Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2014-2015

Official title: Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act within ESDC 2014-2015

Alternative formats

On this page

• Executive summary
• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Access to information at ESDC
• 3.0 Delegation order
• 4.0 Performance reporting for 2014–15
• 5.0 Access to information and privacy training and awareness activities
• 6.0 Activities and challenges in 2014–15
• 7.0 Complaints, investigations and court action
• 8.0 ESDC’s commitment to respect timeframes
• 9.0 Request summaries posted to Open Canada website
• 10.0 Annex A: Delegation order
• 11.0 Annex B: Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Executive summary

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is responsible for a range of programs and services that support Canadians throughout their lives—from school to work, from one job to another, from unemployment to employment and from the workforce to retirement. The ESDC portfolio includes the Labour Program and Service Canada.

ESDC’s mandate is to build a stronger, more competitive Canada, to support Canadians in making choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives, and to improve Canadians’ quality of life. The ESDC mandate includes core programs such as the Social Insurance Number, the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance and Old Age Security. 

Through the Access to Information Act (ATIA or Act), the Canadian public has a right to access records held by ESDC, subject to certain exemptions and exclusions, such as cabinet confidences or the protection of personal information of Canadians.

In 2014-15, ESDC received 1,160 access to information requests, an increase of 34.7% from the previous year and the number of pages processed increased by just over 37.4% (139, 549 in 2014-15 compared to 101,577 in 2013-14).  In total, ESDC completed 13% more requests than the previous fiscal year and 75% of these requests were responded to within legislated timeframes.    ESDC is making every effort to keep pace with the increase in access to information requests.  To ensure judicious management of resources and the timely release of information, ESDC has undertaken a business process review and redesign to streamline workflow and leverage efficiencies in the processing of access to information requests. 

The Act requires the head of every federal government institution to submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act following the close of each fiscal year. This report describes how ESDC fulfilled its ATIA responsibilities during fiscal year 2014–15.

1.0 Introduction

ESDC's mission is to build a stronger and more competitive Canada, to support Canadians in making choices that help them live productive and rewarding lives, and to improve Canadians' quality of life.

To do this, we:

• develop policies that make Canada a society in which all can use their talents, skills and resources to participate in learning, work and their community;
• create programs and support initiatives that help Canadians move through life's transitions—from families with children to seniors, from school to work, from one job to another, from unemployment to employment, from the workforce to retirement;
• create better outcomes for Canadians through service excellence with Service Canada and other partners; and
• engage our employees, establish a healthy work environment, nurture a culture of teamwork and build our leadership capacity.

The Honourable Pierre Poilievre became Minister of Employment and Social Development, Minister for Democratic Reform and Minister responsible for the National Capital Commission in February 2015. He replaced the Honourable Jason Kenney, who became the Minister of National Defence and Minister for Multiculturalism.

The Access to Information Act (ATIA or Act) provides Canadian citizens and permanent residents a right of access to records held under the control of a government institution, subject to limited and specific exemptions and exclusions.

2.0 Access to information at ESDC

The administration of the ATIA at ESDC is a cooperative effort between ATIP Operations at Headquarters and the programs and branches of the Department across the country. ESDC’s obligation is to balance the right of the public to records under the control of the Department with the need to withhold some portions that meet criteria set out in the provisions of Act. A great deal of the information in the control of the Department contains personal information about individuals and must be withheld under mandatory exemptions of the Act unless specified conditions are met. ESDC subjects all records requested to a detailed review to ensure the information can be released.

2.1 Corporate Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer

The Corporate Secretary is responsible for the administration of the ATIA at ESDC and is supported in that function by a Director of ATIP Operations who is also the designated ATIP Coordinator. The Corporate Secretary is also the department’s Chief Privacy Officer and is the Department’s functional authority on all privacy matters, which includes the provision of authoritative advice and functional direction to all departmental branches and regions. More details on the role of the Chief Privacy Officer can be found in the Department’s Annual Report on the Administration of the Privacy Act for 2014–15.

2.2 Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division

The Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division (ATIP Ops) carries out the Department’s legislated requirements under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act by processing requests for access to records in the control of ESDC. ATIP Ops coordinates and advises on the processing of all requests under the ATIA and is supported by program Liaison Officers (LOs) and Regional ATIP Managers. This work involves responding to requests from the public and delivering training and awareness programs to employees with respect to the administration of the two Acts. ATIP Ops is responsible for providing guidance to the regions with respect to the operational and reporting components of the ATIP function.

ATIP Ops also liaises with the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner regarding complaints received against the Department.

The ATIP Operations Division includes two units:

The Request Processing Unit (RPU) performs a line-by-line review of records requested under the ATIA and the Privacy Act. The RPU provides weekly reports for information purposes to the Deputy Ministers’ and Ministers’ offices on both new ATIA requests and on upcoming ATIA releases.

The Incident Management and Legislative Disclosures Unit (IMLDU) determines when incidents involving personal information constitute privacy breaches and responds to legal instruments received by ESDC seeking the disclosure of personal information. The IMLDU also manages ESDC’s response to complaints made to the OPC and interacts with the OPC on privacy breaches, working in partnership with the Departmental Security Office.

2.3 Branch and regional access to information activities

While the ATIP Operations Director, with support from the Division’s ATIP Operations officers, has overall authority for the administration of the Access to Information Act, branches and regions also play a key role.

The Department has a network of LOs in the branches and Regional ATIP Managers who facilitate the work by providing expert ATIA and Privacy Act advice and guidance directly to program areas in consultation with ATIP Ops. The LOs also play a liaison role between ATIP analysts and subject matter experts. 

3.0 Delegation order

3.1 Access to Information Act delegations

Under section 73 of the Act, “the head of a government institution may, by order, designate one or more officers or employees of that institution to exercise or perform any of the powers, duties or functions of the head of the institution under this Act that are specified in the order.” The Honourable Diane Finley, former Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, approved a Delegation Order in February 2009. This Delegation Order authorizes employees in certain positions to exercise the powers, duties or functions of the head of the institution under the ATIA. The Delegation Order can be found in Annex A.

4.0 Performance reporting for 2014–15

4.1 New report criteria

For 2014–15, the Treasury Board Secretariat made changes to the reporting criteria. The following reporting criteria are now included in the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act, found at Annex B:

• the number of requests where the source is shown as “decline to identify”;
• the number of requests where the disposition is “treated informally”;
• the number of requests where the disposition is “neither confirmed nor denied”;
• the number of requests where section 14 and subsections 15(1) and 16(2) exemptions were applied, and the number of times records were excluded under subsection 69(1);
• the number of pages disclosed in relation to requests with Legal Services and requests with the Privy Council Office; and
• new reporting on complaints and investigations, and court action.

4.2 Requests for information under the Access to Information Act

The following is a summary of the information contained in the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act for 2014–15, attached as Annex B.

Figure 1 - Request for information under the Access to Information Act

Fiscal year		2011-2012	2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
Formal requests received under the Access to Information Act		579	746	861	1 160
Request completed/processed during the year		531	630	932	1,055
Number of pages processed		120,109	112,087	101,577	139,549
Requests completed within:	30 calendar days	276	314	388	447
	31 to 60 calendar days	171	195	273	312
	61 or more calendar days	78	121	212	296
Proportion of requests that were responded to within legislated time frames according to Information Commissioner’s standards		98 %	92 %	88 %	75 %
Complaints to the Information Commissioner		24	20	29	29

4.3 Total access to information requests completed

The Department received 1,160 requests during the reporting period and completed 1,055. This represents an increase of 34.7% for requests received and an increase of 13.2% for requests completed over the last fiscal year.

Figure 2 – Text description

Fiscal year	Requests received under the ATI	Requests completed under the ATI
2011-2012	579	531
2012-2013	746	630
2013-2014	861	932
2014-2015	1 160	1 055

Since 2011, the number of requests received by ESDC has more than doubled, and ESDC has increased the number of completed requests by almost 100% in the same timeframe through more efficient and effective use of available resources.

4.4 Sources of requests for 2014–15

The graph below shows the sources of ATIA requests for the 2014-15 reporting period.  For the reporting period, the most common source of requests, in order, was from business (private sector) at 37.6%; the public (24.7%); organizations (19%); media (13.4%); and academia (1.2%).  In 2014-15, 4.1% of requesters (48) declined to identify themselves in one of the foregoing categories of requester. 

Figure 3 – Text description

Sources of Requests under the Access to Information Act	Percentage	Amount of Requests
Media	13.4 %	156
Academia	1.2 %	14
Business (Private Sector)	37.6 %	436
Organization	19.0 %	220
Public	24.7 %	286
Decline to Identify	4.1 %	48

4.5 Processing times and disclosure rates

For 2014–15, ESDC released records in full 27% of the time and withheld records, or parts of records, 45% of the time in accordance with exemption and exclusion provisions of the ATIA. 

ESDC completed the majority of ATIA requests (72%) within 60 days, with 42.4% completed within the first 30 days. In addition to new requests, ESDC was able to close 67 requests from its backlog of late requests.

Figure 4 – Text description

Year	Requests completed within 30 calendar days	Requests completed within 31-30 calendar days	Requests completed within 61 or more calendar days
2011-2012	276	171	78
2012-2013	314	195	121
2013-2014	388	273	212
2014-2015	447	312	296

4.6 Exemptions and exclusions

While the Act gives a right of access to records held by government institutions, information within these records may be withheld by applying limited and specific exemptions.   There was a slight decrease in the number of exemptions applied by ESDC, despite the increase in volume of requests.

Due to the nature of the mandate of ESDC and its personal information holdings, the exemption applied most frequently by ESDC is subsection 19(1), which protects personal information as defined by section 3 of the Privacy Act.

Other exemptions that frequently apply to ESDC’s records include: section 21 (integrity of the Government’s decision making process including advice, recommendations, deliberations, plans and positions relating to ongoing negotiations); section 20 (third-party confidential information held in government records); subsection 24(1), (disclosure prohibited by other federal laws); section 16 (information that could be injurious to lawful investigations or could facilitate the commission of an offence); section 23 (information subject to solicitor-client privilege); and section 14 (federal-provincial relations/negotiations). ESDC invoked other exemptions in 24 or fewer requests during the year.

The Act excludes certain types of information from its application, specifically records that are already available to the public (section 68) and confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada (section 69). For 2014–15, 112 ESDC excluded records based on section 69 of the ATIA in a total of 31 requests.

Figure 5 - Text description

Year	Exemptions	Exclusions
2011-2012	514	20
2012-2013	684	69
2013-2014	1,202	42
2014-2015	1,129	134

4.7 Pages processed and format of disclosure

The Department provided records in paper format 596 times and electronically (CD) 140 times. Out of 139,549 pages processed, 121,801 (87.3%) were disclosed either in full or in part. The remaining 17,748 pages processed were either totally exempted, excluded from the Act or were part of requests that were subsequently abandoned by the requester.

Of the total requests processed, 79% involved a review of 500 pages or less and 23 requests (2.2%) required a review of more than 1,000 pages each. These latter 23 requests resulted in the disclosure of 59,826 pages, or 42.8% of the total number of pages processed by ESDC during the reporting period.

Figure - 6 Text description

Year	Paper	Electronic	Other
2011-2012	314	117	0
2012-2013	366	131	0
2013-2014	564	152	0
2014-2015	596	140	1

Figure 7 – Text description

Year	Processed	Disclosed
2011-2012	120,109	95,062
2012-2013	112,087	97,127
2013-2014	101,577	87,116
2014-2015	139,549	121,801

4.8 Other complexities

This section reflects the number of requests where consultation was required, where there was an assessment of fees, where ESDC sought legal advice and “other,” defined as information that “… comprises high profile subject matter, requests where records are in a region or other country, and requests where the records are in a language other than English or French.”

For 2014–15, consultation was required 107 times and fees were assessed for 35 requests. There were no requests where either legal advice was sought or the “other” category was applied.

Figure 8 – Text description

Year	Consultation required	Assessment of fees	Legal advice sought	Other
2011-2012	62	43	16	135
2012-2013	89	42	9	118
2013-2014	93	58	42	194
2014-2015	107	35	0	0

4.9 Performance

The Department was able to meet the statutory timeframe 75.7% of the time. Of the 256 requests disclosed beyond the time set by the ATIA, workload was the largest reason (72%) while external and internal consultations accounted for delays in 24 requests. The remainder were late for “other” reasons.

The Department went beyond the legislated disclosure date by 30 days or less in 116 requests; 77 requests required 31 to 120 days past the legislated date; and 63 requests required 121 to more than 365 additional days.

Sixty-seven (26%) of the late requests completed were processed as part of a backlog reduction strategy implemented in January 2015. This strategy will close 123 late requests by the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year in addition to new requests.

Figure 9 – Text description

• Workload = 184
• External consultations = 11
• Internal consultations = 13
• Other = 48

Figure 10 – Text description

Year	Number of requests closed past the statutory date
2011-2012	10
2012-2013	49
2013-2014	87
2014-2015	256

4.10 Extensions

Institutions may apply for an extension beyond the original 30-day statutory disclosure date where meeting the statutory date would unreasonably interfere with operations of the Department (s .9(1)(a)); where consultation is required that could not reasonably be conducted within the 30 days (s. 9(1)(b)); or where notice is given to a third party (s. 9(1)(c)).

For 2014–15, ESDC required an extension 356 times: 250 times because the timeframe posed unreasonable interference with departmental operations; 96 times for consultation; and 10 times for third-party notice. This reflects an 11.6% increase in the number of extensions taken despite an increase in the total number of requests of over 34% from the last fiscal year, due largely to the Business Process Redesign undertaken by ESDC.

Figure 11 – Text description

Year	9(1)(a) – interference with operations	9(1)(b) – section 69 consultations	9(1)(b) – other consultations	9(1)(c) third-party notice
2011-2012	81	13	43	6
2012-2013	90	28	20	4
2013-2014	219	14	82	4
2014-2015	250	32	64	10

4.11 Translation of records

No requests for translation where received during the 2014–15 fiscal year.

4.12 Fees

The Department collected $5,520 in application fees and waived $510 in application fees in 102 completed requests.

4.13 Consultations received by ESDC

In 2014 - 15, ESDC reviewed 6,373 pages in 142 consultations from other institutions and organizations. In 72.5% of the consultations, the Department was able to respond in 30 days or less. In 49% of consultations, ESDC recommended complete disclosure, and in 41% of consultations, ESDC recommended exemption(s) or exclusion. In the remaining 10% of consultations, ESDC recommended that the consulting body consult another institution or take a different course of action (other).

Figure 12 – Text description

Year	30 calendar days	31-61 calendar days	61 or more calendar days
2011-2012	159	1	4
2012-2013	187	5	1
2013-2014	171	15	12
2014-2015	105	27	10

Figure 13 – Text description

Year	Received	Completed
2011-2012	167	164
2012-2013	195	193
2013-2014	196	199
2014-2015	157	142

4.14 Consultations on cabinet confidences

For the 2014–15 reporting cycle, the Treasury Board Secretariat requires departments to track the completion time of consultations on possible Cabinet confidences. Following new procedures implemented in July 2013, all possible Cabinet confidences previously sent to the Privy Council Office for determination are now sent to ESDC’s Legal Services Unit for recommendation. The Department sent 31 requests to Legal Services for recommendation. Of these, 68% had fewer than 100 pages. Compared with the previous fiscal year, when 30% of consultations were completed within 30 days, 58% of consultations were completed within 30 days this fiscal year, despite a 35% increase in the number of consultations.

Figure 14 – Text description

Year	30 calendar days	31-61 calendar days	61 or more calendar days
2011-2012	4	2	7
2012-2013	3	3	22
2013-2014	7	10	6
2014-2015	18	12	1

4.15 Financial considerations

The Department spent $1,705,976 to administer the Access to Information Act; $15,354 of that total was in non-salary costs.

Resources related to the Access to Information Act totalled 24.82 person years for 2014–15: 20.10 for full-time staff; 1.64 for part-time and casual; 3.00 for consultants and agency personnel; and 0.08 for students. This represents a decrease of person year resources from 29 in 2011-12, at a time when the number of pages processed has increased by 16.2%, representing a 35.7% increase in workload per person year.

5.0 Access to information and privacy training and awareness activities

5.1 Training overview

In January and February 2015, NHQ provided 6 information sessions to 93 participants in the Skills and Employment Branch, 20 of whom were at the Director level and above.

An additional 13,800 employees completed the Stewardship of Information online training.

5.2 Regional training

In addition to the sessions offered by the ATIP Operations Division, under the direction of the Regional ATIP Managers, training was provided to 871 employees as follows:

• Atlantic
• One ATIP Orientation Session – regional executives (30 participants)
• Twelve ATIP Info Sessions – employees (195 participants)
• Total 225 participants
• Quebec
• One session to Team Leaders in the Integrity Services Branch: 15 participants
• One session to Investigators in the Integrity Services Branch: 35 participants
• One session to Officers of the Regional Enquiries Unit: 12 participants
• Total: 62 participants
• Ontario
• One ATIP Awareness Session delivered to HR across the country (English session) (42 participants)
• One ATIP Awareness Session delivered to HR across the country (French session) (12 participants)
• Four ATIP Awareness Sessions delivered to regional staff (total of between 80–100 participants)
• Business Expertise Forum mini ATIP information session (approximately 330 participants)
• ORIOLE training mini ATIP information session (approximately 100 participants)
• Total: 584 participants in 8 sessions
• Western
• The W-T region did not provide any training to other business lines or units for the 2014–15 fiscal year.
• Total: 0 participants
• Regional
• Total: 871

5.3 In-person training multi-year overview

Figure 15 – Text description

Year	Number of employees trained by ESDC	Numbers of employees trained by regions
2011-2012	161	862
2012-2013	125	597
2013-2014	109	677
2014-2015	58	871

6.0 Activities and challenges in 2014–15

Over the 2014–15 fiscal year, ATIP Ops received 34.7% more requests than in the preceding fiscal year. Resources were diverted because of litigation and a Business Process Review and Redesign project, intended to increase processing efficiencies in the longer term. ESDC has taken proactive strategic measures to address the chronic ATIP resource challenges.

ATIP Ops is working towards becoming a paperless office to increase efficiencies in both the program areas as well as in ATIP Ops and the regions. This year was marked by adding more information to ATIP SharePoint, an online resource-sharing tool. This will make it easier for those in the Department to find released ATIA requests and appropriate tools and information related to access to information and privacy. The full implementation of SharePoint will be rolled out over the next fiscal year.

7.0 Complaints, investigations and court action

The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) notified ESDC of 29 complaints during 2014–15. This included 9 complaints alleging a denial of access; 9 complaints of unreasonable time extensions taken by ESDC; 4 complaints for processing delays; 2 allegations of exemptions applied improperly; 1 complaint failed to specify a reason; and 1 miscellaneous complaint. Three complainants believed their file had been improperly disclosed (2 of these were discontinued).

The OIC found 13 complaints to be well founded in 2014–15; 12 were resolved informally, 6 of them without recommendations; and 1 was well founded after formal investigation by the OIC.

There were no requests received in 2014–15 that required court action, although there was a court hearing on a request from a previous year.

8.0 ESDC’s commitment to respect timeframes

Except for certain circumstances that allow for claiming extensions, the Access to Information Act contains a statutory timeline of 30 calendar days for responding to requests. Given these timeframes and ESDC’s commitment to respecting both the letter and spirit of the Act, the Department established the following process and responsibilities:

Retrieval of Relevant Records and Formulation of Recommendations: Relevant branches and regions (Offices of Primary Interest or OPIs) have eight working days to retrieve all responsive records and present them, along with any recommendations, to the ATIP Operations Division.

Line-by-line Review of the Responsive Records: The Request Processing Unit (RPU) has eight working days to do a thorough line-by-line review of the records and to invoke the applicable exemptions and exclusions.

Advance Release Notice: In all cases, the Executive Head of the relevant branch or region receives a copy of the release package at least four working days prior to the scheduled release date. Employees from the Deputy Ministers’ offices and the Ministers’ offices are also given a copy of the package for information purposes, when requested. At the same time that the records are provided to the OPI, copies of the package are provided to departmental communications officials. The Communications Branch and the OPI prepare any necessary communications products. This does not affect the timely processing of access to information requests.

Together, the three steps described above total 20 working days (30 calendar days). ESDC’s ATIP Operations Division has a long-standing history of keeping its colleagues informed throughout the process when responding to ATIA requests. This collaborative approach supports a no-surprise environment for stakeholders within ESDC, enabling officials in the ATIP Operations Division to administer the legislation appropriately, with minimal delay.

9.0 Request summaries posted to Open Canada website

In January 2012, ESDC began posting monthly summaries of completed Access to Information Act requests on the Open Canada website, in accordance with the Treasury Board Secretariat’s directives. In 2014–15, 612 requests for access were treated informally by providing copies of requests previously released.

10.0 Annex A: Delegation order

Figure 1 - Delegation Order

Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
Delegation order

Access to Information Act

I, Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information Act, hereby designate the officer or employee of the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development whose position or title is set out in the attached Schedule, or the officers or employees occupying, on an acting basis or otherwise, those positions, to exercise the powers, duties or functions of the head of the institution under the Act that are set in the Schedule in relation to that officer or employees.

This delegation order supersedes any previous order executed pursuant to section 73 of the Act.

Original signed in Ottawa, Ontario,
this 26th day of February 2009,
by the Honourable Diane Finley,
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development

Access to Information Act – Delegation of authority

Description	Section	Deputy Minister ESDC	Deputy Minister Labour	Deputy Head Service Canada	ADMs of PPCA and Labour	Corporate Secretary ESDC	Director ATIP Operations	Manager ATIP Operations	ATIP Officers
Responsibility of government institutions	4(2.1)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Notice where access requested	7(a)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Giving access to record	7(b)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Transfer of request to another government institution	8(1)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extension of time limits	9	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Payment of additional fees	11(2)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Payment of fees for EDP record	11(3)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Deposit	11(4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notice of fee payment	11(5)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Waiver of refund of fees	11(6)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Language of access	12(2)b)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Access to alternate format	12(3)b)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Refuse access – Obtained in confidence	13	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Federal-provincial affairs	14	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – International affairs and defence	15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Law enforcement,  investigations	16	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act	16.5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Safety of individuals	17	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Economic interests of Canada	18	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Economic interest of the Canada Post Corporation, Export Development Canada, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and VIA Rail Canada Inc.	18.1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Personal information	19	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Third-party information	20	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Operations of government	21	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Testing procedures, tests, audits	22	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Audit working papers and draft audit reports	22.1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Solicitor-client privilege	23	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Refuse access – Statutory prohibitions	24	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Severability	25	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Information to be published	26	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Third-party notification	27(1)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Third-party notification – Extension of time limit	27(4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Oii	Yes	Yes	No
Third-party notification – Notice of decision	28(1)b)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Third-party notification – Representations in writing	28(2)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Third-party notification – Disclosure of record	28(4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Where the Information Commissioner recommends disclosure	29(1)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Advising Information Commissioner of third-party involvement	33	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Right to make representations	35(2)b)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Access to be given to complainant	37(4)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Notice to third party (application to Federal Court)	43(1)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Notice to applicant (application to Federal Court by third party)	44(2)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Special rules for hearings	52(2) (b)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Ex parte representations (Federal Court)	52(3)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Facilities for inspection of manuals	71(1)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Annual report to Parliament	72	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

11.0 Annex B: Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Employment and Social Development Canada 

Reporting period: 2014-04-01 to 2015-03-31

Part 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

Item	Number of requests
Received during reporting period	1,160
Outstanding from previous reporting period	157
Total	1,317
Closed during reporting period	1,055
Carried over to next reporting period	262

1.2 Sources of requests

Source	Number of requests
Media	156
Academia	14
Business (private sector)	436
Organization	220
Public	286
Decline to identify	48
Total	1 160

1.3 Informal requests

Completion Time
1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More than 365 Days	Total
376	66	65	103	1	1	0	612

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

Part 2: Requests closed during the reporting period

2.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of Requests	Completion Time
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More than 365 Days	Total
All disclosed	11	159	89	19	2	3	2	285
Disclosed in part	5	87	144	114	44	41	20	455
All exempted	0	5	5	2	0	2	1	15
All excluded	0	1	0	2	2	0	0	5
No records exist	1	84	66	6	0	1	0	158
Demande transmise	6	3	0	0	0	0	0	9
Demande abandonnée	57	28	8	11	7	8	9	128
Demande ni confirmée ni infirmée	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	80	367	312	154	55	55	32	1 055

2.2 Exceptions

Disposition	Nombre de demandes
13(1)a)	2
13(1)b)	3
13(1)c)	9
13(1)d)	1
13(1)e)	1
14	25
14a)	0
14b)	2
15(1)	4
15(1) – Affaires internationales	4
15(1) – Défense du Canada	0
15(1) – Activités subversives	2
16(1)a)(i)	0
16(1)a)(ii)	0
16(1)a)(iii)	1
16(1)b)	28
16(1)c)	0
16(1)d)	0
16(2)	185
16(2)a)	0
16(2)b)	0
16(2)c)	0
16(3)	0
16.1(1)a)	0
16.1(1)b)	0
16.1(1)c)	0
16.1(1)d)	0
16.2(1)	0
16.3	0
16.4(1)a)	0
16.4(1)b)	0
16.5	0
17	1
18a)	1
18b)	2
18c)	0
18d)	5
18.1(1)a)	0
18.1(1)b)	0
18.1(1)c)	0
18.1(1)d)	0
19(1)	347
20(1)a)	0
20(1)b)	76
20(1)b.1)	0
20(1)c)	89
20(1)d)	9
20.1	0
20.2	0
20.4	0
21(1)a)	92
21(1)b)	98
21(1)c)	3
21(1)d)	9
22	5
22.1(1)	5
23	45
24(1)	74
26	1

2.3 Exclusions

Disposition	Nombre de demandes
68a)	2
68b)	0
68c)	0
68.1	0
68.2a)	0
68.2b)	0
69(1)	6
69(1)a)	13
69(1)b)	7
69(1)c)	7
69(1)d)	15
69(1)e)	17
69(1)f)	9
69(1)g) voir a)	15
69(1)g) voir b)	1
69(1)g) voir c)	10
69(1)g) voir d)	14
69(1)g) voir e)	10
69(1)g) voir f)	8
69.1(1)	0

2.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests
13(1)(a)	2
13(1)(b)	3
13(1)(c)	9
13(1)(d)	1
13(1)(e)	1
14	25
14(a)	0
14(b)	2
15(1)	4
15(1) - International Affairs	4
15(1) - Defence of Canada	0
15(1) - Subversive Activities	2
16(1)(a)(i)	0
16(1)(a)(ii)	0
16(1)(a)(iii)	1
16(1)(b)	28
16(1)(c)	0
16(1)(d)	0
16(2)	185
16(2)(a)	0
16(2)(b)	0
16(2)(c)	0
16(3)	0
16.1(1)(a)	0
16.1(1)(b)	0
16.1(1)(c)	0
16.1(1)(d)	0
16.2(1)	0
16.3	0
16.4(1)(a)	0
16.4(1)(b)	0
16.5	0
17	1
18(a)	1
18(b)	2
18(c)	0
18(d)	5
18.1(1)(a)	0
18.1(1)(b)	0
18.1(1)(c)	0
18.1(1)(d)	0
19(1)	347
20(1)(a)	0
20(1)(b)	76
20(1)(b.1)	0
20(1)(c)	89
20(1)(d)	9
20.1	0
20.2	0
20.4	0
21(1)(a)	92
21(1)(b)	98
21(1)(c)	3
21(1)(d)	9
22	5
22.1(1)	5
23	45
24(1)	74
26	1

2.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of Requests
68(a)	2
68(b)	0
68(c)	0
68.1	0
68.2(a)	0
68.2(b)	0
69(1)	6
69(1)(a)	13
69(1)(b)	7
69(1)(c)	7
69(1)(d)	15
69(1)(e)	17
69(1)(f)	9
69(1)(g) re (a)	15
69(1)(g) re (b)	1
69(1)(g) re (c)	10
69(1)(g) re (d)	14
69(1)(g) re (e)	10
69(1)(g) re (f)	8
69.1(1)	0

2.4  Format of information released

Disposition	Paper	Electronic	Other Formats
All disclosed	266	16	1
Disclosed in part	330	124	0
Total	596	140	1

2.5 Complexity

2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

Disposition of Requests	Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
All disclosed	10,525	10,491	285
Disclosed in part	122,954	106,827	455
All exempted	408	0	15
All excluded	446	0	5
Request abandoned	5,216	4,483	128
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0

2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

Disposition	Less Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
All disclosed	264	3,214	17	3,563	3	1,917	1	1,797	0	0
Disclosed in part	290	8,972	113	23,912	31	19,914	19	31,096	2	22,933
All exempted	14	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	124	176	3	307	0	0	1	4,000	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	695	12,362	136	27,782	34	21,831	21	36,893	2	22,933

2.5.3 Other complexities

Disposition	Consultation Required	Assessment of Fees	Legal Advice Sought	Other	Total
All disclosed	7	0	0	0	7
Disclosed in part	89	10	0	0	99
All exempted	4	1	0	0	5
All excluded	3	0	0	0	3
Request abandoned	4	24	0	0	28
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Total	107	35	0	0	142

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline

Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline	Principal Reason
	Workload	External Consultation	Internal Consultation	Other
256	184	11	13	48

2.6.2 Number of days past deadline

Number of Days Past Deadline	Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken	Number of Requests Past Deadline Where an Extension Was Taken	Total
1 to 15 days	48	35	83
16 to 30 days	19	14	33
31 to 60 days	24	12	36
61 to 120 days	15	26	41
121  to 180 days	6	8	14
181 to 365 days	4	24	28
More than 365 days	5	16	21
Total	121	135	256

2.7  Requests for translation

Translation Requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

Part 3: Extensions

3.1  Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken	9(1)(a) Interference with Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
All disclosed	24	0	5	0
Disclosed in part	202	25	51	10
All exempted	3	1	3	0
All excluded	0	3	1	0
No records exist	4	0	0	0
Request abandoned	17	3	4	0
Total	250	32	64	10

3.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions	9(1)(a) Interference with Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
30 days or less	129	0	17	0
31 to 60 days	60	12	24	3
61 to 120 days	55	14	20	6
121 to 180 days	4	0	3	1
181 to 365 days	2	6	0	0
365 days or more	0	0	0	0
Total	250	32	64	10

Part 4: Fees

Fee Type	Fee Collected		Fee Waived or Refunded
	Number of Requests	Amount	Number of Requests	Amount
Application	953	$5,520	102	$510
Search	6	$1,605	0	$0
Production	0	$0	0	$0
Programming	0	$0	0	$0
Preparation	0	$0	0	$0
Alternative format	0	$0	0	$0
Reproduction	0	$0	0	$0
Total	959	$7,125	102	$510

Part 5: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

5.1  Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review	Other Organizations	Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period	155	6,373	2	17
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	7	148	0	0
Total	162	6,521	2	17
Closed during the reporting period	140	6,356	2	17
Pending at the end of the reporting period	22	165	0	0

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

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121  to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
Disclose entirely	31	26	12	0	0	0	0	69
Disclose in part	9	26	10	5	1	0	0	51
Exempt entirely	0	3	1	1	0	0	0	5
Exclude entirely	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Consult other institution	2	4	2	0	0	0	0	8
Other	0	1	2	3	0	0	0	6
Total	43	60	27	9	1	0	0	140

5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121  to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Disclose in part	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	2

Part 6: Completion time of consultations on cabinet confidences

6.1 Requests with legal services

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1,000 Pages Processed		1,001-5,000 Pages Processed		More Than 5,000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	4	119	2	335	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	11	240	1	160	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	6	270	0	0	6	3,804	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	1	107	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	21	629	4	602	6	3,804	0	0	0	0

6.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101‒500 Pages Processed		501-1,000 Pages Processed		1,001-5,000 Pages Processed		More Than 5,000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Part 7: Complaints and investigations

Section 32	Section 35	Section 37	Total
29	26	13	68

Part 8: Court action

Section 41	Section 42	Section 44	Total
0	0	0	0

Part 9: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

9.1  Costs

Expenditures	Amount
Salaries	$1,688,768
Overtime	$1,854
Goods and services Professional services contracts = $15,354 Other = $0	$15,354
Total	$1,705,976

9.2  Human resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	20.10
Part-time and casual employees	1.64
Regional staff	0.00
Consultants and agency personnel	3.00
Students	0.08
Total	24.82

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.