Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2015-2016

Table of Contents

• Introduction
  1. Access to Information Act
  2. About the Public Health Agency of Canada
• Access to Information Infrastructure
  1. The Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division
  2. Reading Room
• Delegation of Authority
• Requests under the Access to Information Act - Statistical Figures, Interpretation and Explanation
  1. Statistical Report
  2. Number of Access Requests and Case Load
  3. Disposition of Requests Completed
  4. Exemptions Invoked
  5. Exclusions Cited
  6. Disposition and Completion Time
  7. Extensions
  8. Translations
  9. Format of Information Released
  10. Fees
  11. Costs
• Training and Awareness
• Complaints and Court Applications for Reviews
  1. Complaints to the Information Commissioner
  2. Types of Complaints and Their Disposition Completed in 2015-2016
  3. Applications/Appeals Submitted to the Federal Court/Federal Court of Appeal
  4. Responses to Recommendations raised by other Agents of Parliament
• Appendix A: Access to Information Act and Privacy Act - Delegation Order
• Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Introduction

I. Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act (the Act) gives the Canadian public a right to access information contained in federal government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

The Act requires the head of every federal government institution to submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act following the close of each fiscal year. This annual report is prepared and is being tabled before each House of Parliament in accordance with section 72 of the Access to Information Act. This report provides a summary of how the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has fulfilled its access to information responsibilities during the fiscal year 2015-2016.

II. About the Public Health Agency of Canada

PHAC's mission is to promote and protect the health of Canadians through leadership, partnership, innovation and action in public health.

The role of PHAC is to:

• Promote health;
• Prevent and control chronic diseases and injuries;
• Prevent and control infectious diseases;
• Prepare for and respond to public health emergencies;
• Serve as a central point for sharing Canada's public health expertise with the rest of the world;
• Apply international research and development to Canada's public health programs; and
• Strengthen intergovernmental collaboration on public health and facilitate national approaches to public health policy and planning.

For more information about PHAC, please visit our web site.

Access to Information Infrastructure

I. The Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Operations Division is housed in the Planning, Integration and Management Services Directorate, Corporate Services Branch at Health Canada (HC).

In June 2012, under the terms of the Public Health Agency of Canada and HC Shared Services Partnership Agreement, a shared service was established for the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act in the two institutions. 2013-2014 was the first full fiscal year under this new arrangement, and saw the implementation of a single ATIP Coordinator model for PHAC and HC.

The ATIP Coordinator is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of effective policies, guidelines, systems and procedures in order to enable efficient processing of requests under the Act. The Coordinator is also responsible for the implementation of relevant government-wide policies, systems and procedures. The Division is responsible for all Access to Information (ATI) legislative requirements pursuant to the Act such as:

• Responding to access to information requests within the statutory time frame as well as meeting the duty to assist requesters;
• Providing advice and guidance to departmental employees on the application of the Act and Treasury Board of Canada policies;
• Developing corporate-wide access to information protocols and practices to guide the ATI process;
• Promoting staff awareness and providing training on the Act;
• Preparing annual reports to Parliament; and,
• Liaising with the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC), the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS), other federal departments and agencies, provincial ministries of health and other key stakeholders.

In 2015-2016, the Act was administered by 1.99 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees with the support of consultant services (2.70 FTE) and some part-time and casual employees (0.07 FTE) for a total complement of 4.76 FTEs.

II. Reading Room

Section 71 of the Act requires government institutions to provide facilities where members of the public may inspect any manuals used by employees of the institution in administering or carrying out programs or activities of the institution that affect the public. PHAC has a reading room available where members of the public may make arrangements to review materials.

The following Agency location in Ottawa has been designated as a public reading room:

Access to Information and Privacy Operations Division
1600 Scott Street, Holland Cross,
Tower B, 7th Floor, Suite 700
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9

Delegation of Authority

On November 25, 2015, a delegation order for the Access to Information Act was signed by the Minister of Health. The delegation order extends the delegation of authorities beyond the Coordinator to the Assistant Deputy Minister and Director General levels within HC's Corporate Services Branch, which provides ATIP services to PHAC. The delegation order recognizes the new Privacy Management Division and provides a distinction between the Privacy Management and ATIP Operations functions. Additionally, the delegation order recognizes the title of Deputy Director, a new position within the ATIP Operations Division.

The Delegation Order is attached as Appendix A.

Requests under the Access to Information Act - Statistical Figures, Interpretation and Explanation

I. Statistical Report

This section of the report includes an interpretation and explanation of the data contained in PHAC's statistical report which summarizes ATI-related activity for the period between April 1, 2015 and March 31, 2016 (Appendix B).

II. Number of Access Requests and Case Load

Number of Access Requests

There was a significant reduction in the number of requests received in 2015-2016 (75 as compared with 133 in 2014-2015). There are no known causes for this decrease in volume. Request levels are a function of the level of interest by requesters and national and world events. PHAC will continue to process requests as they are submitted and adapt to fluctuations as necessary.

Source of Requests: Trends

Of the 75 ATI requests received by PHAC in 2015-2016, 14 (19%) were from requesters that declined to identify. This is the first full year that this option has been available to requesters, and the number of requesters choosing this option has increased from last year. This increase may be partially due to an increase of awareness of the availability of the option as well as requesters who might have previously identified as from another source (e.g. Media or Public) but are now choosing not to. It remains to be seen if this represents a trend or will stabilise in future years.

Of the remaining 61 requests whose sources are known, 22 were from the business sector, representing 29% of requests received this year. Combined with media and the general public, these sources still represent the majority of PHAC's requests, as depicted in the table below.

Informal Requests

Whenever feasible to do so, PHAC processes requests informally as "access informal". There was a slight increase in the use of this processing method, which includes records previously released under the ATI Act. In 2015-2016, PHAC processed 16 requests as "access informal" compared to 13 requests in 2014-2015.

Posting of Completed ATI Requests

PHAC met TBS requirement to proactively post on its web site monthly summaries of completed ATI requests, which assists in facilitating Canadians' right of access to institutional records. Additionally, since January 2015, PHAC has been posting this summary data to the TBS central open data portal.

Case Load

During the 2015-2016 fiscal year, PHAC completed the processing of 76 of 112 (68%) active requests, which included 75 new requests and 37 requests carried over from previous years. Of the requests received in 2015-2016, PHAC closed 55 within the fiscal year, representing 73% of files received during the year.

While 2015-2016 saw a significant decrease from the previous year in the number of pages reviewed, there are a number of factors that contributed to this result. The decrease in the number of pages reviewed for closed files mostly arose from an effort to streamline the processing of requests by ensuring only records that fell within the scope of the request were reviewed. This renewed attention to precision in reviewing the records, along with increased education and awareness of employees at PHAC, enabled PHAC to be more strategic in the retrieval and review of records in response to requests.

Additionally, several large files comprising thousands of pages were carried over into the new fiscal year, which also affected the number of pages reviewed.

Consultations Completed for Other Institutions

In 2015-2016, PHAC completed a total of 79 consultations representing 3,704 pages. This includes 76 from other federal institutions, and 3 consultations from other jurisdictions. Overall, PHAC treated 30% more consultations than the previous year.

III. Disposition of Requests Completed

Completed requests were classified as follows:

IV. Exemptions Invoked

Sections 13 through 24 of the Act set out the exemptions intended to protect information pertaining to a particular public or private interest, and section 26 of the Act is a temporary exception relating to information to be published.

The majority of the 183 exemptions invoked by the Agency focused on three sections of the Act - section 19 (personal information), section 20 (third party information), and section 21 (operations of government). Together, these accounted for 117 (64%) of the exemptions applied in 2015-2016. It is worth noting that the invocation of section 20 on 34 occasions necessitated numerous consultations with third parties, many of which were large multi-national corporations. Such consultations are complex and resource intensive.

V. Exclusions Cited

The Access to Information Act does not apply to published material, material available to the public for purchase or for public reference (section 68); nor does it apply to confidences of the Queen's Privy Council (section 69). Requests containing proposed exclusions under section 69 require consultation with the Department of Justice, and potentially the Privy Council Office.

During 2015-2016, PHAC applied three exclusions pursuant to section 68 of the Act, and nine exclusions for section 69 of the Act.

VI. Disposition and Completion Time

PHAC tracks the disposition of closed requests and the length of time taken to process them. Of the total caseload of 112 requests in 2015-2016, PHAC completed 76 cases and carried over 36 uncompleted requests to fiscal year 2016-2017.

PHAC was able to respond within 30 days or less to half of all requests completed this fiscal year. The remaining requests, categorized into time segments of 31 to 60 days, 61 to 120 days, and 121 days or more, are depicted in the table below. It is important to note that the deadlines for many of these requests were legally extended under the Act.

VII. Extensions

Legal extensions were most frequently invoked to provide time to complete consultations and to process voluminous records. In 2015-2016, the Agency invoked 50 extensions under section 9(1) of the Act.

VIII. Translations

No translation was required to respond to requests in 2015-2016.

IX. Format of Information Released

Of requests that were fully or partially disclosed, 20 were sent out in paper format. This number represents 50% of the releases for those categories. The other 20 full or partial disclosures (50%) were released electronically.

The planned implementation of a new case management system was postponed to April 1 2016. This required ongoing paper-based processing, delaying the realization of processing efficiencies. Going forward, the new case management system will allow for more efficient processing, as well as more delivery options to the public.

X. Fees

The Act authorizes fees for certain aspects of processing formal requests and the fee structure is prescribed in the ATI Regulations. Accordingly, PHAC cannot charge fees for reviewing records, overhead or shipping, nor can it charge for the first five hours needed to search for a record or prepare any part of it for disclosure.

Additionally, PHAC can no longer charge fees in the search for, or preparation of, any electronic documents. As of March 31, 2015, pursuant to the case Information Commissioner of Canada v. Attorney General of Canada, 2015 FC 405, the Federal Court agreed with the Commissioner's position that 'non-computerized records' are records which are not stored in electronic format. In practice, this means that if any record is stored electronically, such as in email, word processing applications (Microsoft Word) or in databases, no fees can be charged for their processing except for the $5 application fee established by the Act.

Based on requests completed in 2015-2016, PHAC collected $340 in application fees and did not seek any preparation or search fees. In total, the Receiver General for Canada collected $340 in fees. PHAC waived $182 in fees for 19 requests. Fees may be waived for a variety of factors, but are most commonly waived for costs of paper or digitised copy where the fees chargeable would be less than $25.

XI. Costs

PHAC spent a total of $454,853 on ATI functions in 2015-2016. Of this total, salaries accounted for $322,648 and administration for $132,205, most of which was used to retain temporary help to address the volume and complexity of requests. Staffing for the fiscal year amounted to 4.76 person years dedicated to ATI activities, consisting of 1.99 full-time employees, 0.07 part-time/casual, and 2.70 consultants/agency personnel. In this fiscal year (2015-2016) all elements of administrative costs were incorporated in the above noted figure, and include overtime expenses ($5,329) and professional services contracts ($110,769) among other overhead costs associated with supporting operations and application of the Act.

Training and Awareness

Training for PHAC Employees

Training sessions regarding the Act and related processes are delivered to PHAC employees on a regular basis. Seven "ATI 101" training sessions, with a total of 156 attendees, took place during 2015-2016. The basic objectives of the course are to impart an understanding of the Act, roles and responsibilities, the handling of formal and informal requests, and how to process an ATI request. In addition, two specialised training & outreach events on the topic of ATI reached another 62 attendees among PHAC personnel. Significant efforts have been put into updating training materials and tools. In addition, a new process to identify and strategically assess training needs and to provide customized training to the target groups has been implemented.

Orientation and Awareness

The ATIP Operations Division worked in collaboration with various program areas to promote awareness and develop customized training to address Agency needs. This approach resulted in increased engagement and awareness. The Division continued to increase awareness among PHAC employees of their responsibilities under the Act by advertising sessions open to all employees.

Complaints and Court Applications for Reviews

I. Complaints to the Information Commissioner

During 2015-2016, six complaints under the Act were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) related to requests completed by PHAC.

PHAC reviews the outcomes of all OIC investigations, and where appropriate, incorporates lessons learned into business processes.

II. Types of Complaints and their Disposition Completed in 2015-2016

III. Applications/Appeals Submitted to the Federal Court/Federal Court of Appeal

During this reporting period, no notices of applications were filed by third parties with the Federal Court or the Federal Court of Appeal pursuant to subsection 44(1) of the Act.

IV. Responses to Recommendations raised by other Agents of Parliament

There were no recommendations raised by other Agents of Parliament during fiscal year 2015-2016.

 

Appendix A: Access to Information Act and Privacy Act - Delegation Order

Delegation of Authority

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

I, the Minister of Health, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act and section 73 of the Privacy Act, hereby designate the persons holding the positions set out in the Delegation of Authority Schedule attached hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Minister as the head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, under the provisions of the Act and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation supersedes all previous delegation orders.

Original signed by:

Jane Philpott
Minister of Health
November 25, 2015

 

 

Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

TBS/SCT 350-63

Name of institution: Public Health Agency of Canada

Reporting period: 2015-04-01 to 2016-03-31

Part 1 - Requests under the Access to Information Act

 

 

 

Part 2 - Requests closed during the reporting period

 

 

 

2.5 Complexity

 

 

2.6 Deemed refusals

 

 

 

Part 3 - Extensions

 

 

Part 4 - Fees

 

Part 5 - Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

 

 

 

Part 6 - Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

 

 

Part 7 - Complaints and investigations

 

Part 8 - Court action

 

Part 9 - Resources related to the Access to Information Act