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Public Services and Procurement Canada
2022 to 2023 Annual Report on the Access to Information Act

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© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the minister of Public Services and Procurement, 2023.

Aussi disponible en français.

ISSN 2817-5662

On this page

Introduction

PSPC is pleased to present to parliament its annual report on the administration of the Access to Information Act. This report describes the activities that support compliance with the act for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2022, and ending March 31, 2023.

Section 94 of the Access to Information Act and section 20 of the Service Fees Act require that the head of every federal government institution submit an annual report to parliament on the administration of the Access to Information Act during the fiscal year.

Purpose of the act

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions. In furtherance of that purpose, part 1 extends the present laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government; and part 2 sets out requirements for the proactive publication of information.

About Public Services and Procurement Canada

PSPC, formerly Public Works and Government Services Canada, derives its mandate from the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act of 1996, which established the department as a common service provider. As such, the department plays an important role in the daily operations of the Government of Canada as a key provider of services for federal departments and agencies. The department supports them in the achievement of their mandated objectives in 5 service categories:

PSPC provides services across Canada through its headquarters in the National Capital Region, 5 regional offices, as well as offices in Europe (Geilenkirchen, Germany) and the United States (Washington, DC).

Organizational structure

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Directorate is responsible for the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act within PSPC. The ATIP senior director acts as the department’s ATIP coordinator. The directorate is overseen by the director general of the Corporate Secretariat and Accessibility Sector, who is also the department’s chief privacy officer.

In the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, 34 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and 1.950 FTEs casual employees administered the Access to Information Act with the support of 7.507 consultants, for a total complement of 43.457 FTEs.

Access to Information and Privacy reporting structure at Public Services and Procurement Canada

Organizational chart of the Public Services and Procurement Canada Access to Information and Privacy Directorate. Text version below.
Text version

This organizational chart displays a hierarchy beginning with the ATIP coordinator of PSPC at the top. Directly below the ATIP coordinator are 5 divisions who report to the coordinator:

  • the administration team carries out administrative functions for the ATIP Directorate and ensures the maintenance of ATIP software
  • the operations team processes requests received under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, and liaises with the offices of the information and privacy commissioners to resolve complaints
  • the privacy management team advises and supports the department in the management of privacy risk, ensuring compliance with privacy legislation and related policy instruments
  • the policy, transparency and proactive publications team develops directives, leads PSPC’s approach on transparency and openness, provides advice and is responsible for proactive publications
  • the governance and outreach team develops procedures and statistical reports, delivers training, promotes awareness and is responsible for ATIP annual reports

Below these divisions there is another level for ATIP liaison officers, who coordinate the retrieval, review and submission of information held by their branch or region in response to ATIP requests.

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act allow for the provision of services by a government institution to another government institution that is presided over by the same minister. In fiscal year 2022 to 2023, PSPC had a service agreement for the provision of corporate services to the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) which included access to information and privacy services under section 96 of the Access to Information Act and section 73.1 of the Privacy Act. The ATIP Directorate was responsible to address potential concerns regarding OPO’s independence and perception of conflict of interest, including file segregation and limited access to OPO files, and OPO was responsible to review and confirm the application of exemptions and exceptions on release packages and provide informal final approval prior to public release.

Proactive publication

Part 2 of the Access to Information Act requires federal institutions to proactively publish specific records produced by government institutions. Responsibilities for implementing proactive publication are assigned to various groups within PSPC. The Policy, Planning, and Communications Branch is responsible for the proactive publication process and works in collaboration with branches and regions within PSPC, including the Procurement Branch, the Finance Branch, the Human Resources Branch, and others.

PSPC has a process in place to ensure timely gathering, reporting and publishing of information to comply with the requirements of part 2. This process includes approval in 2 steps: the department’s ATIP coordinator approves the content and notifies key stakeholders, then the director general-corporate secretary approves the content and notifies PSPC senior management of the publication.

Delegation of authority

Pursuant to section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act, the minister of Public Services and Procurement Canada has delegated the power, duties and functions of the administration of the act down to ATIP manager level. Certain administrative functions are also delegated to ATIP managers, team leaders and senior analysts to accelerate the processing of requests.

The most recent PSPC delegation instrument was signed on January 20, 2023, with a separate matrix for ATIP delegation. An excerpt of the delegation of authorities approved by the minister, pertaining to delegation under the Access to Information Act, is attached as Annex A: Delegation of authorities chart for the Access to Information Act and its regulations.

Performance for 2022 to 2023

In this section

Requests received and closed

Volume of access to information requests received and closed by fiscal year. Text version below.
Text version

Chart summary: Requests received and closed

  • 2018 to 2019: 1,144 requests received, 1,178 requests closed
  • 2019 to 2020: 628 requests received, 827 requests closed
  • 2020 to 2021: 800 requests received, 602 requests closed
  • 2021 to 2022: 563 requests received, 519 requests closed
  • 2022 to 2023: 419 requests received, 447 requests closed

The department received a total of 419 requests pursuant to the Access to Information Act in the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, which represents a decrease of 25.58% from the previous year. The decrease coincides with a significant increase of informal requests received by the department, in addition to the 553 active requests that were outstanding from the previous reporting period. The majority of the access to information requests received by the department during 2022 to 2023 were related to contracts, COVID-19 topics, and briefing notes on various subjects.

Pages reviewed

Number of pages reviewed under the Access to Information Act by fiscal year. Text version below.
Text version
Table 1: Chart summary: Pages reviewed
Fiscal year Pages reviewed for requests under the Access to Information Act
2018 to 2019 225,000
2019 to 2020 466,000
2020 to 2021 272,000
2021 to 2022 118,000
2022 to 2023 102,000

In 2022 to 2023, PSPC reviewed 102,390 pages for requests received under the Access to Information Act.

Completion times

Number of pages reviewed under the Access to Information Act by fiscal year. Text version below.
Text version
Table 2: Chart summary: Completion times
Completion time Access to information requests
Within 30 days 24.38%
31 to 60 days 12.53%
61 to 120 days 10.07%
121 days or more 53.02%

PSPC’s overall compliance rate for the 2022 to 2023 reporting period was 31.77% for requests under the Access to Information Act. This compliance rate represents all files that were closed either within the initial 30 days or within an extension period obtained for reasons of volume or consultations.

The percentage of requests closed within the initial 30 days was 24.38%. Given the nature of PSPC’s mandate as a service provider to other federal organizations, the department is often required to perform consultations in order to seek input from other institutions and complete all required actions on a file. Consequently, a large number of PSPC’s access to information files require extensions beyond the 30-day legislative period.

Factors influencing performance

The compliance rate of 31.77% is the result of the following factors:

Impact of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to have an impact on the department due to the backlog of access to information requests accumulated from previous fiscal years. The backlog is a result of PSPC ATIP Directorate’s limited ability to process requests under the Access to Information Act, in addition to offices of primary interest’s limited ability to respond to ATIP tasking and provide required documents.

The statistical report on the capacity to receive and process requests during the fiscal year 2022 to 2023 is attached as Annex C: Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

Outstanding requests

Active requests

Number of access to information active requests within and beyond legislated timeline by fiscal year. Text version below the chart.
Text version
Table 3: Chart summary: Active requests within and beyond legislated timeline
Fiscal Year Access to information active requests within legislated timelines Access to information active requests beyond legislated timelines
2015 to 2016 0 1
2016 to 2017 0 19
2017 to 2018 0 11
2018 to 2019 0 25
2019 to 2020 0 43
2020 to 2021 0 126
2021 to 2022 7 105
2022 to 2023 25 163

At the end of the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC had a total of 525 active requests pursuant to the Access to Information Act that were outstanding from previous reporting periods. The majority of these active requests (81.14%) were received in the last 3 fiscal years.

Sources of requests

Volume and percentage of access to information requests received by source. Text version below.
Text version

Chart summary: Sources of requests

  • Media: 54 requests (12.89%)
  • Academia: 45 requests (10.74%)
  • Business: 87 requests (20.76%)
  • Organization: 17 requests (4.06%)
  • Public: 164 requests (39.14%)
  • Declined to identify: 52 requests (12.41%)

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC received the majority (59.91%) of its requests under the Access to Information Act from 2 sources:

The percentages of requests from individuals in media (12.89%), academia (10.74%) and those that declined to identify (12.41%) were comparable.

Informal requests

PSPC publishes summaries of closed access to information requests pertaining to records that do not contain personal or third-party information on the open government portal. Through this portal, members of the public can submit informal requests for a copy of previously released information without having to pay the application fee.

In fiscal year 2022 to 2023, PSPC processed 513 informal requests, which is comparable to the 582 informal requests processed during the previous reporting period.

Exemptions

Of the 447 access to information requests that were closed in 2022 to 2023, the department invoked exemptions allowed under the Access to Information Act on 228 requests (51%), and all information was disclosed in 47 requests (10.51%). The remaining 172 (38.48%) were either abandoned, transferred, neither confirmed or denied, or no records existed.

The majority of exemptions invoked by PSPC fell under 3 sections of the Access to Information Act:

Of note, more than one exemption can be applied to a specific request.

Exclusions

The Access to Information Act excludes or does not apply to certain types of information, specifically records that are already available to the public (section 68) and confidence of the King’s Privy Council for Canada (section 69).

In the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC applied exclusions to 29 records, 1 pursuant to section 68, and 28 citing section 69.

Consultations

PSPC responded to 271 consultations from other government institutions and organizations for records relating to the department’s activities, which totalled 27,371 pages. A total of 56% of consultation files were responded to within 60 days.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Access to Information Act permits the statutory time limits to be extended if consultations are necessary or if the request is for a larger volume of records, and if processing within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the department.

PSPC invoked a total of 168 extensions during the 2022 to 2023 reporting period. Extensions were required in 60 instances to allow consultations with other government institutions and in 70 instances for third-party consultations. In addition, extensions were required in 38 instances where the request necessitated a search through a large volume of records and would have interfered with operations.

Disposition

Volume and percentage of closed access to information requests by disposition decision. Text version below.
Text version

Chart summary: Request disposition

  • All disclosed: 47 requests (10.51%)
  • Disclosed in part: 224 requests (50.11%)
  • All exempted/all excluded, neither confirmed nor denied: 5 requests (1.12%)
  • Abandoned: 73 requests (16.33%)
  • Transferred, no records existed: 98 requests (21.93%)

Approximately 60% of all requests closed during the 2022 to 2023 reporting period were either disclosed in part (50.11%) or fully disclosed (10.51%), and 16.33% of requests were abandoned.

Complaints

Active complaints

Number of access to information active complaints by fiscal year. Text version below.
Text version
Table 4: Chart summary: Active complaints
Fiscal year Access to information active complaints
2018 to 2019 1
2019 to 2020 4
2020 to 2021 23
2021 to 2022 64
2022 to 2023 22

At the end of the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC had a total of 114 active complaints with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) that were outstanding from previous reporting periods.

Complaints received and closed

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC was notified of 36 new complaints received by the OIC, and submitted formal representations for 47 active complaints received in the current or previous reporting period. Most of these complaints were related to delays, application of exemptions and exclusions, or failure to make every reasonable effort to assist the requester.

The ATIP Directorate closed 35 complaint investigations for which it received a final report. Of these, 28 were deemed well-founded, 4 were deemed not well-founded, and 3 were settled or resolved at the satisfaction of the requester.

Training and awareness

Through the delivery of training and various activities, PSPC strengthened institution-wide awareness with the Access to Information Act and departmental obligations.

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, the ATIP Directorate continued to offer training sessions in a virtual format throughout PSPC’s transition to a hybrid workplace. This delivery format gave the ATIP Directorate the ability to reach more participants throughout the country and allowed the promotion of ATIP trainings and tools on a larger scale within the department.

PSPC delivered 69 virtual training sessions on the “Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals” course to 1,056 employees across PSPC, doubling the number of participants from 2021 to 2022.

In addition to the training sessions delivered, the ATIP Directorate participated in the following activities:

Through these events, the ATIP Directorate informed participants of their obligations under the Access to Information Act, including those relating to proactive publication, and the department’s efforts to make the government more accessible to everyone.

Policies, guidelines and procedures

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC continued to develop internal guidance documents, procedures and tools to ensure consistent practices in request processing. These documents covered multiple operational actions, such as request intake, data validation, and request processing system management. PSPC also provided onboarding material for new employees. Current practices were reviewed to ensure standardized monitoring and to facilitate compliance with requirements.

To improve the administration of the ATIP program, the ATIP Directorate:

Proactive publication under part 2 of the Access to Information Act

Part 2 of the Access to Information Act requires federal institutions to proactively publish specific records they produce that would be of interest to the public.

To fulfill proactive publication requirements, PSPC strengthened collaboration with branches and regions while monitoring, coordinating and supporting the implementation of efficient and consistent proactive publication processes and practices.

PSPC produced the following 47 proactive publications during the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year:

PSPC’s overall compliance rate for proactive publication in the 2022 to 2023 reporting period was 91%. For the remaining 9% published beyond legislated timelines, copies of briefing materials were made available upon request via the transparency webpage until the proactive publication process was completed and the material was published.

Initiatives and projects to improve access to information

In this section

Development Program

Significant employee shortages affected PSPC’s ATIP operations throughout fiscal year 2022 to 2023. To alleviate shortages of experienced employees, the ATIP Directorate used its developmental program to foster the professional development of individuals with limited or no ATIP experience, allowing their progression from entry level ATIP trainee (PM-01) to senior ATIP officer (PM-04). PSPC adjusted the curriculum to supplement available governmental and private training, and provided additional professional development through mentorship. The training included hands-on experience processing request pursuant to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The Development Program is a long-term recruitment initiative also intended to increase employee retention. During fiscal year 2022 to 2023, PSPC welcomed 4 ATIP trainees (PM-01) to the program, and also promoted 4 participants from junior ATIP officer (PM-02) to ATIP officer (PM-03) as they had acquired the necessary skills.

Backlog strategy

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, PSPC developed a strategy to eliminate the backlog of access to information requests accumulated from the challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This strategy will unfold in phases with an intended goal of reducing request completion beyond legislated timeline by 75%. The phases will be flexible and adjusted in accordance with operational needs.

Technological improvements

During 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, PSPC began integrating artificial intelligence components to the request processing system to complete intake tasks. Three automated systems (bots) will be integrated to complete scanning, indexing and identification of duplicates tasks. This process of automation is intended to alleviate the tasks of ATIP trainees whose time and effort could then be redirected to other initiatives, such as the backlog strategy.

PSPC also completed consultations to replace the current outdated request processing system. This is an ongoing and government-wide project initiated by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) involving all ATIP programs throughout the Government of Canada.

PSPC was also an early adopter of the ATIP Online Request Service, implementing migration in May 2022. PSPC completed migration and began processing requests received online in July 2022.

Transparency

PSPC’s approach towards transparency and openness prioritizes departmental efforts to go beyond proactive publication and make information of public interest readily available to Canadians. As the departmental coordinator on transparency, the ATIP Directorate continued the advancement of the quarterly usage reports (QUR) initiative. QURs compile and maintain records on the provision of services to the federal government under contracts resulting from standing offers or supply arrangements. They are provided to the department by suppliers on a quarterly basis, and published on the open government portal as well as the Public Services Procurement Canada transparency webpage.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

The majority of complaints PSPC received during the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year were related to delays, application of exemptions and exclusions, or failure to make every reasonable effort to assist the requester. Depending on the nature of the complaint, PSPC contacted the OIC investigator to clarify the reasons behind the complaint, contacted the relevant office of primary interest (OPI) within PSPC to request new searches and disclosed additional records when applicable, and reviewed applied exemptions and exclusions to confirm their applicability.

To ensure effective collaboration and to resolve issues as quickly as possible, PSPC’s ATIP coordinator attended monthly meetings with representatives of the OIC to address outstanding complaints, ensure prompt resolution and discuss key issues to seek to avoid similar complaints in the future.

Additionally, in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, PSPC reviewed its practices and designed a tiered response process. This tiered process’ objective is to increase the efficiency of responses to initial reports from the OIC. This process is based on an analysis of the severity and possible impacts of section 37 orders to adjust approvals to the appropriate level. This tiered process will help ensure that PSPC complies with the orders or, when necessary, applies for judicial review within legislated timelines. The implementation of PSPC’s complaint response process includes tools and resources to support all involved stakeholders in the fulfillment of legal requirements. Improvements to PSPC’s practices in regards to complaint response will continue in the next fiscal year.

Appeal to the Federal Court of Canada

One new application was filed with the Federal Court of Canada against PSPC pursuant to section 44 of the Access to Information Act during the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year.

In accordance with the process provided in the legislation to challenge an order, PSPC filed a notice of application to have the Federal Court review the Information Commissioner’s order to release records to a requester.

Fees

The Service Fees Act requires a responsible authority to report annually to parliament on the fees collected by the institution. With respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

The Access to Information Act requires a fee payable: the $5 application fee is the only fee charged for an access to information request. Based on requests received during 2022 to 2023, PSPC collected $1,880 in application fees. In accordance with the changes to the Access to Information Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, PSPC 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. PSPC also waived or refunded a total of $215 in application fees. The total operating cost of the ATIP program at PSPC for fiscal year 2022 to 2023 was $4,348,815.

Monitoring compliance

The ATIP Directorate provides a weekly “snapshot” report to senior executives that contains statistics on the number of requests received and being processed under the act.

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, the ATIP Directorate produced weekly summary reports of upcoming requests soon to be disclosed under the Access to Information Act and new access to information requests received. These reports are intended to further support monitoring and increase compliance within the department.

In addition to these practices, the ATIP Directorate has a number of measures in place to monitor the time taken to process requests, to limit inter-institutional consultations, and to review frequently requested types of information.

During the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, ATIP officers regularly communicated with OPIs to monitor the time taken to process requests, ensuring that the ATIP Directorate obtained extensions in a timely manner. Officers also produced statistical reports on the compliance of those OPIs. Additionally, managers reviewed and monitored the status of access to information requests using the request processing system and conducted weekly meetings with staff to review active tasks and establish priorities.

Given the nature of PSPC’s mandate as a service provider to other federal organizations, the department is often required to perform consultations with other institutions. To appropriately limit inter-institutional consultation, PSPC carefully analyzed the content of the documents it intended to disclose and only sent documents that held information which could cause harm to stakeholders. ATIP officers regularly communicated with other institutions, when consultations were required, to obtain status updates. Through these actions, compliance with requirements is monitored by ATIP officers and overseen by managers.

Proactive publication

PSPC has established leading processes and practices to adhere to proactive publication legislated timelines. In fiscal year 2022 to 2023, PSPC’s ATIP Directorate coordinated the proactive publication process ensuring continuous departmental engagement with contributors. In addition, the ATIP Directorate monitored the accuracy of published information under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act through the use of monitoring tools. These include internal trackers, weekly briefings, and bi-weekly departmental tracker updates submitted to senior management on a regular basis. 

Further to its mandate as a service provider to other federal organizations, PSPC goes beyond its legislative obligation and provides Canadians with additional information on the use of public resources, namely through the quarterly usage reports initiative. In addition, the department routinely publishes a significant volume of information on the official sources for Government of Canada procurement, buyandsell.gc.ca and CanadaBuys which increases the availability of frequently requested information. Furthermore, throughout the pandemic and continuing in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, PSPC published a variety of information relating to COVID-19 contracts on the supporting Canada's response to COVID-19 website. Employees processing incoming requests referred requesters to the published information when available to facilitate rapid access.

Table 5: Proactive publication requirements table
Legislative requirement Section Publication timeline
All Government Institutions as defined in section 3 of the Access to Information Act
Travel expenses 82 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Hospitality expenses 83 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Reports tabled in parliament 84 Within 30 days after tabling
Government entities or departments, agencies, and other bodies subject to the act and listed in Schedules I, I.1, or II of the Financial Administration Act
Contracts over $10,000 86 Q1-3: Within 30 days after the quarter Q4: Within 60 days after the quarter
Grants & Contributions over $25,000 87 Within 30 days after the quarter
Packages of briefing materials prepared for new or incoming deputy heads or equivalent 88(a) Within 120 days after appointment
Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared for a deputy head or equivalent, that is received by their office 88(b) Within 30 days after the end of the month received
Packages of briefing materials prepared for a deputy head or equivalent’s appearance before a committee of parliament 88(c) Within 120 days after appearance 
Government institutions that are departments named in schedule I to the Financial Administration Act or portions of the core public administration named in schedule IV to that act (That is government institutions for which Treasury Board is the employer)
Reclassification of positions 85 Within 30 days after the quarter
Ministers
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for new or incoming ministers 74(a) Within 120 days after appointment
Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared by a government institution for the minister, that is received by their office 74(b) Within 30 days after the end of the month received
Package of question period notes prepared by a government institution for the minister and in use on the last sitting day of the House of Commons in June and December 74(c) Within 30 days after last sitting day of the House of Common in June and December
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for a minister’s appearance before a committee of parliament 74(d) Within 120 days after appearance
Travel expenses 75 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Hospitality expenses 76 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
Contracts over $10,000 77 Q1-3: Within 30 days after the quarter Q4: Within 60 days after the quarter
Ministers’ offices expenses *Note: This consolidated report is currently published by TBS on behalf of all institutions. 78 Within 120 days after the fiscal year

Annex A: Delegation of authorities chart for the Access to Information Act and its regulations

Table 6: Access to Information Act and its regulations
Position titles Access to Information Act Access to Information regulations
Department minister and senior executives
Minister Full Full
Deputy minister Full Full
Associate deputy minister Full Full
Department Policy, Planning and Communications Branch
Senior departmental manager Full Full
Director general Full Full
Senior director Full Full
Director Full Full
Manager Restrictedtable 4 note 1 Full
Supervisor Restrictedtable 4 note 2 Restrictedtable 4 note 3
Officer Restrictedtable 4 note 4 Not applicable

Table 6 Notes

Table 6 Note 1

Managers may fully exercise the authorities delegated under the Access to Information Act, with the exception of section 6.1

Return to table 6 note 1 referrer

Table 6 Note 2

Supervisors may fully exercise the authorities limited to the following sections of the Access to Information Act: 4(2.1), 7, 8(1), 9, 11(2), 16(2), 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24(1), 25, 26, 27, 28, and 33

Return to table 6 note 2 referrer

Table 6 Note 3

Supervisors may fully exercise the authorities per sections 6(1) and 8 of the Access to Information Regulations, with the exception of section 8.1

Return to table 6 note 3 referrer

Table 6 Note 4

Officers may fully exercise the authorities limited to the following sections of the Access to Information Act: 4(2.1), 7, 9, 19, 25, 26, 27(1) and 27(4)

Return to table 6 note 4 referrer

Delegation of Authority

Delegation of Authority of the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act signed by the Minister Helena Jaczek on January 20, 2023. Text version below.
Text version

Delegation of authority

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

I, the Minister of the Department of Public Works and Government Services, pursuant to section 95 of the Access to Information Act and section 73 of the Privacy Act, hereby designate the persons holding the positions set out in the Access to Information and Privacy Delegation of Authority matrix, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the power, duties and functions of the minister responsible for Public Services and Procurement Canada, under the provisions of the acts and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation supersedes all previous delegations of authority.

The Honourable Helena Jaczek, P.C., M.P. (Markham—Stouffville)

Minister of the Department of Public Works and Government Services

Signed on Jan 20, 2023

Annex B: Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

In this section

Name of institution: Public Services and Procurement Canada

Reporting period: April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

Table 7: 1.1 Number of requests
Type Number of requests
Received during reporting period 419
Outstanding from previous reporting periods:
  • outstanding from previous reporting period (254)
  • outstanding from more than 1 reporting period (299)
 553
Total 972
Closed during reporting period 447
Carried over to next reporting period:
  • carried over within legislated timeline (32)
  • carried over beyond legislated timeline (493)
 525
Table 8: 1.2 Sources of requests
Source Number of requests
Media 54
Academia 45
Business (private sector) 87
Organization 17
Public 164
Decline to identify 52
Total 419
Table 9: 1.3 Channels of requests
Channels Number of requests
Online 389
E-mail 16
Mail 14
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 419

Section 2: Informal requests

Table 10: 2.1 Number of informal requests
Type Number of requests
Received during reporting period 513
Outstanding from previous reporting periods:
  • outstanding from previous reporting period (8)
  • outstanding from more than 1 reporting period (1)
 9
Total 522
Closed during reporting period 404
Carried over to next reporting period 118
Table 11: 2.2 Channels of informal requests
Channels Number of requests
Online 116
Electronic mail 397
Mail 0
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 513
Table 12: 2.3 Completion time of informal 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
36 24 39 113 140 51 1 404
Table 13: 2.4 Pages released informally
Less than 100 pages released 100 to 500 pages released 501 to 1,000 pages released 1,001 to 5,000 pages released More than 5,000 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
Table 14: 2.5 Pages re-released informally
Less than 100 pages re-released 100 to 500 pages re-released 501 to 1,000 pages re-released 1,001 to 5,000 pages re-released More than 5,000 pages re-released
Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released
233 6,198 90 23,010 39 29,079 41 83,904 1 13,812

Section 3: Applications to the information commissioner on declining to act on requests

Table 15: Type and number of requests
Type Number of requests
Outstanding from previous reporting period 0
Sent during reporting period 0
Total 0
Approved by the information commissioner during reporting period 0
Declined by the information commissioner during reporting period 0
Withdrawn during reporting period 0
Carried over to next reporting period 0

Section 4: Requests closed during the reporting period

Table 16: 4.1 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 15 11 8 4 4 4 47
Disclosed in part 1 0 11 30 39 57 86 224
All exempted 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
All excluded 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
No records exist 12 40 28 4 3 1 3 91
Request transferred 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
Request abandoned 27 4 6 2 2 6 26 73
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Decline to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 47 62 56 45 49 69 119 447
Table 17: 4.2 Exemptions applied
Section Number of requests
13(1)(a) 0
13(1)(b) 0
13(1)(c) 3
13(1)(d) 1
13(1)(e) 0
14 0
14(a) 3
14(b) 2
15(1) 7
15(1)—International affairs 0
15(1)—Defence of Canada 2
15(1)—Subversive activities 0
16(1)(a)(i) 0
16(1)(a)(ii) 0
16(1)(a)(iii) 0
16(1)(b) 0
16(1)(c) 1
16(1)(d) 0
16(2) 15
16(2)(a) 0
16(2)(b) 1
16(2)(c) 33
16(3) 0
16.1(1)(a) 0
16.1(1)(b) 1
16.1(1)(c) 0
16.1(1)(d) 0
16.2(1) 0
16.3 0
16.4(1)(a) 0
16.4(1)(b) 0
16.5 0
16.6 0
17 3
18(a) 2
18(b) 44
18(c) 2
18(d) 22
18.1(1)(a) 0
18.1(1)(b) 0
18.1(1)(c) 0
18.1(1)(d) 0
19(1) 177
20(1)(a) 6
20(1)(b) 126
20(1)(b.1) 0
20(1)(c) 111
20(1)(d) 34
20.1 0
20.2 0
20.4 0
21(1)(a) 39
21(1)(b) 51
21(1)(c) 21
21(1)(d) 3
22 1
22.1(1) 0
23 48
23.1 0
24(1) 13
26 0
Table 18: 4.3 Exclusions applied
Section Number of requests
68(a) 1
68(b) 0
68(c) 0
68.1 0
68.2(a) 0
68.2(b) 0
69(1) 0
69(1)(a) 1
69(1)(b) 0
69(1)(c) 0
69(1)(d) 1
69(1)(e) 0
69(1)(f) 0
69(1)(g) re (a) 16
69(1)(g) re (b) 0
69(1)(g) re (c) 0
69(1)(g) re (d) 4
69(1)(g) re (e) 6
69(1)(g) re (f) 0
69.1(1) 0
Table 19: 4.4 Format of information released
Paper E-record Data set Video Audio Other
4 267 0 0 0 0

4.5 Complexity

Table 20: 4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and electronic records formats
Number of pages processed Number of pages disclosed Number of requests
102,390 77,062 349
Table 21: 4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-records formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 100 pages processed 101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000 pages processed 1,001 to 5,000 pages processed More than 5,000 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 37 508 8 1,574 1 610 1 1,454 0 0
Disclosed in part 113 3,997 63 14,126 26 19,977 18 33,629 4 26,268
All exempted 1 47 1 139 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 2 61 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 73 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 227 4,613 72 15,839 27 20,587 19 35,083 4 26,268
Table 22: 4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats
Number of minutes processed Number of minutes disclosed Number of requests
0 0 0
Table 23: 4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 60 minutes processed 60 to 120 minutes processed More than 120 minutes processed
Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0
Table 24: 4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats
Number of minutes processed Number of minutes disclosed Number of requests
0 0 0
Table 25: 4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 60 minutes processed 60 to 120 minutes processed More than 120 minutes processed
Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed Number of requests Minutes processed
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0
Table 26: 4.5.7 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation required Legal advice sought Other Total
All disclosed 4 0 8 12
Disclosed in part 151 5 52 208
All exempted 0 0 1 1
All excluded 0 1 0 1
Request abandoned 22 0 14 36
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 1 1
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 177 6 76 259

4.6 Closed requests

Table 27: 4.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines
Type Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines 142
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%) 31.76733781

4.7 Deemed refusals

Table 28: 4.7.1 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
305 193 28 7 77
Table 29: 4.7.2 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 22 2 24
16 to 30 days 21 2 23
31 to 60 days 15 7 22
61 to 120 days 37 13 50
121 to 180 days 29 9 38
181 to 365 days 35 14 49
More than 365 days 60 39 99
Total 219 86 305
Table 30: 4.8 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 5: Extensions

Table 31: 5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
Disposition of requests where an extension was taken 9(1)(a) Interference with operations/ workload 9(1)(b) Consultation 9(1)(c) Third-party notice
Section 69 Other
All disclosed 0 0 3 0
Disclosed in part 26 5 41 56
All exempted 0 0 1 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 11 0 10 13
No records exist 1 0 0 1
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 38 5 55 70
Table 32: 5.2 Length of extensions
Length of extensions 9(1)(a) Interference with operations/ workload 9(1)(b) Consultation 9(1)(c) Third-party notice
Section 69 Other
30 days or less 7 1 2 4
31 to 60 days 10 0 21 40
61 to 120 days 10 4 17 19
121 to 180 days 6 0 2 5
181 to 365 days 3 0 12 2
365 days or more 2 0 1 0
Total 38 5 55 70

Section 6: Fees

Table 33: Fees collected, waived and refunded
Fee type Fee collected Fee waived Fee refunded
Number of requests Amount Number of requests Amount Number of requests Amount
Application 376 $1,880.00 38 $190.00 5 $25.00
Other fees 0 $0.00 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Total 376 $1,880.00 38 $190.00 5 $25.00

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Table 34: 7.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations
Consultations Other Government of Canada institutions Number of pages to review Other organizations Number of pages to review
Received during reporting period 265 23,948 18 2,547
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 54 2,400 4 59
Total 319 26,348 22 2,606
Closed during the reporting period 253 24,771 18 2,600
Carried over within negotiated timelines 33 1,123 1 2
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines 33 454 3 4
Table 35: 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 9 26 35 39 7 6 2 124
Disclose in part 1 1 6 18 14 8 1 49
Exempt entirely 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Exclude entirely 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Consult other institution 0 4 6 6 1 2 3 22
Other 31 12 8 1 0 1 3 56
Total 41 44 56 64 22 17 9 253
Table 36: 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 2 0 6 4 0 0 0 12
Disclose in part 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 4
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Other 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 4 0 7 7 0 0 0 18

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

Table 37: 8.1 Requests with Legal Services
Number of days Fewer than 100 pages processed 101 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000 pages processed 1,001 to 5,000 pages processed More than 5,000 pages processed
Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed
1 to 15 1 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 3 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 3 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 12 70 1 174 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 1 5 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 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Total 20 125 2 174 1 0 0 0 0 0
Table 38: 8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office
Number of days Fewer than 100 pages processed 100 to 500 pages processed 501 to 1,000 pages processed 1,001 to 5,000 pages processed More than 5,000 pages processed
Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests Pages disclosed Number of requests 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: Investigations and reports of finding

Table 39: 9.1 Investigations
Section 32: Notice of intention to investigate Subsection 30(5): Ceased to investigate Section 35: Formal representations
36 24 47
Table 40: 9.2 Investigations and reports of finding-Section 37
Section 37(1): Initial reports Section 37(2): Final reports
Received Containing recommendations issued by the information commissioner Containing orders issued by the information commissioner Received Containing recommendations issued by the information commissioner Containing orders issued by the information commissioner
14 0 14 35 1 14

Section 10: Court action

Table 41: 10.1 Court actions on complaints
Section 41
Complainant (1) Institution (2) Third party (3) Privacy commissioner (4) Total
0 2 1 0 3
Table 42: 10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)
Section 44 under paragraph 28(1)(b)
1

Section 11: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Table 43: 11.1 Allocated costs
Expenditures Amount
Salaries $2,805,421
Overtime $21,571
Goods and services:
  • professional services contracts ($1,323,655)
  • other ($198,168)
 $1,521,823
Total $4,348,815
Table 44: 11.2 Human resources
Resources Person years dedicated to access to information activities
Full-time employees 34.000
Part-time and casual employees 1.950
Regional staff 0.000
Consultants and agency personnel 7.507
Students 0.000
Total 43.457

Annex C: Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

In this section

Name of institution: Public Services and Procurement Canada

Reporting period: April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023

Section 1: Capacity to receive requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Table 45: Number of weeks our institution was able to receive Access to Information and Privacy requests through the different channels
Channels Number of weeks
Able to receive requests by mail 52
Able to receive requests by email 52
Able to receive request through the digital request service 52

Section 2: Capacity to process records under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Table 46: 2.1 Number of weeks our institution was able to process paper records in different classification levels
Record classification Number of weeks at no capacity Number of weeks at partial capacity Number of weeks at full capacity Total number of weeks
Unclassified paper records 0 0 52 52
Protected B paper records 0 0 52 52
Secret and top secret paper records 0 0 52 52
Table 47: 2.2 Number of weeks our institution was able to process electronic records in different classification levels
Record classification Number of weeks at no capacity Number of weeks at partial capacity Number of weeks at full capacity Total number of weeks
Unclassified electronic records 0 0 52 52
Protected B electronic records 0 0 52 52
Secret and top secret electronic records 0 0 52 52

Section 3: Open requests and complaints under the Access to Information Act

Table 48: 3.1 Number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods
Fiscal year open requests were received Open requests that are within legislated timelines as of March 31, 2023 Open requests that are beyond legislated timelines as of March 31, 2023 Total
Received in 2022 to 2023 25 163 188
Received in 2021 to 2022 7 105 112
Received in 2020 to 2021 0 126 126
Received in 2019 to 2020 0 43 43
Received in 2018 to 2019 0 25 25
Received in 2017 to 2018 0 11 11
Received in 2016 to 2017 0 19 19
Received in 2015 to 2016 0 1 1
Received in 2014 to 2015 0 0 0
Received in 2013 to 2014 or earlier 0 0 0
Total 32 493 525
Table 49: 3.2 Number of open complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods
Fiscal year open complaints were received by institution Number of open complaints
Received in 2022 to 2023 22
Received in 2021 to 2022 64
Received in 2020 to 2021 23
Received in 2019 to 2020 4
Received in 2018 to 2019 1
Received in 2017 to 2018 0
Received in 2016 to 2017 0
Received in 2015 to 2016 0
Received in 2014 to 2015 0
Received in 2013 to 2014 or earlier 0
Total 114

Section 4: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

Table 50: 4.1 Number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods
Fiscal year open requests were received Open requests that are within legislated timelines as of March 31, 2023 Open requests that are beyond legislated timelines as of March 31, 2023 Total
Received in 2022 to 2023 42 13 55
Received in 2021 to 2022 0 2 2
Received in 2020 to 2021 0 2 2
Received in 2019 to 2020 0 2 2
Received in 2018 to 2019 0 1 1
Received in 2017 to 2018 0 0 0
Received in 2016 to 2017 0 0 0
Received in 2015 to 2016 0 0 0
Received in 2014 to 2015 0 0 0
Received in 2013 to 2014 or earlier 0 0 0
Total 42 20 62
Table 51: 4.2 Number of open complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods
Fiscal year open complaints were received by institution Number of open complaints
Received in 2022 to 2023 13
Received in 2021 to 2022 12
Received in 2020 to 2021 7
Received in 2019 to 2020 1
Received in 2018 to 2019 0
Received in 2017 to 2018 0
Received in 2016 to 2017 0
Received in 2015 to 2016 0
Received in 2014 to 2015 0
Received in 2013 to 2014 or earlier 0
Total 33

Section 5: Social insurance number

Table 52: New collection or new consistent use of the social insurance number
Question Answer
Has your institution begun a new collection or new consistent use of the social insurance number (SIN) in 2022 to 2023? No

Section 6: Universal access under the Privacy Act

Table 53: Requests received from confirmed foreign nationals outside of Canada
Question Answer
How many requests were received from confirmed foreign nationals outside of Canada in 2022 to 2023? 2

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2024-07-05