Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information and Privacy 2011-2012

Welcome to Shared Services Canada

Shared Services Canada (SSC) was created in August 2011 to fundamentally transform how the Government of Canada manages its information technology (IT) infrastructure. It is mandated to streamline and reduce duplication in the Government's IT infrastructure services while strengthening the security of government and Canadian data. Under this dual mandate, SSC is providing its partner organizations with modern, reliable and secure IT infrastructure services that are cost-effective and which contribute to a greener government. In the process, it is building a new organization from the ground up.

Through SSC, the Government will move to a single e-mail system, consolidate its data centres from over 300 to less than 20 and streamline its electronic networks. SSC will now deliver e-mail, data centre and network services to 43 organizations on a mandatory basis.

The new department will also support the Government’s Workplace 2.0 efforts, enabling a more mobile, connected, collaborative and efficient work force. This will improve services to Canadians, make IT more secure and reliable, and save taxpayers’ dollars.

Shared Services Canada (SSC) places paramount importance on access operations and governance. SSC provides access to information with the purpose, and manner, set forth in the Access to Information Act (the Act), specifically, “to extend 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.”

Tabled in Parliament

SSC is pleased to table its first Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Access to Information Act for the fiscal year 2011–2012. This annual report is submitted in accordance with sections 72(1) and 72(2) of the Act.

Departmental Mandate and Priorities

SSC is mandated to simultaneously operate and transform the government’s IT infrastructure. Under the umbrella of that dual authority, SSC is responsible for providing its partner institutions with modern, reliable and secure IT infrastructure services that are cost-effective and which contribute to a greener government. In the process, it is building a new organization from the ground up.

SSC has identified the following four priorities for 2012–2013:

1. From an operational perspective, SSC is stabilizing IT service delivery across the Government of Canada. With a focus on business continuity, it is maintaining existing service levels while working to improve them. SSC is supporting a significant number of projects in cooperation with its partners which will both modernize and streamline today’s IT operations. This is delivering early results, facilitating SSC’s contribution to the government’s deficit reduction efforts, and enabling it to plan and build capacity to take on the larger, more complex transformative initiatives.
   
2. SSC will be launching the renewal of the Government of Canada’s IT infrastructure. Working collaboratively with its partners, SSC is identifying an email solution and developing initial plans to consolidate data centres and networks in a whole-of-government approach. Additionally, as a key security services delivery organization, SSC will work collaboratively with other cyber-security agencies to enhance information security across the Government of Canada in order to support the implementation of the federal government’s new cyber-security strategy.
   
3. SSC will take advantage of every opportunity to work with partners to fulfill its mandate and realize its objective of improving delivery of services to Canadians in a secure, reliable and integrated manner. Partner departments and agencies have developed many innovative processes, principles and tools over the years and SSC will mine that expertise and leverage best practices. Collaborating and maintaining an open, transparent and meaningful dialogue with industry on IT modernization will also be a critical component of SSC’s success. SSC has mapped an engagement process that focuses on developing a sustainable and substantive relationship with the private sector.
4. As a new department, SSC is creating a dynamic corporate culture – one that builds on a broader public service ethos to embrace innovation as part of its brand. Supporting and challenging SSC employees is central to that undertaking. Working together as a community, SSC will deliver service excellence, innovation and value for money as it builds a modern, reliable and secure IT platform for the Government of Canada.

While SSC employees are currently embedded in 43 partner institutions in order to provide services relating to network infrastructure, email and telecommunications, it is understood that:

• Data housed in SSC-managed servers will be segregated by government institution and access rights will not change.
• The 43 partner institutions are responsible for the creation, maintenance, use, disclosure and disposal of their electronic information holdings.
• From an access to information and privacy (ATIP) perspective, SSC does not have control and ownership over records stored in the shared IT infrastructure.
• Processing ATIP requests of records of the partner institutions remains the responsibility of the respective ATIP Offices.
• The SSC ATIP Office will process only those records under SSC control. However, given the devolution of responsibilities to SSC and thus the shared interest, consultations with the 43 partner institutions will inevitably be a large part of our ATIP process.

When Shared Services Canada (SSC) was created by Order in Council on August 4, 2011, it was also made subject to the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. However, during the reporting period 2011-2012, SSC was assisted by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) for the processing of requests for records relevant to SSC.

Through a Business Continuity Framework, a cooperative arrangement with partner institutions ensured the continuity of operations while SSC was being established. This framework also ensured that all corporate, administrative and other support functions continued during the transition, such as for the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act by PWGSC.

As such, the PWGSC ATIP Office included in its annual report for the reporting period 2011-2012 the statistics pertaining to the processing of SSC access requests received until March 31, 2012. For further details, see the 1Statistical Reporting section on page 8.

Delegated Authority

On April 2, 2012, the President of SSC delegated full responsibilities under the Access to Information Act to the Director of the Access to Information and Privacy Protection Division (the ATIP Office) pursuant to section 73 of the Acts. (The SSC Designation Order for the Access to Information Act is included in Annex A.)

Start-up of SSC ATIP Office

Since April 2012, the SSC ATIP Office has been a stand-alone ATIP Office responding to requests and providing guidance concerning access to information and privacy matters.

With the first order of business completed vis-à-vis the creation of the internal delegation instruments, the second order of business was to establish the ATIP Liaison Officer process which provides a single gateway into each SSC Branch and Directorate in order to streamline the ATIP tasking process. Once the Liaison Officers were identified, the next order of business was to develop and provide hands-on training in order for them to have the necessary knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities to effectively coordinate the ATIP taskings within their respective areas.

The ATIP Office is also actively working on various start-up projects to meet legislative and policy requirements such as publishing the summary of the text of completed Access to Information Act requests, publishing the SSC chapter for Info Source, providing annual ATIP statistical reports to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) and preparing the ATIP Annual Reports to Parliament.

ATIP Office Organization

The Operations Section within the ATIP Office is responsible for processing requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. This includes liaising with subject-matter experts within SSC, performing a line-by-line review of records requested under the legislation and conducting external consultations as required to balance between Canadians’ rights of access and the government’s need to safeguard certain information in limited and specific cases. The Operations Section provides briefings for senior departmental officials as required on a case-by-case basis. This Section is also the main point of contact with the Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada with respect to the resolution of complaints pertaining to both Acts.

The Policy and Governance Section provides policy advice and guidance on access to information and the protection of personal information to SSC officials across its Branches and Directorates. This section also prepares and distributes weekly reports on the status of ATIP requests. It is responsible for assisting program officials when they draft personal information sharing agreements and privacy impacts assessments to ensure that the applicable privacy laws are respected. It responds to legal instruments in which the Department is asked to share personal information, (i.e., subpoenas, court orders, search warrants), and liaises with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner on issues such as privacy breaches. It has the privilege of liaising with employees and prepares/delivers training and awareness sessions throughout the Department. The Policy and Governance section coordinates the Department’s annual reporting requirements and SSC’s input into the TBS annual update of its Info Source publication. In addition, this section develops products and tools related to ATIP processing. It provides standards and guidance to the Department on key ATIP issues and. It also has the lead for the TBS Management Accountability Framework lines of evidence 12.4 Access to Information, 12.5 Privacy and 12.6 ATIP Governance and Capacity.

ATIP Training

SSC is building an entire department from the ground up and appreciates the importance of placing emphasis on its people and culture. That is why the ATIP Office is delivering ATIP Liaison Officer training as well as general ATIP Awareness sessions to departmental officials at all levels to ensure that employees are aware of their roles and responsibilities vis-à-vis ATIP compliance.

Underlying Principles for the ATIP Process

The SSC ATIP process is based on best practices within the federal ATIP community which will enable the division to meet the challenges of responding to Access to Information Act requests for access and consultations in a timely manner.

The ATIP Office instituted its processes based on the following principles for duty to assist applicants:

• process requests without regard for identity of the applicant;
• offer reasonable assistance throughout the request process;
• make every reasonable effort to locate and retrieve the requested records under the control of the institution;
• apply limited and specific exemptions to the requested records;
• provide accurate and complete responses;
• provide timely access;
• provide records in the format and official language requested, as appropriate; and
• provide an appropriate location within the institution to examine the requested information.

Control of Records and 43 Partner Institutions

SSC ATIP processes those records that relate to its own internal departmental business. The 43 partner institutions’ access rights have not changed and they continue to be responsible for the creation, maintenance, use, disclosure and disposal of their electronic information holdings. (See list of partner institutions under Annex B.)

While SSC does not have control and ownership over institutions’ records stored in the shared IT infrastructure, given the devolution of responsibilities and thus the shared interest, consultations with the 43 partner institutions will inevitably be on-going when processing ATIP requests. From an operational perspective, standardized processes will need to be established to avoid inadvertent delays.

Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Given that a budget was not allocated to the SSC ATIP Office prior to April 1, 2012, the only amount reported is the actual amount of salary dollars paid in 2011 2012 for two employees joining late in the fiscal year to begin the start-up process. That is, one full-time person worked 2.5 months and a second full-time person worked less than 0.5 months: 2.9 months divided by 12 months/year = 0.24 FTEs. These resources and the associated salary amount of $25,354.54 were used for the administration of both Acts. As such, they are distributed equally between both SSC ATIP annual reports, that is $12,677.00 for each Act.

Complaints and Judicial Reviews

The Department did not receive any complaint notifications from the Office of the Information Commissioner in 2011-2012, nor was SSC notified of any applicants asking for judicial review.

1. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
2. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
3. Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
4. Canada Border Services Agency
5. Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions
6. Canada Revenue Agency
7. Canada School of Public Service
8. Canadian Food Inspection Agency
9. Canadian Heritage
10. Canadian International Development Agency
11. Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
12. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
13. Canadian Space Agency
14. Citizenship and Immigration Canada
15. Correctional Service Canada
16. Department of Finance Canada
17. Department of Justice Canada
18. Environment Canada
19. Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
20. Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada
21. Fisheries and Oceans Canada
22. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
23. Health Canada
24. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
25. Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
26. Industry Canada
27. Infrastructure Canada
28. Library and Archives Canada
29. National Defence
30. National Research Council Canada
31. Natural Resources Canada
32. Parks Canada
33. Privy Council Office
34. Public Health Agency of Canada
35. Public Safety Canada
36. Public Service Commission of Canada
37. Public Works and Government Services Canada
38. Royal Canadian Mounted Police
39. Statistics Canada
40. Transport Canada
41. Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
42. Veterans Affairs Canada
43. Western Economic Diversification Canada

TBS/SCT 350-62
Name of institution: Shared Services Canada
Reporting period: 2011-08-04 to 2012-03-31

Reporting period: 01/04/2011 to 31/03/2012

Part 1 – Requests under the Access to Information Act

Part 2 - Requests closed during the reporting

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 4 - Fees

Part 6 - Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

Part 7 - Resources related to the Access to Information Act

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