Parole Board of Canada - Annual Report to Parliament on the Access to Information Act 2024-2025

About this publication

Author: Parole Board of Canada
ISSN: 2564-0208

Introduction

In accordance with section 94 of the Access to Information Act (ATI), an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the ATI Act is prepared each fiscal year and tabled in Parliament. This report covers the period from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act allows Canadian citizens, permanent residents and any other individual or corporation present in Canada the right of access to information under the control of a federal government institution. This right of access is subject to limited and specific exceptions.  Decisions on the disclosure of information are reviewed independently of government. This Act complements existing procedures for obtaining government information and does not limit in any way the type of information that is normally available to the public under informal access to government records.

The Parole Board of Canada (PBC/Board) recognizes the right of access to information under the control of government institutions as an essential element of democracy, openness and transparency. The PBC respects the spirit and requirements of the Access to Information Act, Access to Information Regulations, guidelines and related policy instruments.

Mandate of the Parole Board of Canada

The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) is an independent administrative tribunal. The PBC is headed by a Chairperson who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety.

The PBC, as part of the criminal justice system, contributes to the protection of society by facilitating, as appropriate, the timely reintegration of offenders and the sustained rehabilitation of individuals into society as law-abiding citizens. The Board makes independent, quality conditional release, record suspension and expungement decisions, as well as clemency recommendations, in a transparent and accountable manner, while respecting diversity and the rights of offenders and victims.

The PBC has exclusive authority under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) to grant, deny, cancel, terminate or revoke day parole and full parole. The Board may order certain offenders to be detained in prison until the end of their sentence. The Board makes conditional release decisions for federal offenders as well as for provincial offenders in provinces and territories that do not have their own provincial boards. The provinces of Ontario, Quebec and Alberta have their own parole boards.

The PBC is responsible for making decisions to order, refuse to order and revoke record suspensions (pardons) under the Criminal Records Act (CRA) and the Criminal Code. A record suspension is a formal attempt to remove the stigma of a criminal record for people who, having been convicted of an offence, have satisfied the sentence and remained crime-free for a prescribed number of years. The PBC also has legislated responsibility to order or refuse to order expungement of a conviction under the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act (Expungement Act). The Board also makes recommendations for the exercise of clemency through the Royal Prerogative of Mercy.

The PBC is comprised of full-time employees as well as Board members appointed by the Governor-in-Council. The PBC's National Office is in Ottawa and there are six regional offices located in: Moncton (Atlantic), Montreal (Quebec), Kingston (Ontario), Saskatoon and Edmonton (Prairies), and Abbotsford (Pacific). The Appeal Division of the Board is in Ottawa.

Organizational Structure of the PBC to Fulfill its Access to Information Act Responsibilities

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Unit is led by the Director of Public Affairs and Partnerships, who reports to the Deputy Chairperson of the PBC. ATIP is responsible for:

• processing and responding to all formal requests under the Access to Information Act;
• responding to interdepartmental consultations;
• handling complaints from the Office of the Information Commissioner;
• advising senior officials and employees on ATIP-related issues;
• producing the Annual Report to Parliament;
• updating Info Source;
• training employees;
• replying to informal inquiries; and
• coordinating and implementing policies, guidelines and procedures to ensure compliance with the Access to Information Act.

The Director of Public Affairs and Partnerships is responsible for administering the legislation and signing exemptions within his delegated authority. In 2024-2025, ATIP staff consisted of the Director, one ATIP Manager, one Senior ATIP Analyst, one ATIP Analyst and one ATIP Clerk.

Requests are processed as follows:

• the completeness of the request is determined;
• the request is acknowledged;
• search for relevant records is conducted;
• records are analysed under the provisions of the legislation;
• other agencies/ministries are consulted, where appropriate;
• any necessary exemptions are applied; and
• the applicant is provided with non-exempted material.

A tracking system is used to log all actions taken. Consultations with other agencies/ministries take place in most cases when other institutions' information is found in the PBC’s files, and their recommendations are normally followed.

As part of the Parole Board of Canada’s migration to Canada.ca, our proactive disclosure reports are now available through the Open Government portal. All Access to Information summaries are posted on a monthly basis.

For a breakdown of the group(s) and/or position(s) responsible for meeting each applicable proactive publication requirement under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act, see the section “Proactive Publication under Part 2 of the ATIA”.

Delegation Order

Some powers, duties, and functions for the administration of the Access to Information Act have been delegated to the Executive Vice-Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Director of Public Affairs and Partnerships, and the ATIP Manager. For a copy of the signed delegation order, please refer to Annex A.

PART 1 – Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of Requests

Thirty-one (31) requests were received under the Access to Information Act during the current reporting period. Ten (10) requests were carried forward from last fiscal year (2023-2024) and one (1) request was carried forward into next fiscal year (2025-2026). Comparisons for the past four fiscal years are found on the following graph.

1.2 Sources of Requests

In 2024-2025, the majority of requests came from the public and decline to identify. A comparison of the source of the requester, by percentage of total requests received, can be found in the graph below.

1.3 Channels of requests

Of the thirty-one (31) requests received, 68% were submitted online, 16% by e-mail and 16% by mail.

PART 2 – Informal Requests^{Footnote 1}

2.1 Number of Informal Requests

In 2024-2025, sixty-eight (68) informal requests were received.

2.2 Channels of requests

The sixty-eight (68) informal requests were submitted online.

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

Fifty-seven (57) informal requests were completed between 0-15 days and eleven (11) were completed within 16 to 30 days.

2.4 Pages released informally

A total of 84,554 pages were released for the sixty-eight (68) informal requests.

2.5 Pages re-released informally

No pages were re-released during this reporting period.

PART 3 – Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to Act on Request

ATIP did not have any requests that related to this during this reporting period.

PART 4 – Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

4.1 Disposition and Completion Time

Thirty-three percent (33%) of the requests were completed within 15 days, thirty-five percent (35%) were completed within 30 days, ten percent (10%) were completed within 31-60 days, eighteen percent (18%) were completed within 61-120 days and five percent (5%) were completed within 181-365 days.

A graph of the disposition of requests and completion time for 2024-2025 is shown below. Of the 40 requests processed,15% were fully disclosed and 35% were partially disclosed.

Neither confirmed nor denied: records that the PBC can neither confirm nor deny the existence of, pursuant to Section 10(2) of the Access to Information Act (e.g., whether someone has a pardon/record suspension).

4.2 Exemptions

During fiscal year 2024-2025, 19(1) (Personal Information) was the exemption invoked the most, followed closely by 23 (Protected information — solicitors, advocates and notaries). Sections 13(1)(c) and 13(1)(d) (Information obtained in confidence), 16(1)(c) (Law enforcement and investigations), 16(2)(c) (Security), 21(1)(a), 21(1)(b) and 21(1)(d) (Operations of Government) as well as sections 24(1) (Statutory prohibitions) and 26 (Refusal of Access) were also used this fiscal year. The exemptions invoked varied from file-to-file.

4.3 Exclusions

There were no exclusions applied this fiscal year.

4.4 Format of Information Released

The format of information released was electronic for most of the requests (13), while seven (7) requests were disclosed in paper format.

4.5 Complexity

4.5.1 Relevant Pages Processed and Disclosed for paper and e-record

Overall, 37,215 pages were processed this past fiscal year from 27 requests and of these 29,272 were disclosed in full and 7,943 were disclosed in part.

All disclosed: pages disclosed in full
Disclosed in part: pages partially disclosed (with exemptions)

4.5.2 Relevant Pages Processed and Disclosed for paper and e-record by size of request

Sixty-seven percent (67%) of requests processed this past fiscal year had less than 500 pages. Seven (7) requests had less than 5,000 pages and two (2) requests had more than 5,000 pages.

4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

There were no requests for audio.

4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests

There were no requests for audio.

4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

There were no requests for videos.

4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests

There were no requests for videos.

4.5.7 Other Complexities

In fiscal year 2024-2025, the complexities were all based on consultations required. 

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines

Of the thirty-nine (39) requests closed in 2024-2025, 97% of the requests were closed within the legislated timeframes.

4.7 Deemed Refusals

4.7.1 Reason for not meeting legislated timeframes

In fiscal year 2024-2025, there was one (1) request that was closed beyond the statutory deadline due to an administrative error (extension not taken by the deadline - interference with operations/workload).

4.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislation timelines (including any extension taken)

There was one (1) request closed, beyond legislative timelines, where no extension was taken (due to an administrative error).

4.8 Requests for Translation

Consistent with past fiscal years, there were no requests for translations.

PART 5 – Extensions

5.1 Reasons for Extensions and Disposition of Requests

In fiscal year 2024-2025, there were twelve (12) extensions taken. 

5.2 Length of extensions

Three (3) extensions taken were for 30 days or less, one (1) extension taken was for between 31 to 60 days, seven (7) extensions taken were for between 61 to 120 days and 1 (one) was for between 181-365 days.

PART 6 – Fees

During the fiscal year 2024-2025, under the Access to Information Act our institution has collected the following fees:

• Enabling authority: Access to Information Act
• Fee payable: $5.00 application fee is the only fee charged for an ATI request
• Total revenue: $135 ($25 received directly by PBC and $110 received through the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request Service which was sent to the Receiver General on behalf of the PBC.)
• Fees waived: $15
  

  In accordance with the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, issued on May 5, 2016, and the changes to the Access to Information Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, the Parole Board of Canada waives all fees prescribed by the Act and Regulations, other than the $5 application fee set out in paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Regulations.

• Cost of operating the program: $61,570

*Amount of Fees Collected ($): The $135 figure includes $25 received directly by PBC and $110 received through the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Online Request Service which was sent to the Receiver General on behalf of the PBC.

PART 7 – Consultations Received from other Institutions and Organizations

7.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

Nine (9) consultations were received from other government institutions and no consultations were received from other organizations this fiscal year.

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

Seven (7) consultations were responded to within 0 to 15 days and two (2) consultations were responded to within 16 to 30 days. The recommendations for seven (7) consultations were Disclose entirely and for two (2) consultations were Disclose in part.

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside Government of Canada

No consultations were received from other organizations. This is consistent with past trends at the PBC.

PART 8 – Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

There was no consultation on Cabinet Confidences with Legal Services this past fiscal year.

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

There was no consultation on Cabinet Confidences with the Privy Council Office this past fiscal year.

PART 9 – Investigations and Reports of Finding

9.1 Investigations

There were three (3) complaints received in 2024-2025.

9.2 Investigations and Reports of Finding

There were three (3) initial reports received, two (2) of which contained reports of finding issued by the Information Commissioner for the reporting period. These findings were one (1) Ceased to investigate and one (1) Discontinued.

PART 10 – Court Action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

There are no active court actions on complaints.

10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)

There are no active court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b).

PART 11 – Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Total salary costs associated with the Access to Information Act activities were $61,248 for 2024-2025. The cost for overtime was $322. The associated full-time equivalency (FTE) human resources were 0.60. Salary costs attributable to ATIP are the costs accountable for the administration of the Act. These are the salary costs of individuals working on ATIP activities such as processing ATIP requests, assisting the Office of the Information Commissioner in complaint investigations, processing consultation requests from other government institutions, preparing reports, maintaining statistics and training employees on the Access to Information Act. Similar to previous fiscal years, the vast majority of salary costs in the ATIP office were associated with Privacy Act activities. A chart of the costs associated with the Access to Information Act is shown as a percentage of expenditures in the chart below.

Formal/Informal Interface

As reported in previous annual reports, the PBC continues to manage a large number of requests informally through its Public Affairs and Partnerships Division and regional offices. The availability of corporate publications and the PBC website on Canada.ca greatly facilitate access to information about the PBC and its programs. As well, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) directs the PBC to maintain a registry of its written decisions, which are available to members of the public upon written request. This allows Canadian citizens greater access to information about specific decisions related to the conditional release of offenders. The CCRA provides for:

1. a Decision Registry containing all conditional release decisions made by the Board since November 1992, and which is accessible by written request to anyone who demonstrates an interest in a specific case or group of cases;
2. access by victims to some offender-related information; and
3. members of the public to attend PBC hearings.

This law has an important impact on the disclosure of offender-related information to third parties.

Training Activities

The PBC requires all its public service staff to complete the online course “Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals” as part of their Collective Learning Roadmap. During the 2024-2025 exercise, one (1) training session on ATIP was delivered to the new Vice-Chairpersons for the Ontario and Quebec regional offices as part of their orientation.

Revised PBC-related Policies, Guidelines and Procedures

In keeping with Treasury Board’s policies, guidelines, and procedures regarding the Access to Information Act, the PBC has an ATIP procedural manual to ensure consistency while processing requests under the Access to Information Act. In addition, updated information geared towards assisting applicants in obtaining information from the PBC is posted on its external website. This includes information on how to make an access to information request, the time limit for responding to access requests, the principles for assisting applicants, completed access to information requests, Info source, Access to Information and Privacy Annual Reports, Frequently Asked Questions, and related links.

Initiatives and Projects to Improve Access to Information

To improve the access to information held within the PBC, we have been working on implementing the following activities:

• looking at improvements to modernize the delivery of services by promoting the ATIP Online Service to requesters;
• updating our current ATIP digital software to ATIP Xpress;
• instituting improvements for responding to requests for copies of previously released ATI requests.

Key Issues and Actions Taken on Complaints

Three (3) complaints were received for this reporting period. Two (2) of these complaints were resolved by the Office of the Information Commissioner, one (1) report of findings was Ceased to investigate, and one (1) report of findings was Discontinued. No further action was required by our institution.

One (1) complaint was in the process of being reviewed by the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Proactive Publication under Part 2 of the ATIA

The PBC is a government institution listed under Schedule I.1 and 4 of the Financial Administration Act, for the purposes of Part 2 of the ATIA. In line with its obligations under Part 2 of the ATIA, the PBC proactively publishes the following information:

• Travel and hospitality expenses
• Contracts over $10,000
• Publications and Reports
• Reclassification of positions
• Grants and contributions over $25,000 (Note: The PBC does not award any grants or contributions)
• Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared for a deputy head
• Packages of briefing materials prepared for a new or incoming deputy head
• Packages of briefing materials prepared for a deputy head for appearance before a committee of Parliament

All mandated proactive disclosure requirements were met. Information that would normally be withheld under the Access to Information Act or the Privacy Act is redacted from these materials.

Monitoring the Time to Process Access to Information Requests

The PBC monitors the time to process all Access to Information requests using a computerized tracking system. Monitoring is done by the Manager, ATIP. As the PBC is 97% compliant with the legislated timelines set out in the Act, no additional monitoring is required.

ANNEX A:  Delegation - Access to information

Access to Information Act Delegation Order

By this order made pursuant to section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act, I hereby authorize those officers and employees of the Parole Board of Canada occupying, on an acting basis or otherwise, the positions identified within the attached schedule to perform on my behalf any of the powers, duties or functions specified therein.

This delegation replaces and repeals all previous orders.

Dated at the City of Ottawa,
this 31 day of March 2025.

Joanne Blanchard,
Chairperson
Parole Board of Canada

Delegation Order - Access to Information Act

Delegation Order – Access to Information Regulations