Access to Information Act - Annual Report 2024-2025

Introduction

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions, to promote an open and democratic society, and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions.

This Annual Report for 2024-2025 is presented to Parliament in accordance with section 94 of the Access to Information Act (ATIA), which requires government institutions to report annually on their administration of the Act.

The Secretariat of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP, or the Committee) assists the Committee in fulfilling its mandate. The mandate of the Committee is to review:

1. the legislative, regulatory, policy, administrative, and financial framework for national security and intelligence;
2. any activity carried out by a department or agency that relates to national security or intelligence, unless the activity is an ongoing operation, and the appropriate Minister determines that the review would be injurious to national security; and
3. any matter relating to national security or intelligence referred to it by a minister of the Crown.

To fulfill its mandate, the Committee is entitled to have access to any information, with few exceptions, that is under the control of a department and that is related to the fulfillment of the Committee’s mandate.

The Committee is required to submit to the Prime Minister an annual report of the reviews it conducted during the preceding year. It may also issue a special report at any time on any matter related to its mandate. A revised version of those reports must be laid before both Houses of Parliament.

Through the public reports and outreach activities to non-governmental organizations, academics and university students, the Secretariat and Committee aim to provide as much information to the public as possible, within the parameters of the NSICOP Act.

In 2024-2025, the Secretariat assisted the Committee in preparing and submitting its 2023 Annual Report and a Special Report on Foreign Interference in Canada’s Democratic Processes and Institutions to the Prime Minister. Both reports have been tabled in Parliament. The Secretariat also assisted the Committee in preparing and submitting its 2024 Annual Report and a Special Report on the Lawful Access to Communications by Security and Intelligence Organization to the Prime Minister. The Secretariat also supported the Committee’s initiation of a review of the role of the National Security and Intelligence Advisor to the Prime Minister.

Organizational structure

The Secretariat is led by an Executive Director, appointed by the Governor in Council, who oversees all administrative and operational matters. The Executive Director has delegated authority under the ATIA pursuant to a Delegation Order signed by the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. This empowers the Executive Director to exercise the powers and duties under the ATIA. The Executive Director delegated the coordination of and response to ATIA and Privacy Act requests to the Manager, Corporate and Administrative Services.

The Secretariat applies the policies and guidelines of the Treasury Board on access to information and privacy.

The Secretariat did not have any new or pre-existing service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act during this reporting period.

For a breakdown of the group(s) and/or position(s) responsible for meeting each applicable proactive publication requirement under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act, see the section “Proactive Publication under Part 2 of the ATIA, below.

Delegation order

The designated Minister for the purposes of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) as it applies to the Secretariat is the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (LGHC).

The Delegation Order was signed by the LGHC in 2023. The persons holding the positions or acting in the positions of Executive Director and Director of Operations have full delegation to exercise or perform any of the powers, duties, and functions under the ATIA.

Performance under Part 1 of the Access to Information Act, 2024-2025

Section 16.6 of the ATIA provides that the Secretariat of the NSICOP “shall refuse to disclose any record requested under this Part that contains information obtained or created by it or on its behalf in the course of assisting the Committee in fulfilling its mandate”.

During the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the Secretariat achieved a key institutional performance measure by responding to 100% of requests within the legislated timelines. This demonstrates the Secretariat’s strong commitment to efficiency, accountability, and adherence to statutory requirements.

During this period, the Secretariat received two requests for information which resulted in no documentation. Both requests were completed within 15 days.

The Secretariat does not currently have any active requests or complaints which are outstanding from previous reporting periods.

The Secretariat received five consultation requests from other government organizations during this period. Of these consultations, the Secretariat recommended the disclosure of the relevant document in its entirety for three requests which two were completed within 15 days and the other within 30 days.

For one request, the Secretariat recommended that the document be excluded entirely. This request was completed within 15 days. One request resulted in recommending that another institution be consulted and was completed within 15 days.

Training and awareness

All Secretariat employees are aware that the Secretariat is subject to the ATIA and are aware of their obligations pursuant to section 16.6 of the ATIA. No training was provided during the reporting period.

Policies, guidelines and procedures

Pursuant to section 20 of the NSICOP Act, the Committee adopted comprehensive internal procedures for the exercise of its powers or the performance of its duties and functions. Those procedures refer to the obligations of the Secretariat in processing ATIA requests.

Initiatives and projects to improve access to information

The Secretariat did not implement any initiatives or projects to improve access to information during this period.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

The Secretariat did not receive any complaints, and no complaint investigations were concluded during the reporting period.

Proactive publication under Part 2 of the ATIA

Proactive publication requirements table

All Government institutions as defined in section 3 of the Access to Information Act

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 (i.e. government institutions for which Treasury Board is the employer)

Ministers

Monitoring compliance

There is no requirement for specific monitoring of ATIA requests. The Executive Director is made aware of all requests as soon as received and their progress and treatment are closely monitored.

Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2025-03-31

Section 1 - Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Channel of requests

Section 2 - Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

2.2 Channels of informal requests

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

2.4 Pages released informally

2.5 Pages re-released informally

Section 3 - Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to act on requests

Section 4 - Requests closed during the reporting period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

4.2 Exemptions

4.3 Exclusions

4.4 Format of information released

4.5 Complexity

4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper, e-record and dataset formats

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

4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

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

4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

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

4.5.7 Other complexities

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines

4.7 Deemed refusals

4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated deadline

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

4.8 Requests for translation

Section 5 - Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of request

5.2 Length of extensions

Section 6 - Fees

Section 7 - Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

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

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

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

Section 8 - Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 9 - Investigations and reports of finding

9.1 Investigations

9.2 Investigations and reports of findings

Section 10 - Court action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)

Section 11 - Resources related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated costs

11.2 Human resources

Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

Name of institution: National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians

Reporting period: 2024-04-01 to 2025-03-31

Section 1: Requests carried over and active complaints Under Access to Information Act

1.1 Requests carried over to next reporting period, broken down by reporting period received

1.2 Active complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada, broken down by reporting period received

Section 2: Requests carried over and active complaints under the Privacy Act

2.1 Requests carried over to next reporting period, broken down by reporting period received

2.2 Active complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, broken down by reporting period received

Section 3: Social Insurance Number

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act