Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act for the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year

1.1 About the Access to Information Act and Section 72 requirement

The purpose of the ATIA is to provide Canadian citizens and permanent residents with a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution, subject to limited and specific exemptions and exclusions.

Section 72 of the ATIA requires the head of every federal government institution to submit an annual report to Parliament on ATIA administration at the close of each fiscal year. This report describes how Employment and Social Development Canada fulfilled its access to information responsibilities during the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year.

1.2 About Employment and Social Development Canada

The mission of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), including the Labour Program and Service Canada, 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.

ESDC is one of the largest and most geographically distributed federal departments in the Government of Canada. Citizens and clients interact with ESDC on a daily basis through over 589 points of service across Canada. Each year, ESDC provides approximately $120 billion in benefits and payments to individuals, and supports millions of Canadians through its many programs and services:

• 78.5 million visits to the Service Canada website
• 8.7 million clients assisted in-person at a Service Canada Centre or Service Canada Scheduled Outreach Site
• Over 2 million calls answered by 1 800 O-Canada agents
• 4.6 million passports issued
• 2.95 million applications processed for Employment Insurance (initial and renewal), 690,000 for the Canada Pension Plan and 775,000 for Old Age Security
• $3.27 billion withdrawn from Registered Education Savings Plans by students to help fund their post-secondary education
• 94% of labour disputes settled as part of the collective bargaining process

ESDC delivers a range of programs and services that affect Canadians throughout their lives. The Department provides seniors with basic income security, supports unemployed workers, helps students finance their post-secondary education and assists parents who are raising young children. The Labour Program is responsible for labour laws and policies in federally regulated workplaces. Service Canada helps citizens access ESDC’s programs, as well as other Government of Canada programs and services.

1.3 Our ministers

The activities of ESDC are governed by federal legislation and reflected in the mandates of its three ministers:

• the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Employment and Social Development, titled as Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
• the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Labour, titled as Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
• the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities

The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos is the Minister responsible for the purposes of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act.

2.1 Corporate Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer

The Corporate Secretary who also serves as ESDC’s Chief Privacy Officer is responsible for the administration of the ATIA at ESDC and is supported in that function by a Director of Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Operations who is also the Department’s designated ATIP Coordinator. The Chief Privacy Officer’s role is described in more detail in the Department’s Annual Report on the Administration of the Privacy Act.

Text description of Figure 1

This organizational chart displays a hierarchy beginning with the Corporate Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer of ESDC at the top. From this level, a dotted line leads to the bottom to the Regional Access to Information and Privacy Managers.

Directly below the Corporate Secretary and Chief Privacy Officer are two levels: The Privacy Management Division and the Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division.

Directly below the Privacy Management Division are two units: The Privacy Policy, Planning and Coordination Unit, and the Compliance and Review Unit. Directly below the Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division are also two units: The Request Processing Unit, and the Incident Management and Legislative Disclosures Unit.

Note: More information about the privacy function at ESDC can be found in the Annual Report on the Administration of the Privacy Act for the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year.

2.2 Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division and Regional Operations

The Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division (ATIP Ops) carries out the Department’s legislated requirements under the ATIA, the Privacy Act and parts of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act. ATIP Ops leads and advises on the processing of all requests under the ATIA by managing requests for access to information found in records in the control of ESDC, responding to requests from the public, performing a line-by-line review of records requested under the ATIA and the Privacy Act, as well as delivering training and awareness sessions to departmental employees with respect to administering the Acts.

The day-to-day administration of the ATIA at ESDC is a joint effort between ATIP Ops and the Department’s network of branch and regional Liaison Officers (LOs) who support this work by helping process requests. This includes undertaking searches, collecting records and making recommendations. The LOs also play an intermediary role between ATIP analysts and subject matter experts located across ESDC’s various programs. The Department also has a network of regional ATIP managers who support the work by providing expert advice and guidance on the Acts directly to program areas within the regions, in consultation with ATIP Ops. Responding to an access to information request is a departmental priority that requires all stakeholders to carry out their roles and responsibilities in order for the Department to meet its objectives in providing timely access to records under the ATIA.

In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, resources dedicated to processing access to information requests consisted of a team of about 19 employees (the number of employees fluctuated throughout the year). This includes three managers, as well as ATIP officers and an Intake Unit. ESDC’s branch and regional resources are not included in this total. This past fiscal year, ESDC sought to increase its management capacity within ATIP Ops in order to respond to the persistent year-over-year increase in the volume of requests, to better address daily administration and to support the establishment of a resource recruitment and retention strategy.

In addition, ATIP Ops is responsible for determining when incidents involving personal information constitute privacy breaches, as well as responding to legal instruments, public interest disclosures and privacy complaints not related to the processing of Privacy Act requests. It also works with the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) regarding complaints received against the Department.

4.1 Requests received and completed under the ATIA

In six years, ESDC’s total number of access to information requests has quadrupled. In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year alone, the Department received a total of 2,268 requests, a 44% increase from last year and a significant growth compared to the increased rate from the previous two reporting years (around 35%). Compared to the Government of Canada as a whole, which in total recorded an increase in requests received of only 10.5% (Access to Information and Privacy Statistical Report, for the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year), this continued surge is compelling and emphasizes the continued demand from Canadians for access to ESDC information.

In addition to processing requests under the ATIA, the Department also contributed to other government-wide activities for which ATIP Ops advice and expertise is sought. ATIP Ops staff frequently review Proactive Disclosure (e.g. contracts, position reclassification, travel and hospitality expenses) and Open Government publications (e.g. datasets) to identify sensitivities such as personal information and cabinet confidences. While these figures are not accounted for within this report’s statistical information, such collaborative arrangements are an important part of strengthening transparency and accountability.

Text description of Figure 2

Fiscal year	Received	Completed
From 2014 to 2015	1,160	1,055
From 2015 to 2016	1,572	1,439
From 2016 to 2017	2,268	2,276

4.2 Requests by calendar days taken to complete

Over the past three fiscal years, the majority of requests have been completed within 30 calendar days. In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, 1,200 requests, or more than half (53%) of requests, were completed within the first 30 days.

Text description of Figure 3

Fiscal year	30 Calendar days	31-60 Calendar days	61 or more Calendar  days
From 2014 to 2015	447	312	296
From 2015 to 2016	787	352	300
From 2016 to 2017	1,200	516	560

4.3 Timeframes

In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, the Department met legislated timelines for 1,748 requests made under the ATIA. Despite an increase in the number of requests received and the number of pages processed, the majority of requests were completed within legislated timeframes with a compliance rate of 77%. This represents a slight decrease (5 percentage points) in the compliance rate compared to the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year.

Institutions may apply for an extension beyond the original 30-day statutory disclosure timeframe where meeting the statutory date would unreasonably interfere with operations of the Department, where consultation is required that could not reasonably be conducted within the 30 days or where notice is given to a third party. For the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, ESDC requested 467 extensions.

ESDC was unable to meet legislated timelines for 528 requests during the reporting year.

Text description of Figure 4

Fiscal year	Beyond	Within
From 2014 to 2015	256	799
From 2015 to 2016	261	1,178
From 2016 to 2017	528	1,748

4.4 Pages processed and disclosed

In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, the Department continued to experience a significant increase in the number of pages processed, from approximately 140,000 in the 2014 to 2015 fiscal year to over 250,000 in the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year, to over 438,000 during the reporting period. The volume received by ATIP Ops from the responsible branches and/or regions in response to an access to information request represents the number of pages which must be processed. Once ATIP Ops performs a review of the documents to identify duplicate content and information which must be withheld under the ATIA, the remaining pages are disclosed to the requester.

This growth in the number of pages processed signals an opportunity for increased engagement between ATIP Ops analysts and their departmental contact, and between the analysts and the requesters. For broad requests, ESDC programs and branches work with the analysts to identify records that would meet the needs of the requester. Through this process the analysts gain a better understanding of the programs and services, and are equipped to have a more informed discussion on scope with the requester. This ultimately allows for more effective and efficient service – ESDC is better able to fulfill requests in a timely manner and the requester is more likely to receive the desired information. ATIP Ops analysts continue to develop skills and aptitudes to strengthen this cross-government process.

Text description of Figure 5

Fiscal year	Processed	Disclosed
From 2014 to 2015	139,549	121,801
From 2015 to 2016	257,249	216,929
From 2016 to 2017	438,368	410,089

4.5 Sources of requests

In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, the most common source of requests was from the media (670), followed by the general public (580) and business/private sector (438). In the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year, the general public (492) was the most common source of requests, followed by business/private sector (395) and media (257). Correspondingly, lists of briefing notes and the actual briefing note documentation are the most common type of material requested from ESDC.

In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, one fifth (445) of requesters declined to identify themselves, a similar proportion to the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year (304 or 19%).

Table note: Due to rounding, percentages may not equal 100%.

4.6 Exemptions and exclusions

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

In the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, ESDC responded to 171 consultation requests from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations, requiring a review of an additional 5,164 pages. Out of these 171 requests, the Department responded to 116 (68%) within 30 days and more than half (110 or 64%) resulted in a recommendation to disclose the records entirely. These numbers are consistent with those from the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year, when 170 consultation requests were received.

Complaints, Investigations and Court Action

The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) notified ESDC of 23 complaints during the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year. This is a decrease of 19 complaints (45%) in comparison to the 2015 to 2016 fiscal year, despite the increase (44%) in the total volume of requests received.

Text description of Figure 8

Fiscal year	Requests received	Complaints received
From 2014 to 2015	1,160	29
From 2015 to 2016	1,572	42
From 2016 to 2017	2,268	23

The following table outlines the 23 received complaints by category.

During the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year, the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) received temporary funding which was used to increase investigative capacity. As noted in the Information Commissioner of Canada’s 2016 to 2017 Annual Report, the “main areas of focus were the implementation of a simplified investigative process for delay complaints, with supporting advisory notices, and the roll-out of interest-based negotiations for investigations.” This OIC initiative had an impact on the Department and required ESDC to strike a daily balance between responding to investigations while continuing to process access to information requests. As a result, there were 59 active investigations during the reporting period.

Also during the reporting period, ATIP Ops managed to close 37 outstanding complaints, either carried over from previous years or from the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year. The following table outlines the OIC’s findings.

There were no requests that resulted in court action in the 2016 to 2017 fiscal year.

Delegation order - Employment and Social Development Canada

The Minister of Employment and Social Development, pursuant to section 11 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, hereby designates the persons, officers or employees holding the positions with Employment and Social Development set out in the schedules attached hereto, or the persons, officers or employees occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers or perform the duties or functions of the Minister or to exercise or perform the powers, duties or function of the head of the institution, as specified in the attached schedules.

• Access to Information Act

Original signed June 22, 2017 by the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Employment and Social Development

Access to Information Act and Regulations - Delegation of authority - Employment and Social Development Canada

Part 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

Part 2: Requests closed during the reporting period

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 3: Extensions

Part 4: Fees

Part 5: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Part 6: Completion time of consultations on cabinet confidences

Part 7: Complaints and investigations

• Section 32 = 23
• Section 35 = 59
• Section 37 = 37
• Total = 119

Part 8: Court action

• Section 41 = 0
• Section 42 = 0
• Section 44 = 0
• Total = 0

Part 9: Resources related to the Access to Information Act