Privacy Act – Annual Report to Parliament 2021-2022

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Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Administration of the Act
  • Departmental mandate
  • Departmental structure
  • (ATIP) Centre of Expertise
  • Delegation of authority
  • Policies, procedures and business processes
  • Training and awareness
• Statistics and performance
  • Operational costs associated with administering the Act
• Annex A: Statistical report
• Annex B: Delegation order
• Footnotes

 

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Introduction

The new legislation amends the Privacy Act to, among other things:

• create a new exception to the definition of “personal information” with respect to certain information regarding an individual who is a ministerial adviser or a member of ministerial staff
• authorize government institutions to provide to other government institutions services related to requests for personal information
• expand the Governor in Council’s power to amend the schedule to the Act and to retroactively validate amendments to that schedule.^{Footnote 1}

This annual report is tabled in Parliament in accordance with section 72 of the Privacy Act and describes how Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) administered its responsibilities for the reporting period.

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Administration of the Act

Departmental mandate

Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) was established on August 06, 2021 to support economic growth and diversification in the prairie provinces and advance the interests of the region in national economic policy, programs, and projects through four key roles:

• Investor: create jobs and growth through strategic investments and targeted initiatives
• Advisor: inform economic decision-making and advocate for Prairie interests
• Pathfinder: help people navigate federal economic programs and services
• Convenor: connect economic actors to support collaboration and growth

PrairiesCan is overseen by the Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development.

The Department operates under the provision of the Western Economic Diversification Act, which came into force on June 28, 1988. PrairiesCan’s mandate allows the department to deliver a wide range of initiatives across the prairies and make strategic investments to build on regional competitive advantages. Its prairie base enables the department to cultivate strong partnerships with business and community organizations, researchers, academia, Indigenous peoples, provincial governments and municipal governments. These connections help PrairiesCan reflect prairie perspectives in national decision-making.

Departmental structure

PrairiesCan is the former department known as Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD). WD served the four western provinces: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

On August 06, 2021, two separate organizations were created, to replace Western Economic Diversification Canada:

• Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)
  Serves Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta
• Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan)
  Serves British Columbia

PrairiesCan employs 418 individuals across the prairies and in Ottawa, including economists, commerce officers and policy analysts. Specialists in such areas as communications, corporate administration, financial management, human resources, information management & technology, and procurement, provide the policy and programs analysts with support. PrairiesCan is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Human Resources and Corporate Services unit (HRCS) is responsible for a broad range of services, including Access to Information and Privacy, administered by the unit’s ATIP Centre of Expertise. HRCS is part of the Finance and Corporate Management Directorate located in Edmonton, Alberta.

The ATIP Coordinator, who is supported by one Corporate Services Advisor and three ATIP Officers, oversees PrairiesCan’s ATIP Centre of Expertise in addition to numerous other programs within the department. The Corporate Services Advisor and ATIP Officers process all access and privacy requests. No additional reporting or monitoring of privacy files is conducted by other departmental officials due to the confidential nature of these requests.

ATIP Centre of Expertise

The PrairiesCan ATIP Centre of Expertise is responsible for the implementation and management of the Access to Information and Privacy programs and services for PrairiesCan. Specifically, the ATIP Centre of Expertise:

• makes decisions on the disposition of personal information requests;
• conducts consultations with other federal government departments, other levels of government and third parties with respect to access to information and privacy issues, if required;
• promotes awareness of the legislation to ensure departmental responsiveness to the obligations imposed by law;
• monitors and advises on departmental compliance with the Acts, regulations, procedures and policies; and
• acts as the spokesperson for the Department when dealing with the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Information Commissioner, the Privacy Commissioner, and other government departments and agencies.

The ATIP unit provides a full suite of ATIP services, as per an Internal Services Agreement, to PacifiCan. Statistics and information regarding PacifiCan are contained in a separate report. Care was taken to ensure the accurate allocation of statistics and data between PrairiesCan and PacifiCan.

Delegation of authority

The current delegation order was issued December 02, 2021 in accordance with subsection 73(1) of the Privacy Act. The Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada delegated full powers, authorities and responsibilities to the:

• Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Management
• Director General, Human Resources & Corporate Services
• Director, Human Resources and Corporate Services
  (Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator)

The delegation also extends limited authority to the ATIP Officers (Annex B).

The ATIP Centre of Expertise is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of policies, guidelines, systems and procedures to manage the department’s compliance with the Acts. Compliance is also facilitated by an ATIP Liaison Officer, in each regional office and corporate business unit, who report to an Assistant Deputy Minister, Executive Director, or Director, to liaise with the ATIP Centre of Expertise concerning enquiries.

Each of these offices is responsible for searching and retrieving records responsive to privacy requests received under the Privacy Act. The ATIP Centre of Expertise, however, is legally responsible for implementing and managing the ATIP program and services for PrairiesCan, including all decisions on the disclosure or non-disclosure of information pursuant to the legislation.

Policies, procedures and business processes

To ensure that Treasury Board Secretariat privacy-related policies and directives are respected and implemented, the ATIP Centre of Expertise regularly reviews its various internal guidelines, procedures and business practices. No new, revised institution-specific policies, guidelines, procedures, or initiatives related to personal information were implemented in PrairiesCan during the reporting period.

The ATIP unit monitors its compliance with request deadlines via a software solution (AccessPro). A weekly report is created and disseminated, on a need-to-know distribution list, up to the Assistant Deputy Minister level. It discloses all open and outstanding ATIP files and their respective status. It includes investigations by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada along with other privacy processes underway. No personal information is included in the weekly report.

Training and awareness

The ATIP unit has provided ATIP process awareness training for the Alberta region ATIP Liaisons, the Policy & Strategic Direction unit and, staff of the Executive Director’s Office (Finance and Corporate Management).

This training is process-centric. Its primary focus is the departmental administrative processes which require specific tasks be completed, by specific positions, in a specified time. All the relevant legislative requirements, concerning those processes are explained and discussed.

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Statistics and performance

The statistics compiled for this reporting period include:

• Privacy data from the former Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) for the period April 01, 2021 to August 05, 2021 inclusive
• Privacy data from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan) for the period August 06, 2021 to March 31, 2022 inclusive

The statistics compiled for this reporting period, as described above, shall be described, cited and understood as belonging to PrairiesCan, for this report.

PrairiesCan completed four privacy requests in the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Fifty percent of those were completed within their legislated timeline.

Request completion time (days)

1-30	31-60	61-120	121-180	181-365	>365	Total
2	0	2	0	0	0	4

• Twenty-five percent of completed privacy requests were disclosed in their entirety.
• Twenty-five percent of completed privacy requests were disclosed in part.
• Twenty-five percent of the privacy requests produced no records.
• Twenty-five percent of the privacy requests were abandoned by the requester.

One privacy request was carried over from the 2020-2021 fiscal year. That request was subsequently abandoned during the 2021-2022 reporting period. It was beyond its legislated timeline at the time it was abandoned.

No extensions were taken.

No privacy consultations were received or completed during the reporting period.

PrairiesCan did not complete any Privacy Impact Assessments during the reporting period.

No disclosures were made under paragraph 8 (2)(m) of the Privacy Act during the reporting period.

PrairiesCan has no active privacy complaints. No privacy complaints were received or concluded during the 2021-2022 reporting period.

No material privacy breaches were reported in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

PrairiesCan's ability to fulfill its Privacy Act responsibilities was not impacted by COVID-19 related measures. ATIP operations continued without interruption for the 2021-2022 reporting period.

Operational costs associated with adminstering the Act

PrairiesCan’s costs for administrating the Privacy Act are based on the share of requests overall since privacy requests made up only 4.5% of all requests received by the PrairiesCan ATIP Centre of Expertise. The costs for the efforts of the program areas are then added. No costs resulting from the purchase of goods or services were incurred for the administration of the Privacy Act.

A total of 0.2 of an FTE was calculated as having been allocated to PrairiesCan’s Privacy program. Total costs amount to $13,648.

 

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Annex A: Statistical Report

Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution: Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan)

Reporting Period: 4/1/2021 to 3/31/2022

Section 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

1.1 Number of requests received

1.1 Number of requests received

		Number of requests
Received during reporting period		7
Outstanding from previous reporting periods		1
- Outstanding from previous reporting period	1
- Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total		8
Closed during reporting period		4
Carried over to next reporting period		4
- Carried over within legislated timeline	4
- Carried over beyond legislated timeline	0

1.2 Channels of requests

1.2 Channels of requests

Source	Number of requests
Online	3
E-mail	4
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	7

 

Section 2: Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

		Number of requests
Received during reporting period		0
Outstanding from previous reporting periods		0
- Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
- Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total		0
Closed during reporting period		0
Carried over to next reporting period		0

2.2 Channels of informal requests

2.2 Channels of informal requests

Source	Number of requests
Online	0
E-mail	0
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	0

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

1-15 days	16-30 days	31-60 days	61-120 days	121-180 days	181-365 days	More than 365 days	Total
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2.4 Pages released informally

2.4 Pages released informally

Less than 100 pages released		100-500 pages released		501-1000 pages released		1001-5000 pages released		More than 5000 pages released
Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

Section 3: Request closed during the reporting period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

3.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of requests	Completion time
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More Than 365 days	Total
All disclosed	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Request abandoned	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	4

3.2 Exemptions

3.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of requests
18(2)	0
19(1)(a)	0
19(1)(b)	0
19(1)(c)	0
19(1)(d)	0
19(1)(e)	0
19(1)(f)	0
20	0
21	0
22(1)(a)(i)	0
22(1)(a)(ii)	0
22(1)(a)(iii)	0
22(1)(b)	0
22(1)(c)	0
22(2)	0
22.1	0
22.2	0
22.3	0
22.4	0
23(a)	0
23(b)	0
24(a)	0
24(b)	0
25	0
26	1
27	0
27.1	0
28	0

3.3 Exclusions

3.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of requests
69(1)(a)	0
69(1)(b)	0
69.1	0
70(1)	0
70(1)(a)	0
70(1)(b)	0
70(1)(c)	0
70(1)(d)	0
70(1)(e)	0
70(1)(f)	0
70.1	0

3.4 Format of information released

3.4 Format of information released

Paper	Electronic				Other
	E-record	Data set	Video	Audio
0	2	0	0	0	0

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e-record formats

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e-record formats

Number of pages processed	Number of pages disclosed	Number of requests
54	50	3

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-record formats, by size of requests

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-record formats, by size of requests

Disposition	Less than 100 pages processed		100-500 pages processed		501-1000 pages processed		1001-5000 pages processed		More than 5000 pages processed
	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed
All disclosed	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	1	53	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request Abandoned	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed no denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	3	54	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

3.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

Number of minutes processed	Number of minutes disclosed	Number of requests
0	0	0

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

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

Disposition	Less than 60 minutes processed		60-120 minutes processed
	Number of requests	Minutes processed	Number of requests	Minutes processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

3.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

3.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

Number of minutes processed	Number of minutes disclosed	Number of requests
0	0	0

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

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

Disposition	Less than 60 minutes processed		60-120 minutes processed
	Number of requests	Minutes processed	Number of requests	Minutes processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

3.5.7 Other complexities

3.5.7 Other complexities

Disposition	Consultation required	Legal advice sought	Interwoven information	Other	Total
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	2
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%)	50

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

Number of requests closed past the legislated timelines	Principal reason
	Interference with operations / workload	External consultation	Internal consultation	Other
2	0	0	1	1

3.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

3.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

Number of days past legislated timelines	Number of requests past legislated timeline where no extension was taken	Number of requests past legislated timeline where an extension was taken	Total
1 to 15 days	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	0	0	0
31 to 60 days	0	0	0
61 to 120 days	2	0	2
121 to 180 days	0	0	0
181 to 365 days	0	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0	0
Total	2	0	2

3.8 Requests for translation

3.8 Requests for translation

Translation requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

 

Section 4: Disclosures under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Section 4: Disclosures under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Paragraph 8(2)(e)	Paragraph 8(2)(m)	Paragraph 8(5)	Total
0	0	0	0

 

Section 5: Requests for correction of personal information and notations

Section 5: Requests for correction of personal information and notations

Disposition for correction requests recieved	Number
Notations attached	0
Requests for correction accepted	0
Total	0

 

Section 6: Extensions

6.1 Reasons for extensions

6.1 Reasons for extensions

Number of requests where an extension was taken	15(a)(i) Interference with operations				15(a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation purposes or conversion
	Further review required to determine exemptions	Large volume of pages	Large volume of requests	Documents are difficult to obtain	Cabinet confidence section (Section 70)	External	Internal
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

6.2 Length of extensions

6.2 Length of extensions

Length of extensions	15(a)(i) Interference with operations				15(a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation purposes or conversion
	Further review required to determine exemptions	Large volume of pages	Large volume of requests	Documents are difficult to obtain	Cabinet confidence section (Section 70)	External	Internal
1 to 15 days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 days or greater								0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

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

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

Consultations	Other Government of Canada institutions	Number of pages to review	Other organizations	Number of pages to review
Received during reporting period	0	0	0	0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0
Closed during reporting period	0	0	0	0
Carried over within negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0

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

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

Recommendation	Number of days required to complete consultation requests
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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

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

Recommendation	Number of days required to complete consultation requests
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

Section 8 : Completion time of consultation on Cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of days	Fewer than 100 pages processed		101-500 pages processed		501-1000 pages processed		1001-5000 pages processed		More than 5000 pages processed
	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of days	Fewer than 100 pages processed		101-500 pages processed		501-1000 pages processed		1001-5000 pages processed		More than 5000 pages processed
	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed	Nombre de demandes	Pages disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

 

Section 9: Complaints and Investigations Notices received

Section 9 - Complaints and Investigations Notices received

Article 31	Article 33	Article 35	Court Action	Total
0	0	0	0	0

 

Section 10: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and Personal Information Banks (PIBs)

10.1 Privacy Impact Assessments

10.1 Privacy Impact Assessments

Number of PIAs completed	0
Number of PIAs modified	0

10.2 Institution-specific and Central Personal Information Banks

10.2 Institution-specific and Central Personal Information Banks

Personal Information Banks	Active	Created	Terminated	Modified
Institution-specific	0	0	0	0
Central	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

 

Section 11: Privacy breaches

11.1 Material privacy breaches reported

11.1 Material privacy breaches

Number of material privacy breaches reported to TBS	0
Number of material privacy breaches reported to OPC	0

11.2 Non-material privacy breaches

11.2 Non-material privacy breaches

Number of non-material privacy breaches	1

 

Section 12: Resources related to the Privacy Act

12.1 Allocated costs

12.1 Allocated costs

Expenditures		Amount
Salaries		$13,648
Overtime		$0
Goods and services		$0
- Professional services contracts	$0
- Other	$0
Total		$13,648

12.2 Human resources

12.2 Human resources

Resources	Person-years dedicated to privacy activities
Full-time employees	0.170
Part-time and casual employees	0.000
Regional staff	0.030
Consultants and agency personnel	0.000
Students	0.000
Total	0.200

 

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Annex B: Delegation Order

 

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