 9 in 2016 to 2017 to 211 in 2023 to 2024. In 2024 to 2025, the number of requests dropped significantly, indicating a break in this upward trend.

The volume of the material we have processed has also greatly varied. In 2016 to 2017, we processed about 209 pages. The number rose sharply in the following years to reach the thousands, before dropping to 854 pages in the current reporting period.

Although the total number of requests decreased, the workload per request increased significantly, with each one being more complex or containing more information (averaging 66 pages per request) compared to previous years.

Over the past several fiscal years, we have maintained a compliance rate of over 93% for requests completed within the legislated timelines.

Training and awareness

The ATIP Office delivered training sessions to increase knowledge and understanding of the Act across the ATSSC.

The ATIP Office regularly provides informal training to departmental liaison officers on how to apply ATIP legislation. These officers help produce the requested records and provide insight into the subject matter of the requests.

The ATIP Office created an action plan to ensure we meet the new requirements set out in the Directive on Personal Information Requests and Correction of Personal Information. ATSSC staff were asked to complete the Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals (COR502) course offered by the Canada School of the Public Service. By the end of this reporting period, 86% of active employees had completed the training. We will continue to promote greater knowledge and understanding of the Act.

The ATIP Office also actively promoted awareness of the Act and privacy compliance across our organization. This included securing senior management’s active support and requiring an intake form for new projects. By building privacy considerations into projects from the start and ensuring the ATIP Office is consulted early, we continue to foster a culture of privacy awareness and compliance.

Policies, guidelines, and procedures

The ATSSC follows Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat privacy policies and guidance. During this reporting period, we did not introduce any ATSSC-specific policies, guidelines or procedures.

Initiatives and projects to improve privacy

To maintain high standards and improve customer service under the Act, the ATIP Office:

• responded to 30 requests for privacy advice from internal services and tribunal secretariats and explained how to review reports for disclosure, develop privacy notice statements, and generally strengthen privacy protections.

• introduced a new internal process to improve efficiency and support faster request processing where all ATIP requests for ATSSC internal services go to the Director General’s Office, as the Office of Primary Interest

The ATIP Office also promoted privacy awareness across the ATSSC by meeting with the Director General and executives to discuss ATIP processes, challenges, and opportunities to modernize operations.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

During this reporting period, we did not receive any new complaints under the Act.

Material privacy breaches

A privacy breach is the improper or unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, retention or disposal of personal information. A material privacy breach involves personal information that could reasonably be expected to cause serious injury or harm to the individual or involves many individuals. During this reporting period, no material privacy breaches occurred at the ATSSC.

Privacy impact assessments

Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) identify the potential privacy risks of new or redesigned federal government activities or services. They also help eliminate or reduce those risks to an acceptable level.

During this reporting period, we did not complete any PIAs.

Public interest disclosures

Under subsection 8(2) of the Act, government institutions may, in certain situations, disclose personal information without the concerned person’s consent. Paragraph 8(2)(m) allows disclosure if the head of the institution determines that:

• the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy, or
• disclosure would clearly benefit the concerned person

During this reporting period, we disclosed personal information in 2 cases under paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Act.

Monitoring compliance

Appendix A - Privacy Act - Delegation Order

Delegation Order
Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

The Chief Administrator of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada, pursuant to subsections 95(1) of the Access to Information Act and 73(1) of the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Chief Administrator as head of the Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada, under the provisions of the Acts and related regulations as specified in the schedule opposite each position.

This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

Dated, at the City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario, this day of , 2024.

______________________________
Orlando Da Silva, LSM
Chief Administrator

Schedule

Powers, duties and functions delegated pursuant to subsections 95(1) of the Access to Information Act and 73(1) of the Privacy Act and related regulations.

Appendix B - Privacy Act - Statistical Report

Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution: Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada

Reporting period: 4/1/2024 to 3/31/2025