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Public Services and Procurement Canada
2023 to 2024 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, 2024.

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ISSN 2817-5662

On this page

Introduction

Public Services and Procurement Canada 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, 2023, and ending March 31, 2024.

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

Public Services and Procurement Canada, 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 2023 to 2024 fiscal year, 40.814 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and 2.130 FTEs casual employees administered the Access to Information Act with the support of 4.658 consultants, for a total complement of 47.602 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 the chart

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 the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC had a service agreement for the provision of corporate services to the Office of the Procurement Ombudsman (OPO) which included Access to Information services under section 96 of the Access to Information Act and section 73.1 of the Privacy Act. The ATIP Directorate was responsible for addressing potential concerns regarding OPO’s independence and perception of conflict of interest, including file segregation and limited access to OPO files. OPO was responsible for reviewing and confirming 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. The Policy, Planning and Communications Branch (PPCB) is responsible for the proactive publication process and works in collaboration with branches and regions within PSPC.

PPCB collaborates with the Finance Branch, the Human Resources Branch, the Procurement Branch and the Digital Services Branch to publish travel expenses, hospitality expenses, reports tabled in parliament, reclassification of positions, contracts over $10,000, grants and contributions over $25,000, and expense reports. The ATIP Directorate is also responsible for proactively publishing briefing materials prepared for the arrival of newly-appointed minister and deputy minister and for parliamentary committee appearances, question period notes, and briefing note titles.

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 October 23, 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 2023 to 2024

In this section

Requests received and closed

Volume of access to information requests received and closed by fiscal year — Text version below the chart

Text version

Chart summary: Requests received and 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
  • 2023 to 2024: 537 requests received, 617 requests closed

The department received a total of 537 requests pursuant to the Access to Information Act in the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, which represents an increase of 28.16% from the previous year. The majority of access to information requests received by the department during 2023 to 2024 were related to contracts, real property projects, as well as briefing material and management correspondence on various subjects.

Pages reviewed

Number of pages reviewed under the Access to Information Act by fiscal year — Text version below the chart

Text version
Table 1: Chart summary: Pages reviewed (in thousands)
Fiscal year Pages reviewed for requests under the Access to Information Act
2019 to 2020 466,000
2020 to 2021 272,000
2021 to 2022 118,000
2022 to 2023 102,000
2023 to 2024 232,000

In 2023 to 2024, PSPC reviewed 232,236 pages for requests received under the Access to Information Act.

Completion times

Percentage of access to information requests completed within certain timeframes — Text version below the chart

Text version
Table 2: Chart summary: Completion times
Completion time Access to information requests
Within 30 days 28.85%
31 to 60 days 10.05%
61 to 120 days 11.51%
121 days or more 49.59%

PSPC’s overall compliance rate for the 2023 to 2024 reporting period was 42.63% 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 28.85%. Given the nature of PSPC’s mandate as a service provider to other federal organizations, the department must often 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 42.63% is the result of the following factors:

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
2016 to 2017 0 11
2017 to 2018 0 11
2018 to 2019 0 18
2019 to 2020 0 23
2020 to 2021 0 61
2021 to 2022 3 60
2022 to 2023 3 37
2023 to 2024 184 32

At the end of the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC had a total of 443 active requests pursuant to the Access to Information Act that were outstanding from previous reporting periods. The majority of these active requests (85.78%) were received in the last 4 fiscal years, a third of which was due to the interruption of activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sources of requests

Volume and percentage of access to information requests received by source — Text version below the chart

Text version

Chart summary: Sources of requests

  • Media: 36 requests (6.70%)
  • Academia: 9 requests (1.68%)
  • Business: 150 requests (27.93%)
  • Organization: 8 requests (1.49%)
  • Public: 168 requests (31.28%)
  • Declined to identify: 166 requests (30.91%)

During the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC received the majority (90.12%) of its requests under the Access to Information Act from 3 sources:

Of note, the number of requests from individuals who declined to identify was more than 3 times the number of requests of the 2022 to 2023 reporting period, while the number of requests from academia and organization was significantly reduced.

Informal requests

Every month, 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, Canadian citizens or permanent residents can submit informal requests for a copy of previously released information without having to pay the application fee.

In reporting period 2023 to 2024, PSPC received 354 informal requests, which is a decrease from the 513 informal requests received during the previous reporting period.

Exemptions

Of 617 access to information requests that were closed in 2023 to 2024, the department invoked exemptions allowed under the Access to Information Act on 342 requests (55.43%) while all information was disclosed in 111 requests (18%). The remaining 164 (26.58%) requests were either abandoned, transferred, neither confirmed nor denied, or those for which no records existed.

The majority of exemptions invoked by PSPC fell under 4 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 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC applied 119 exclusions: 2 citing section 68, and 117 citing section 69.

Consultations

PSPC responded to 242 consultations from other government institutions and organizations for records relating to the department’s activities, which totalled 29,709 pages. A total of 56.20% of these consultation requests were completed within 60 days.

Extensions

Section 9 of the Access to Information Act permits the statutory time limits to be extended if consultations are necessary, if the request is for a large 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 229 extensions during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period. Extensions were required in 88 instances to complete consultations with third-party, in 58 instances to complete consultations with other government institutions, and in 17 instances to complete consultations with legal services. In addition, extensions were required in 66 instances due to a high volume of requests and a large volume of pages to review, the treatment of which would have otherwise interfered with operations.

Disposition

Volume and percentage of closed access to information requests by disposition decision — Text version below the chart

Text version

Chart summary: Request disposition

  • All disclosed: 111 requests (18%)
  • Disclosed in part: 327 requests (53%)
  • All exempted/all excluded, neither confirmed nor denied: 16 requests (2.59%)
  • Abandoned: 87 requests (14.10%)
  • Transferred, no records existed: 76 requests (12.32%)

Of all requests closed during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, a total of 71% were either disclosed in part (53%) or fully disclosed (18%). The balance of requests were abandoned (14.10%), transferred to another federal institution or requests for which no responsive records existed (12.32%). A small number of requests were all exempted, all excluded, or neither confirmed nor denied (2.59%).

Complaints

Active complaints

Number of access to information active complaints by fiscal year — Text version below the chart

Text version
Table 4: Chart summary: Active complaints
Fiscal year Access to information active complaints
2018 to 2019 1
2019 to 2020 2
2020 to 2021 17
2021 to 2022 31
2022 to 2023 17
2023 to 2024 48

At the end of the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC had a total of 116 active complaints with the OIC that were outstanding from previous reporting periods.

Complaints received and closed

During the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC was notified of 64 new complaints received by the OIC, and submitted formal representations for 44 active complaints received in the current or previous reporting period. Most of these complaints were related to delays or refusal of access.

The ATIP Directorate closed 13 complaint investigations for which it received a final report. Of these, 10 were deemed well-founded, 2 were deemed not well-founded, and 1 was settled or resolved to 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 2023 to 2024 reporting period, the ATIP Directorate continued to offer virtual training sessions and added hybrid sessions to support the hybrid workplace transition. These delivery formats gave the ATIP Directorate the ability to reach more participants throughout the country. They also encouraged active engagement and collaboration, either virtually or in person, while promoting ATIP trainings and tools on a larger scale within the department.

PSPC delivered 54 virtual training sessions and 9 hybrid sessions of the “Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals” course to 1,122 employees, representing an increase in the number of participants from the 2022 to 2023 reporting period.

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 2023 to 2024 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:

PSPC’s proactive publication processes and procedures continued to be effective in respecting legislated requirements and timelines. While slight adjustments to processes were made, no new policies, guidelines, or procedures were implemented during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period.

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 maintained 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 57 proactive publications during the 2023 to 2024 fiscal year:

PSPC’s overall compliance rate for proactive publication in the 2023 to 2024 reporting period was 96.5%. There was a delay in the publication of a list of memoranda titles due to the 2023 strike, and of a report of position reclassifications due to a process error which has since been identified and corrected.

PSPC also published the summaries of completed access to information requests on the open government portal  on a monthly basis.

Table 5: Proactive publication requirements table for all Government Institutions as defined in section 3 of the Access to Information Act
Legislative requirement Section Publication timeline Institutional requirement
Travel expenses 82 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement Government travel expenses
Hospitality expenses 83 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement Government hospitality expenses
Reports tabled in Parliament 84 Within 30 days after tabling Reports tabled in Parliament
Table 6: Proactive publication requirements table for 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
Legislative requirement Section Publication timeline Institutional requirement
Contracts over $10,000 86 Q1-3: Within 30 days after the quarter
Q4: Within 60 days after the quarter		 Government contracts over $10,000
Grants & Contributions over $25,000 87 Within 30 days after the quarter Grants and contributions
Packages of briefing materials prepared for new or incoming deputy heads or equivalent 88(a) Within 120 days after appointment Not applicable
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 Briefing note titles and numbers
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  Briefing materials
Table 7: Proactive publication requirements table for 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)
Legislative requirement Section Publication timeline Institutional requirement
Reclassification of positions 85 Within 30 days after the quarter Government position reclassifications
Table 8: Proactive publication requirements table for Ministers
Legislative requirement Section Publication timeline Institutional requirement
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for new or incoming ministers 74(a) Within 120 days after appointment Briefing materials
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 Briefing note titles and numbers
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 Question period notes
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 Briefing materials
Travel expenses 75 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement Government travel expenses
Hospitality expenses 76 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement Government hospitality expenses
Contracts over $10,000 77 Q1-3: Within 30 days after the quarter

Q4: Within 60 days after the quarter

 Government contracts over $10,000
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 Expenditures of ministers' offices

Initiatives and projects to improve access to information

In this section

Development Program

As in previous years, significant employee shortages continued to affect PSPC’s ATIP operations throughout reporting period 2023 to 2024. 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 reporting period 2023 to 2024, PSPC welcomed 2 ATIP Trainees (PM-01) to the program, promoted 1 participant from ATIP Trainee (PM-01) to Junior ATIP Officer (PM-02), and 2 participants from Junior ATIP Officer (PM-02) to ATIP Officer (PM-03) as they had acquired the necessary skills.

Backlog strategy

During the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, PSPC implemented its strategy to eliminate the backlog of access to information requests accumulated from the challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. This strategy is intended to unfold in phases with the goal of reducing request completion beyond legislated timelines by 75% in the coming years. The phases will be flexible and adjusted in accordance with operational needs.

In Phase 1, PSPC monitored and supported the processing of requests within legislated timelines. ATIP Trainees were hired and assigned to closing requests with a small volume of pages, freeing other employees for the completion of larger files, and enabling the ATIP Trainees to further develop their knowledge and skills. The initial goals of recruiting and onboarding Trainees and closing low-volume files were completed in the 2023 to 2024 reporting period.

Phases 2 and 3 were undertaken and progressed satisfactorily during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period. Concurrently with Phase 1, PSPC began the completion of requests beyond legislated timelines of less than 5,000 pages and complex filesfootnote 1. Additional resources were dedicated to assess and process requests beyond legislated timelines of more than 5,000 pages.

Through the various phases of this initiative, the ATIP Directorate reduced the initial backlog by 45%, reaching further than the halfway point of the established goal of reducing the backlog by 75%.

In Phase 4, PSPC will dedicate resources to the completion of requests beyond legislated timelines of more than 10,000 pages. In this final phase, PSPC will review the best practices established throughout the implementation of the strategy and develop the necessary tools and procedures for employees to maintain these best practices.

Technological improvements

PSPC continued to collaborate with stakeholders to advance the replacement of the current outdated request processing system and major milestones were achieved during the reporting period. 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 collaborated with Shared Services Canada in the Government of Canada Secret Infrastructure (GCSI) Expansion project to deploy classified information from the current local system to the GCSI. This involved the analysis of current information holdings and the destruction of information resources of business value past their retention date.

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 department-wide responses to motions for the production of papers emanating from parliament and 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 PSPC transparency webpage.

In addition, the department routinely publishes a significant volume of information on the official source for Government of Canada procurement, canadabuys, which increases the availability of frequently requested information.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

Most complaints PSPC received during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period were related to delays or refusal of access. 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 reporting period 2023 to 2024, PSPC refined its tiered response process. This process’ objective is to increase the efficiency of responses to orders issued pursuant to Section 37 of the Access to Information Act emanating from the Information Commissioner’s initial reports. It is based on an analysis of the severity and possible impacts of the order to adjust response letter at the appropriate level. This tiered process helped ensure PSPC’s compliance with the orders, notably through the use of newly-developed tools and resources to support all involved stakeholders in the fulfillment of legal requirements.

Appeal to the Federal Court of Canada

There were 5 new applications filed with the Federal Court of Canada against PSPC pursuant to section 44 of the Access to Information Act during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period.

In November 2022, PSPC filed a notice of application to review the Information Commissioner’s order to release records to a requester. The case was heard during the 2023 to 2024 reporting period and the decision is expected in the next fiscal year.

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 2023 to 2024, PSPC collected $2,325 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 $335 in application fees. The total operating cost of the ATIP program at PSPC for fiscal year 2023 to 2024 was $5,208,896.

Monitoring compliance

During the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, the ATIP Directorate produced weekly summary reports of new access to information requests received and requests soon to be disclosed. Weekly “snapshot” reports containing statistics on the number of requests received and processed were also provided to senior management, in addition to briefing materials. These reports were intended to further support monitoring of incoming and outgoing requests and increase compliance within the department.

In addition to these practices, the ATIP Directorate had 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. Furthermore, the implementation of the backlog strategy included an analysis of the volume and the complexity of requests beyond legislative timelines which was reported to senior management.

During the 2023 to 2024 reporting period, ATIP Officers regularly communicated with OPIs to monitor the time taken to process requests, ensuring that the ATIP Directorate assessed required extensions in a timely manner. 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 was 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 reporting period 2023 to 2024, 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. Furthermore, senior management throughout the department regularly monitored compliance to ensure the accuracy and completeness of proactively published information.

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

Table 9: Access to Information Act and its regulations for the Department minister and senior executives
Position titles Access to Information Act Access to Information regulations
Minister Full Full
Deputy minister Full Full
Associate Deputy minister Full Full
Table 10: Access to Information Act and its regulations for the Department Policy, Planning and Communications Branch
Position titles Access to Information Act Access to Information regulations
Senior departmental manager Full Full
Director general Full Full
Senior director Full Full
Director Full Full
Manager Restrictedtable 10 note 1 Full
Supervisor Restrictedtable 10 note 2 Restrictedtable 10 note 3
Officer Restrictedtable 10 note 4 Not applicable

Table 10 Notes

Table 10 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 10 note 1 referrer

Table 10 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 10 note 2 referrer

Table 10 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 10 note 3 referrer

Table 10 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 10 note 4 referrer

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 Jean-Yves Duclos

Minister Public Services and Procurement

Signed October 23, 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, 2023 to March 31, 2024

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

Table 11: 1.1 Number of requests
Type Number of requests
Received during reporting period 537
Outstanding from previous reporting periods:
  • outstanding from previous reporting period (187)
  • outstanding from more than 1 reporting period (336)
 523
Total 1060
Closed during reporting period 617
Carried over to next reporting period:
  • carried over within legislated timeline (190)
  • carried over beyond legislated timeline (253)
 443
Table 12: 1.2 Sources of requests
Source Number of requests
Media 36
Academia 9
Business (private sector) 150
Organization 8
Public 168
Decline to identify 166
Total 537
Table 13: 1.3 Channels of requests
Channels Number of requests
Online 483
E-mail 38
Mail 16
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 537

Section 2: Informal requests

Table 14: 2.1 Number of informal requests
Type Number of requests
Received during reporting period 354
Outstanding from previous reporting periods:
  • outstanding from previous reporting period (9)
  • outstanding from more than 1 reporting period (109)
 118
Total 472
Closed during reporting period 351
Carried over to next reporting period 121
Table 15: 2.2 Channels of informal requests
Channels Number of requests
Online 195
E-mail 153
Mail 6
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 354
Table 16: 2.3 Completion time of informal requests
Completion time Number of informal requests
1 to 15 days 35
16 to 30 days 46
31 to 60 days 49
61 to 120 days 72
121 to 180 days 12
181 to 365 days 87
More than 365 days 50
Total 351
Table 17: 2.4 Pages released informally
Volume of pages released Number of requests Pages released
Less than 100 0 0
100 to 500 0 0
501 to 1,000 0 0
1,001 to 5,000 0 0
More than 5,000 0 0
Table 18: 2.5 Pages re-released informally
Volume of pages re-released Number of requests Pages re-released
Less than 100 254 4,148
100 to 500 68 18,004
501 to 1,000 18 12,730
1,001 to 5,00 11 18,158
More than 5,000 0 0

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

Table 19: 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 20: 4.1 Disposition and completion time
Disposition of 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
All disclosed 3 41 28 14 10 9 6 111
Disclosed in part 1 29 18 42 44 62 131 327
All exempted 0 0 0 1 0 1 5 7
All excluded 1 0 1 4 1 0 1 8
No records exist 11 39 7 5 0 0 4 66
Request transferred 8 1 0 0 1 0 0 10
Request abandoned 33 10 8 5 2 1 28 87
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 57 121 62 71 58 73 175 617

Use these filters to narrow down the results in the 4.2 Exemptions applied table below.

Table 21: 4.2 Exemptions applied
Section Number of requests
13(1)(a) 14
13(1)(b) 0
13(1)(c) 1
13(1)(d) 0
13(1)(e) 0
14 1
14(a) 4
14(b) 3
15(1) 18
15(1)—International affairs 3
15(1)—Defence of Canada 5
15(1)—Subversive activities 0
16(1)(a)(i) 0
16(1)(a)(ii) 0
16(1)(a)(iii) 0
16(1)(b) 1
16(1)(c) 1
16(1)(d) 0
16(2) 17
16(2)(a) 0
16(2)(b) 0
16(2)(c) 49
16(3) 0
16.1(1)(a) 0
16.1(1)(b) 0
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 1
18(a) 1
18(b) 39
18(c) 0
18(d) 12
18.1(1)(a) 0
18.1(1)(b) 1
18.1(1)(c) 0
18.1(1)(d) 0
19(1) 271
20(1)(a) 2
20(1)(b) 215
20(1)(b.1) 0
20(1)(c) 166
20(1)(d) 36
20.1 0
20.2 0
20.4 0
21(1)(a) 48
21(1)(b) 61
21(1)(c) 25
21(1)(d) 4
22 2
22.1(1) 1
23 41
23.1 0
24(1) 47
26 1
Table 22: 4.3 Exclusions applied
Section Number of requests
68(a) 2
68(b) 0
68(c) 0
68.1 0
68.2(a) 0
68.2(b) 0
69(1) 3
69(1)(a) 7
69(1)(b) 2
69(1)(c) 0
69(1)(d) 7
69(1)(e) 5
69(1)(f) 0
69(1)(g) re (a) 42
69(1)(g) re (b) 0
69(1)(g) re (c) 23
69(1)(g) re (d) 11
69(1)(g) re (e) 16
69(1)(g) re (f) 1
69.1(1) 0
Table 23: 4.4 Format of information released
Paper E-record Dataset Video Audio Other
3 435 0 0 0 0

4.5 Complexity

Table 24: 4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper, e-records and dataset formats
Number of pages processed Number of pages disclosed Number of requests
232,236 187,271 541
Table 25: 4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper, e-records and dataset 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 88 1,895 14 3,421 3 2,629 4 12,010 2 63,649
Disclosed in part 152 5,432 118 28,692 22 16,045 31 61,840 4 25,810
All exempted 4 50 1 170 0 0 2 2,678 0 0
All excluded 6 72 2 598 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 82 0 2 646 0 0 3 6,599 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 333 7,449 137 33,527 25 18,674 40 83,127 6 89,459
Table 26: 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 27: 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 28: 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 29: 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 30: 4.5.7 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation required Legal advice sought Other Total
All disclosed 10 0 14 24
Disclosed in part 174 3 28 205
All exempted 4 0 0 4
All excluded 1 0 1 2
Request abandoned 14 2 10 26
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 203 5 53 261

4.6 Closed requests

Table 31: 4.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines
Type Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines 263
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%) 42.62560778

4.7 Deemed refusals

Table 32: 4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines
Principal reason Number of requests closed past the legislated timelines
Interference with operations / workload 199
External consultation 23
Internal consultation 3
Other 129
Total 354
Table 33: 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 14 3 17
16 to 30 days 15 2 17
31 to 60 days 19 2 21
61 to 120 days 47 1 48
121 to 180 days 33 8 41
181 to 365 days 46 4 50
More than 365 days 95 65 160
Total 269 85 354
Table 34: 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 35: 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 Section 69		 9(1)(b)
Consultation Other		 9(1)(c)
Third-party notice
All disclosed 8 0 1 7
Disclosed in part 40 12 45 67
All exempted 0 0 0 0
All excluded 1 1 1 0
Request abandoned 16 4 10 14
No records exist 1 0 1 0
Declined to act with the approval of the information commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 66 17 58 88
Table 36: 5.2 Length of extensions
Length of extensions 9(1)(a)
Interference with operations/ workload		 9(1)(b)
Consultation Section 69		 9(1)(b)
Consultation Other		 9(1)(c)
Third-party notice
30 days or less 23 0 5 1
31 to 60 days 10 2 10 52
61 to 120 days 9 5 23 22
121 to 180 days 6 9 8 6
181 to 365 days 12 0 10 7
365 days or more 6 1 2 0
Total 66 17 58 88

Section 6: Fees

Table 37: 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 465 $2,325.00 48 $240.00 19 $95.00
Other fees 0 $0.00 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Total 465 $2,325.00 48 $240.00 19 $95.00

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Table 38: 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 199 18,204 8 2,571
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 66 11,577 4 117
Total 265 29,781 12 2,688
Closed during the reporting period 232 27,043 10 2,666
Carried over within negotiated timelines 25 2,313 1 18
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines 8 425 1 4
Table 39: 7.2 Recommendations and number of days required to complete consultation requests received from other Government of Canada institutions
Recommendation 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 10 28 34 4 3 4 92
Disclose in part 0 1 15 17 7 5 4 49
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 1 5 15 14 0 0 0 35
Other 25 8 13 4 1 2 3 56
Total 35 24 71 69 12 10 11 232
Table 40: 7.3 Recommendations and number of days required to complete consultation requests received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada
Recommendation 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 1 2 0 1 0 4
Disclose in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Consult other institution 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3
Other 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2
Total 1 3 2 2 0 1 1 10

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

Table 41: 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 5 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 11 204 0 0 1 10 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 10 192 2 178 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 7 138 1 135 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 0 0 1 272 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 34 560 4 585 1 10 0 0 0 0
Table 42: 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 43: 9.1 Investigations
Section 32: Notice of intention to investigate Subsection 30(5): Ceased to investigate Section 35: Formal representations
64 44 33
Table 44: 9.2 Investigations and Reports of finding - Section 37
Section Received Containing recommendations issued by the information commissioner Containing orders issued by the information commissioner
37(1): Initial reports 9 0 9
37(2): Final reports 13 0 6

Section 10: Court action

Table 45: 10.1 Court actions on complaints - Section 41
Complainant (1) Institution (2) Third party (3) Privacy commissioner (4) Total
0 0 0 0 0
Table 46: 10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)
Section 44 under paragraph 28(1)(b)
5

Section 11: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Table 47: 11.1 Allocated costs
Expenditures Amount
Salaries $4,061,859
Overtime $1,645
Goods and services:
  • professional services contracts ($675,423)
  • other ($469,969)
 $1,145,392
Total $5,208,896
Table 48: 11.2 Human resources
Resources Person years dedicated to access to information activities
Full-time employees 40.814
Part-time and casual employees 2.130
Regional staff 0.000
Consultants and agency personnel 4.658
Students 0.000
Total 47.602

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, 2023 to March 31, 2024

Section 1: Open requests and complaints under the Access to Information Act

Table 49: 1.1 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, 2024 Open requests that are beyond legislated timelines as of March 31, 2024 Total
Received in 2023 to 2024 184 32 216
Received in 2022 to 2023 3 37 40
Received in 2021 to 2022 3 60 63
Received in 2020 to 2021 0 61 61
Received in 2019 to 2020 0 23 23
Received in 2018 to 2019 0 18 18
Received in 2017 to 2018 0 11 11
Received in 2016 to 2017 0 11 11
Received in 2015 to 2016 0 0 0
Received in 2014 to 2015 or earlier 0 0 0
Total 190 253 443
Table 50: 1.2 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 2023 to 2024 48
Received in 2022 to 2023 17
Received in 2021 to 2022 31
Received in 2020 to 2021 17
Received in 2019 to 2020 2
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 or earlier 0
Total 116

Section 2: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

Table 51: 2.1 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, 2024 Open requests that are beyond legislated timelines as of March 31, 2024 Total
Received in 2023 to 2024 35 0 35
Received in 2022 to 2023 0 1 1
Received in 2021 to 2022 0 1 1
Received in 2020 to 2021 0 2 2
Received in 2019 to 2020 0 1 1
Received in 2018 to 2019 0 0 0
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 or earlier 0 0 0
Total 35 5 40
Table 52: 2.2 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 2023 to 2024 6
Received in 2022 to 2023 2
Received in 2021 to 2022 3
Received in 2020 to 2021 5
Received in 2019 to 2020 2
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 or earlier 0
Total  18

Section 3: Social insurance number

Table 53: New collection or new consistent use of the social insurance number (SIN)
Question Answer
Has your institution begun a new collection or new consistent use of the SIN in 2023 to 2024? No

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act

Table 54: Requests received from confirmed foreign nationals outside of Canada
Question Answer
How many requests were received from confirmed foreign nationals outside of Canada in 2023 to 2024? 0

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2024-11-15