Annual Report on the Administration of the Privacy Act 2020-2021
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Annual Report on the Administration of the Privacy Act
April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021
Table of Contents
A copy of the report can be obtained from, and enquiries can be directed to, the Senior Director, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer at:
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Standard Life Centre
Box L40
333 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 1400
Ottawa, Ontario - K1P 1C1
E-mail: PMPRB.ATIP-AIPRB.CEPMB@pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca
Introduction
The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB; Board) became subject to the Privacy Act on June 14, 1990. Pursuant to section 72 of the Privacy Act, this document contains the Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Privacy Act for 2020- 2021 by the PMPRB as submitted to the Minister of Health.
The purpose of the Privacy Act is to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information.
About the PMPRB and its Mandate
The PMPRB is an independent quasi-judicial body established by Parliament in 1987 under the Patent Act (Act). The Minister of Health is responsible for the pharmaceutical provisions of the Act as set out in sections 79 to 103. Although part of the Health Portfolio, the PMPRB carries out its mandate at arm’s length from the Minister of Health. It also operates independently of other bodies such as Health Canada, which approves drugs for safety and efficacy; federal, provincial, and territorial public drug plans, which have responsibility for approving the listing of drugs on their respective formularies and determining price levels for the purpose of reimbursement; and the Common Drug Review, which provides listing recommendations based on cost-effectiveness to participating public drug plans.
The PMPRB has a dual regulatory and reporting role. The mandate of the PMPRB is to ensure that prices at which patentees sell their patented medicines in Canada to hospitals, wholesalers and pharmacies are not excessive; and, to report on pharmaceutical trends of all medicines and on research and development spending by patentees.
Delegation of Authority
The acting Chairperson of the Board has delegated the responsibilities associated with the administration of the Privacy Act to the Senior Director, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer. As a result, Privacy requests are part of the Information Services Division, Corporate Services, and operational responsibility for the application of the Act has been delegated to Devon Menard, Senior Director, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, to act as Privacy Coordinator (Coordinator). Please refer to Annex A for the signed Delegation Order.
Organizational Structure
The PMPRB is a micro agency of a approximately 80 FTEs. Given that the PMPRB receives very few privacy-related requests, they are received and processed by the Access to Information and Privacy Analyst (ATIP Analyst), who is responsible for reporting to the Coordinator, who in turn reports to the acting Chairperson of the Board on the disposition of the requests. The ATIP Analyst is responsible for consultations with the applicants, other government institutions, third parties and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
The processing structure for the receipt of requests, review and retrieval of documents is established to ensure that incoming requests are registered with the ATIP Analyst, and receipt is acknowledged to the applicant. The documents relevant to the request are retrieved by the ATIP Analyst from the appropriate Branch, reviewed and processes the information for disposition within the prescribed timeframe.
The ATIP Analyst liaises and coordinates with the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and any other government department or agency. As well, the ATIP Analyst works with the Coordinator in developing the corporate policies and practices related to privacy.
Statistical Report
The PMPRB received two requests for personal information between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
The statistical report on Privacy-related requests for the FY 2020-2021 is attached under Annex B.
Interpretation of Statistical Report
The PMPRB received four (4) formal requests for personal information in the last eleven years. Several reasons might explain the absence of requests under the Privacy Act. First, informal requests for access to personal information by PMPRB employees are directed to Corporate Services (Human Resources). This is a structured channel of communication for PMPRB personnel in order to access their personal information. Also, as part of its mandate, the PMPRB does not collect or use personal information. It is highly unlikely that the general public would submit a request under the Privacy Act to access their personal information.
Privacy-related Training and Education
For the 2020-2021 reporting period, the PMPRB did not participate in ahy Access to Information and Privacy courses.
Privacy Complaints or Investigations
In 2020-2021, the PMPRB received no complaints with regards to Privacy, nor was it the subject of investigations from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Privacy Impact Assessment
In 2020-2021, no Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) and no Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments (PPIA) were conducted as there were no proposals for any new programs and services that could give rise to privacy issues.
The PMPRB is providing the assurance that there are no outstanding privacy implications associated with program and service delivery activities. The PMPRB clearly understands that any modifications to its program, services or information shared with other institutions will require an examination of potential risks related to the privacy issues.
About CIHI Data Sharing with PMPRB: The National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System
Since 2001, pursuant to an agreement by the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Ministers of Health, the PMPRB has been conducting research under the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System (NPDUIS). The purpose of the NPDUIS is to provide critical analyses of price, utilization, and cost trends so that Canada’s health system has more comprehensive and accurate information on how prescription drugs are being used and on sources of cost pressures.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is responsible for the collection of administrative claim-level data provided by public drug plans. CIHI’s pharmaceuticals department uses this data to develop and maintain the NPDUIS database. This database is available in an Analytical Environment through a CIHI Secure Portal. CIHI has applied the required mechanism to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information. CIHI de-identifies all the data in accordance with its Privacy Policy and in accordance with agreements established with data providers.
Subject to and in accordance with the Data Access Agreement between CIHI and the PMPRB, PMPRB’s authorized users have “read-only access” to the NPDUIS database. The PMPRB does not collect or store claim-level data and has no means of relating the CIHI identifier back to an individual. The PMPRB accesses the NPDUIS database through the CIHI Secure Portal where the claim-level data is analyzed in an Analytical Environment. Both CIHI and the PMPRB take the necessary precautions to ensure that claim-level data in whole or in part does not leave the CIHI premises.
Disclosure
Subsection 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act
During the reporting period, the PMPRB made no disclosure of personal information pursuant to subsection 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act.
Delegation Order
Pursuant to Section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act (AIA), R.S.C.C. A-1 and Section 73(1) of the Privacy Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. P-21, as amended
I, Mélanie Bourassa Forcier, acting Chairperson of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, a government institution as listed in Schedule 1 (Section 3) of the Act, do hereby authorize Devon Menard, Senior Director, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board to exercise, perform and to carry out the duties, functions and powers of the Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator, as pursuant to Section 73 of the Act.
Dated in OTTAWA, on the Province of Ontario, this November 19, 2021.
Mélanie Bourassa Forcier
Acting Chairperson of the Board
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
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