Organizational structure

As Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator, the Director of the Access to Information and Privacy Division has delegated authority on all matters concerning Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP). The ATIP Division is part of the Corporate Secretariat, which is found within the Public and Indigenous Affairs and Ministerial Services Branch of the Department. The ATIP Division is the central coordinating body for all requests received by Environment and Climate Change Canada under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

The ATIP Division directs all activities within Environment and Climate Change Canada relating to the administration, application and promotion of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It provides advice to senior management on the implementation of the statutes and prepares reports to Parliament, the Treasury Board Secretariat and senior management. The ATIP Division represents the Department in complaints and investigations conducted by the Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and in any Federal Court applications arising from ATIP matters.

As of March 31, 2019, the ATIP Division was comprised of 17 officers. The Division is organized in two teams each led by a manager who reports to the ATIP Director. The ATIP Division team consists of two team leaders, three senior advisors, two analysts, three junior analysts, two intake officers, two clerical assistants, and one executive assistant. In order to help meet the increase in volume and complexity of requests, the Division also engaged the support of a consultant during the reporting period.

Capacity development

Environment and Climate Change Canada remains committed to recruiting, training and maintaining a workforce that possesses specialized skills and that will continue to provide the best possible service to both internal and external clients.

During the reporting period, Environment and Climate Change Canada completed several staffing actions. This included the appointment of a new team leader at the PM-05 level and two Senior ATIP Advisors at the PM-04 level. A selection process to fill a Manager of Policy and Governance position at the PM-06 level was still ongoing at the end of the reporting period.

Environment and Climate Change Canada continues to focus on developing capacity through its ATIP Professional Development Program. The program aims to train employees over a period of three to five years through a combination of competency-based training, professional development training and work assignments. Candidates enter the program at the PM-01 or PM-02 level and graduate as Senior ATIP Advisors at the PM-04 level. The program enables the ATIP Division to better manage increasing workloads while facilitating succession planning through the transfer of corporate memory and encourages staff to remain with the Department for a longer period of time. During the reporting period, three participants in the ATIP Professional Development Program were promoted to the next level and two new participants joined the program.