Interpretation of the statistical report

Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act is included in Appendix A of this report.

Between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada received 1,794 requests under the Access to Information Act. There were 449 requests carried forward from the 2017–2018 reporting period, for a total of 2,243 active requests in the 2018–2019 reporting period. In 2018–2019, a total of 1,719 requests were completed, and 524 were carried forward to the next reporting period.

Figure 1 is a percentage breakdown of the sources of access to information requests received in 2018–2019:

Sources of Access to Information requests 2018 to 2019

During the 2018–2019 reporting period, 90 requests were abandoned by applicants for various reasons.

There were 1,168 requests for information for which there was no record. Environment and Climate Change Canada receives a number of requests each year for documents pertaining to the environmental compliance of properties. Most of these no record requests consisted of environmental compliance requests where no records were located concerning the properties in question.

In 2018–2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada received 1,794 requests under the Access to Information Act.  This represents a 10% decrease in comparison to the previous reporting period.

Figure 2 displays the number of access to information requests that were received by the ATIP Division from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019.

Access requests received - Access to Information Act 2014 to 2019

Environment and Climate Change Canada completed 1,719 requests under the Access to Information Act in 2018-2019. Overall, 1,519 were completed within the legislative timeline, which represents 88% of all access requests closed during the reporting period.

The number of access to information requests that were closed by the ATIP Division from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019 is found in figure 3.

Access requests closed - Access to Information Act 2014 to 2019

In the 2018–2019 reporting period, 79,626 pages of records were processed in response to access to information requests, which represents a decrease of 28% in comparison to the 2017–2018 fiscal year. This decrease can be attributed in part to the ATIP Division’s efforts in consulting applicants in order to clarify the scope of their requests to ensure they receive information of interest.

The number of pages processed by the ATIP Division in response to requests under the Access to Information Act from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019 is found in figure 4.

Pages processed for access requests access to Information Act 2014 to 2019

Exemptions and exclusions

The Access to Information Act prescribes a number of exemptions and exclusions that allow or require the Department to refuse to disclose certain types of information. The two most common exemptions invoked by Environment and Climate Change Canada in 2018–2019 were for personal information (section 19) and government operations (section 21).

Time limitations

During the 2018–2019 reporting period, 1,239 (72%) of the completed requests were processed within the initial 30-day period. This included 555 requests completed in the first 15 days, and 684 requests completed between 16 and 30 days.

Figure 5 is a breakdown of completion times for requests closed during the 2018–2019 reporting period.

Completion time for access requests

A total of 203 requests were completed beyond the legislated deadline. Of the 203 late requests, 42 requests were late as a result of the need to conduct external consultations.

Extension of time limits

Section 9 of the Access to Information Act allows government institutions to extend the deadline for responding to a request if the request requires the institution to search a large number of records, to consult with other government institutions, or to communicate with third parties.

In 2018–2019, 266 requests required extensions of 30 days or less, 293 required an extension of between 31 and 60 days, 138 required an extension of between 61 to 120 days, and 4 requests required an extension of between 121 to 180 days. In total, 703 requests required an extension past the original deadline of 30 days. Most extensions were required in order to conduct large searches or as a result of the high volume of records involved in completing requests.

Complexity of files

A number of files were considered complex for various reasons. Of the 1,719 requests closed during the 2018–2019 reporting period, 280 were considered to be complex. There were 234 requests that were complex due to the need to conduct consultations, 6 requests were considered complex due to the assessment of fees^{Footnote 1}, 30 requests required legal advice, and 10 requests were classified in the “other” category. The “other” category consists of files containing high-profile subject matter, records held in a regional office or another country, or records that are in a language other than French or English.

Of the requests closed by Environment and Climate Change Canada in 2018-2019, 26 required consultations with Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Legal Services to confirm Cabinet confidence exclusions.

Consultations

As an integral part of departmental processing procedures, other government institutions are consulted if access requests contain issues of interest to them. Although formal consultations are undertaken in writing, additional discussions between ATIP offices are initiated as required in order to facilitate the completion of each case. Consultations are also regularly undertaken with third parties and other levels of government.

As the environment is a shared jurisdiction, Environment and Climate Change Canada regularly receives access to information consultation requests from other federal and provincial departments that are processing files with records originating from or concerning the Department’s programs or services.

In 2018–2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada received 232 access to information consultations from other federal government institutions and 28 consultations from other organizations for a total of 260 consultations received. This constitutes a 16% increase relative to the previous reporting period. There were 28 access consultations outstanding from the previous reporting period. In total, during the 2018–2019 reporting period, 235 consultations were completed. Fifty-three (53) access consultations were carried forward to the 2019-2020 reporting period.

Figure 6 provides the number of access to information consultations that were received by the ATIP Division from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019.

Access consultations received - Access to Information Act 2014 to 2019

The number of access to information consultations that were closed by the ATIP Division from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019 is found in figure 7.

Access consultations closed - Access to Information Act 2014 to 2019

The number of pages processed in response to access to information consultations during the 2018–2019 reporting period decreased in comparison to the 2017–2018 reporting period: 8,478 pages were processed for consultations compared to 9,935 pages during the previous period. This is a decrease of 15%.

Figure 8 displays the number of pages processed by the ATIP Division in response to access to information consultations received from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019.

Pges processed for access consultations - Access to Information Act 2014 to 2019

During the 2018–2019 reporting period, 100 (43%) of the completed access consultations were processed within the initial 30-day period. This included 39 completed in the first 15 days and 61 completed between 16 and 30 days.

Informal requests

A summary list of completed access to information requests is published on the Open Government website on a monthly basis. Between April 1, 2018 and March 31, 2019, Environment and Climate Change Canada received 416 informal access to information requests for previously released access to information packages. Environment and Climate Change Canada completed a total of 416 informal requests during the 2018–2019 reporting period. No requests were carried forward to 2019-2020.

Furthermore, throughout the year, the ATIP Division provides advice to departmental staff with respect to informal requests, parliamentary questions and the review of draft audit, evaluation, security and harassment reports. 

In 2018-2019, the ATIP Division processed 3 parliamentary questions. In addition, the ATIP Division provides advice to programs responding to other parliamentary questions. 

The ATIP Division also assists other branches of the department in reviewing various documents such as investigation reports and harassment complaint files in order to ensure that mandatory exemptions such as personal information and Cabinet confidence-related information are properly identified, where appropriate.

Fees

In the 2018–2019 reporting period, total fees of $8,372 were collected for the processing of 1,580 requests. This consisted of application fees totalling $8,059 and search fees in the amount of $313. In early 2015-2016, Environment and Climate Change Canada ceased charging search fees.  The search fees of $313 represents requests where the fees had been collected in the previous reporting periods but were closed in 2018-2019. No other fees were charged for production, preparation or reproduction.

Costs

The total costs involved in administering the Access to Information Act during the 2018-2019 reporting period were $1,207,760. This includes $1,100,173 for salaries, $120 for overtime, and $107,467 for goods and services ($60,023 for professional services contracts and $47,444 for other costs).