Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2016–2017

Introduction

4Access to Information Act

The web1 Access to Information Act came into effect on July 1, 1983, giving the public a right of access to information contained in government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

Section 72 of the 5Access to Information Act requires that the head of every government institution submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act within the institution for the past fiscal year. It is under this provision that the present annual report is tabled in Parliament.

The present annual report describes how Shared Services Canada administered the 6Access to Information Act for the period from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.

Institutional Mandate and Organization

Mandate

Shared Services Canada (SSC) was created on August 4, 2011 to transform how the Government of Canada manages its information technology (IT) infrastructure. SSC delivers email, data centre, network and workplace technology device services to departments and agencies in a consolidated and standardized manner to support the delivery of Government of Canada programs and services. With a whole of government approach to IT infrastructure services, SSC is generating economies of scale to deliver more efficient, reliable and secure IT infrastructure services. SSC also provides certain optional technology services to other organizations on a cost-recovery basis.

The Shared Services Canada Act recognizes that the Government of Canada wishes to standardize and streamline, within a single shared services entity, certain administrative services that support government institutions. Through orders-in-council (OIC), the Department received specific responsibilities in the area of IT infrastructure services.

SSC’s focus is to maintain and improve IT service delivery across the Government of Canada, enhance security, and implement government-wide solutions to transform IT infrastructure to improve value for money and services to Canadians.

SSC is working with the information and communications technology sector to deliver an enterprise-wide email system, consolidate and modernize government data centres, and transform telecommunications services. Budget 2013 further expanded SSC’s mandate, adding the consolidation of government-wide procurement of software and hardware for workplace technology devices (e.g. printers, and desktop and laptop computers).

SSC contributes to the achievement of other critically important Government of Canada initiatives, including border security, benefit payments and weather forecasting, as well as the vision of the future public service as articulated in Blueprint 2020. In addition, SSC works collaboratively with Government of Canada cyber security agencies to improve cyber and IT security.

As of September 1, 2015, OIC 2015-1071 provides SSC with the authority to offer any or all of its services to any federal government entity on a voluntary basis, as well as to another Canadian jurisdiction or a foreign government, as long as there are no additional costs incurred or additional resources allocated by SSC. The OIC also expands the mandatory nature of a sub-set of SSC services related to email, data centres and networks to a range of new clients. Most small departments and agencies previously not served, or served only on an optional basis, are set out as mandatory clients for this sub-set of services.

Delegated Authority

In August 2015, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act, the President authorized the delegation instrument by reconfirming full powers, duties and functions under the Act to levels down to and including the Director of the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Protection Division, hereafter referred to as the ATIP Division ( see Annex B).

ATIP Division Structure

Words of Recognition

The SSC ATIP Division was founded on experience and guided by service excellence. The ATIP Division’s success since its creation in April 2012 is a direct result of the level of experience and calibre of the two deputy directors who were recruited five years ago. Specifically, the Deputy Director for ATIP Operations (Johanne Daigle) as well as the Deputy Director for ATIP Policy and Governance (Lorraine Richer) were instrumental in building the SSC ATIP Division by ensuring that the right people, tools, policies and procedures were in place to meet all ATIP legislative and policy obligations.

This reporting period involved a very successful succession plan exercise in preparation of the retirement of these two key members of the SSC ATIP Management team. Both Johanne and Lorraine were actively involved in the staffing processes to recruit their replacements and, once the two new deputy directors were in place, they ensured the necessary transfer of knowledge with their mentoring and coaching. Their engagement in the process resulted in a very smooth transition for the ATIP Division, its staff and SSC as a whole. The succession plan exercise also permitted both retirees to work closely with the Corporate Secretary to advance various SSC internal services projects.

Shared Services Canada and the federal ATIP community have been most fortunate to have had such dedicated and competent people. Kudos to them for their relentless commitment to all aspects associated with the principles of fair information handling practices, the concept of openness, transparency and accountability in a democratic society, the human right to privacy, as well as the public’s right to have access to government records with limited exceptions. They will be missed and the SSC ATIP Division wishes them the very best in this next stage of their lives.

Dedicated to ATIP Excellence

The ATIP Division is responsible for developing, coordinating, implementing and monitoring compliance with effective ATIP-related policies, guidelines, systems and procedures across SSC. This enables SSC to meet the requirements and to fulfill its obligations under the Access to Information Act and its accompanying piece of legislation, the Privacy Act.

The main activities of the ATIP Division are as follows:

• Receiving, co-ordinating and processing requests under the Access to Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act;
• Responding to consultations from other government institutions regarding SSC information under consideration for release;
• Developing and maintaining SSC-specific policy instruments in support of access and privacy legislation;
• Developing and delivering ATIP awareness and training across SSC so that employees and management understand their roles and responsibilities;
• Supporting a network of ATIP liaison officers across SSC who assist with requests by co-ordinating the retrieval of records and recommendations from within their branch or region;
• Monitoring institutional compliance with both Acts and their regulations, as well as relevant procedures and policies;
• Preparing annual reports to Parliament on the administration of the Acts, as well as other material that may be required by central agencies;
• Representing SSC in dealings with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and the Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada regarding the application of both Acts as they relate to SSC;
• Supporting SSC in meeting its commitments to openness and transparency through the proactive disclosure of information and the release of information via informal avenues, such as the Open Government portal;
• Supporting the Corporate Secretariat’s Business Process Transformation by simplifying the access to information request process to ensure timeliness and quality review of the information;
• Monitoring ATIP tasking performance and reporting to senior management on a monthly basis; and
• Participating in whole-of-government initiatives for the federal ATIP community.

The administration of the Acts by the ATIP Division is facilitated at the branch and directorate level of SSC. Each organizational branch and directorate has an ATIP Liaison Officer who coordinates the collection of requested information and provides guidance to branch and directorate managers on the application of the Acts.

Interpretation of the Statistical Report—Access to Information Requests and Consultations

The Statistical Report (Annex C) on the administration of the Access to Information Act provides a summary of the access to information requests and consultations processed during the 2016–2017 reporting period.

Overview of Workload (Annex C, Part 1, Table 1.1 and Table 1.3; Part 2, Table 2.5.1; Part 5, Table 5.1)

During the reporting period, the ATIP Division received 278 formal requests under the Access to Information Act, 125 consultations from other government institutions and 298 informal requests, and carried over 30 requests from the previous reporting period.

The volume of requests received under the Access to Information Act during this reporting period has increased compared to the previous reporting period (in which 222 requests had been received). The number of pages processed by the ATIP Division increased considerably in comparison to the previous year, demonstrating an increase from 107,154 to approximately 261,231 pages processed in 2016–2017. While the completion of a very voluminous procurement-related request received in a previous reporting period contributed to the increase in pages processed in 2016–2017, the increase in requests processed in the current period nonetheless accounts for a 31 percent increase in pages processed in comparison to what was previously reported. This increase is significant given that 28 percent of the requests processed in the current period were either transferred, abandoned or did not yield relevant records.

The ATIP Division ensures that it monitors on a weekly basis its turnaround times in processing requests and tracks the timeliness of their completion. Performance reports are communicated to senior management on a monthly basis. In this reporting period, only two Access to Information Act requests were not completed within legislated timelines.

Requests Received (Annex C, Part 1, Table 1.1)

During this reporting period, 278 requests were received under the Access to Information Act. In addition, 30 requests from the previous reporting period were carried forward, for a total of 308 requests requiring action in this reporting period, a 15 percent increase from the previous reporting period.

Source of Requests Received (Annex C, Part 1, Table 1.2)

The largest portion of the requests received during the reporting period originated from the private sector, representing close to 31 percent of the requests received. Requests received from the public represented 24 percent of the requests received, whereas those from sources that declined to identify themselves and the media accounted for 21 percent and 18 percent of the requests received, respectively. Requests from organizations and academic sources each represented about 6 percent of the requests received.

Disposition of Requests Completed (Annex C, Part 2, Table 2.1)

During the reporting period, the requests processed under the Access to Information Act (not including transferred or abandoned requests) saw full or partial disclosure of the information 71 percent of the time. Requests for which the responsive records were entirely exempted represented only 1 percent of all requests processed. For the remaining requests, 21 percent were either abandoned or yielded no relevant record and 7 percent were transferred to other government institutions.

Completion Time (Annex C, Part 2, Table 2.1)

The Access to Information Act establishes the timelines for responding to access to information requests. In addition, it also allows for extensions in cases where responding to the request requires the review of a large volume of information or extensive consultations with other government institutions or other third parties. During the current reporting period, 67 percent of the requests were closed within the 30-day deadline established by the Act and 33 percent were closed within an extended deadline permissible under subsection 9(1) of the Act. Less than 1 percent of the requests closed in the reporting period were in deemed refusal, meaning that the legislative due date was not met.

Exemptions Invoked (Annex C, Part 2, Table 2.1 and Table 2.2)

Whenever SSC invoked exempting provisions, the principle of severing, as described in section 25 of the Act, was applied in order to release as much information as possible. In fact, there were only three requests that needed to be exempted in their entirety.

The most frequently invoked exempting provisions for SSC were under paragraph 16(2)(c)—Law enforcement and investigations (security); paragraph 20(1)(c)—Information that could lead to financial loss or gain of a third party; and subsection 19(1)—Personal Information. Subsection 19(1) as well as paragraph 20(1)(c) are mandatory exemptions, whereas paragraph 16(2)(c) is a discretionary exemption.

Exclusions Cited (Annex C, Part 2, Table 2.3)

The exclusion provision used most frequently was in relation to the protection of Confidences of Cabinet, specifically under paragraph 69(1)(g)—Information that Relates to Memoranda to Cabinet.

Extensions (Annex C, Part 2, Table 2.1 and Part 3)

Extensions permissible under subsection 9(1) of the Act were invoked 34 percent of the time, a five percent decrease than previously reported. Most of these extensions were required in order to conduct consultations with other government institutions and also to reduce the risk of interference with daily operations owing to a large volume of records.

Fees (Annex C, Part 4)

During the reporting period, SSC collected $1,160 and waived or refunded $265.00 in application fees. The SSC ATIP Division did not collect funds in relation to search and preparation fees, which is in line with the TBS Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, effective as of May 5, 2016.

Consultations (Annex C, Part 5, Table 5.1)

During the reporting period, SSC received 125 consultations from other government institutions and carried over four consultations from the previous reporting period. SSC’s ATIP Division completed 123 consultations during the reporting period, with six pending at the end of the reporting period.

Informal Requests (Annex C, Part 1, Table 1.3)

During the reporting period, SSC received and processed 298 informal requests for previously released documents. This increase of nearly 400 percent from the previous reporting period demonstrates the effectiveness of SSC’s efforts towards openness and transparency through the proactive disclosure of request summaries as part of SSC’s Open Government Implementation Plan.

Costs (Annex C, Part 9, Table 9.1)

According to information provided by SSC’s Finance Division in April 2017, during the reporting period the ATIP Division spent a total of $1,227,985 for the administration of the Access to Information Act, of which $1,109,269 was spent on salaries, and $118,716 was spent on goods and services including professional service contracts.

Comparative Review

Since the creation of SSC, there has been a steady increase in number of requests and volume of pages processed by the ATIP Division. Pages processed for this year include the closure of a large procurement related request that accounted for 192,654 pages.

Institutional ATIP Training and Awareness Activities

The ATIP Division continued its efforts toward embedding a culture of ATIP excellence across SSC with a focus on delivering training and awareness activities. In order to assess and continually improve the effectiveness of its training activities, the ATIP Division uses a comprehensive evaluation form for participants to provide feedback regarding their training experience. The feedback received is always assessed and, as much as possible, incorporated into the material developed for training purposes.

In order to ensure that SSC employees, regardless of their position or level, are made aware of their responsibilities related to ATIP and that they gain an in-depth understanding of the related practices and principles, SSC launched, in collaboration with the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS), the Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals course on July 14, 2016. While this course is optional for all federal public service employees through the CSPS website, its completion has been made mandatory for all SSC employees. This being the case, bi-annual reminders are issued to employees to complete this mandatory course.

During the current reporting period, 26 ATIP training and awareness sessions were delivered to approximately 450 participants, which included SSC executives, managers and employees at various levels. Based on the feedback received, these sessions have all been very well received and participants have indicated their high satisfaction with the sessions.

It should be noted that while much training has been delivered internally to liaison officers and subject matter experts, analysts working in the ATIP Division have continually strived to gain new knowledge and remain informed in relation to both legislation and emerging trends. All ATIP Operations employees, for instance, have completed the ATIP training for specialists offered the through the CSPS (Access to Information in the Government of Canada [I701] and Privacy in the Government of Canada [I702]). Furthermore, employees have attended ATIP community meetings, conferences, and ATIP-related training sessions offered through various means.

Training for the ATIP Liaison Officer Network

As the primary point of contact for a branch or directorate, an ATIP Liaison Officer must have an in-depth understanding of the ATIP process and a heightened understanding of the legislation. During the reporting period, the ATIP office delivered five training sessions to ATIP liaison officers and their delegates for a total of 42 participants. There were fewer participants in these sessions than in the previous reporting period largely owing to the more extensive Liaison Officer training sessions delivered in the previous reporting year (263 participants over four sessions). It should be noted that during the current reporting period, many liaison officers and their delegates also participated in sessions targeting offices of primary interest and their subject matter experts.

During the next reporting period, the ATIP office plans to schedule a series of meetings with the liaison officers, their delegates, and office of primary interest subject matter experts to discuss specific issues in processing requests received. It is anticipated that these meetings will enable the ATIP office to refine its processes in order to deliver the best service possible to its internal and external clients.

ATIP Training for Subject Matter Experts in Offices of Primary Interest

During the reporting period, the ATIP office delivered seven office of primary interest training sessions targeting all of the branches within SSC: Service Delivery and Management, Data Centre Services, Networks and End User, Cyber and IT Security, Strategy, Corporate Services and Project Management and Delivery. Furthermore, several offices within SSC also requested they be provided training and awareness sessions, for a total of 10 sessions, totaling approximately 194 employees. The ATIP Division also delivered such sessions in collaboration with the learning and development efforts of other groups within SSC.

In an effort to assist SSC’s offices of primary interest, the ATIP Division has developed a new processing guide that will be launched during the next reporting period. The purpose of the guide is to provide employees with basic yet complete instructions to follow in order to meet their obligations when processing requests received by SSC.

ATIP Awareness for SSC Executives

During the reporting period, two awareness sessions were delivered for executives by the Director of the ATIP Division, for a total of 80 participants. These sessions were focused on general ATIP awareness and the communication of SSC ATIP policy instruments.

ATIP in the Government of Canada

The Director of SSC’s ATIP Division also continues to deliver, for the CSPS, the courses entitled Access to Information in the Government of Canada (I701) and Privacy in the Government of Canada (I702), which are intended for federal public servants.

The Director also delivered an information session to a TBS-led Chief Information Officer Council (CIOC) meeting related to SSC’s Standard on Facilitating Access to Data Under the Control of Partner Organizations, that is, a Standard related to partners’ access to their own data held in the SSC IT infrastructure. This policy instrument and SSC’s Standard on Managing Privacy Breaches were also presented during a Government of Canada Security Council meeting, as well as during an Assistant Deputy Minister Security Committee meeting.

Collaboration with the ATIP Community

During the reporting period, the Director of SSC’s ATIP Division presented SSC’s ATIP policy instruments to participants at the Access to Information and Privacy Practitioners’ Meeting. Such meetings bring together ATIP analysts from across the federal ATIP community and serve as an opportunity for the community members to exchange ideas on issues related to the field and to be updated on developing trends. SSC’s ATIP policy instruments were made available to the ATIP community for other departments to leverage for their own purposes.

Info Source at SSC

Info Source is a publication that lists and describes the information holdings of all federal departments and is a reference tool that assists individuals in submitting requests.

During the reporting period, 4 training sessions were given to employees responsible for updating the information holdings for their respective branches or directorates. A total of 23 participants were present at these sessions.

ATIP Training for GCDOCS Coaches

GCDOCS is the secure information repository used by SSC (up to Protected B). It enables employees to create, save and share documents digitally within SSC.

Two training sessions were held in collaboration with Information Management and Corporate Security, aimed at established GCDOCS coaches in SSC. The training served as a reminder of best practices related to information management and security when handling personal information. GCDOCS coaches were reminded of privacy and security considerations related to access permissions—considerations to be shared within their own work groups.

Right to Know Week

In 2016, Right to Know (RTK) Week took place from September 26 to October 2 in Canada. Initiated in Bulgaria on September 28, 2002, International Right to Know Day is intended to raise awareness of an individual’s right to access government information while promoting freedom of information as an essential feature of both democracy and good governance. SSC advanced awareness of RTK Week by highlighting it in its weekly bulletin to employees.

Remaining Informed

The Policy and Governance Team of the ATIP Division conducts a media scan, on a daily basis, for any articles that may be relevant to the field of ATIP and to SSC. These scans, which are shared with the Corporate Secretariat and colleagues within Security, help employees remain aware of ongoing issues in the field and emerging trends.

ATIP Policy Instruments, Procedures and Initiatives

ATIP Management Framework

While SSC continues to revise its ATIP policy instruments as needed, during the reporting period, it also published the following five policy instruments, which were approved by the Corporate Management Board in March 2016:

• Directive on Managing Personal Information Required for Administrative Purposes and Lawful Investigations — This Directive supports SSC’s commitment to establishing and adhering to best practices for collecting, retaining, using, disclosing and disposing of personal information in strict compliance with the Privacy Act.
  • Standard on Facilitating Access to Data under the Control of Partner Organizations — This standard supports timely and effective service to SSC’s partners whose data resides on SSC’s IT infrastructure. This standard provides comprehensive governance and accountability in facilitating partner access to their data.
  • Standard on the Use and Disclosure of Personal Information under the Control of SSC — This standard supports effective privacy management at SSC by providing comprehensive governance and accountability in SSC’s use and disclosure of personal information under its control.
  • Standard on eDiscovery Multi-Mailbox Searches for Access to Information and Privacy Purposes — This standard supports ATIP management at SSC by providing comprehensive governance and accountability involving the use of MMS/eDiscovery activities warranted by an ATIP request.
  • Standard on Managing Personal Information in Emergencies — This standard serves to ensure effective privacy management at SSC by providing comprehensive direction in activities involving the handling of personal information under SSC’s control in the event of an emergency.

Proactive Disclosures

Since the beginning of the current reporting period, SSC’s ATIP Division has proactively published on a monthly basis the list of briefing notes to the President and the Minister. While not mandatory, SSC ATIP implemented this new initiative in the spirit of open government.

Chief Information Officer Council Community Award

The SSC ATIP Division’s ATIP Management Framework, including its 14 ATIP policy instruments as well as an initiative related to Open Government, was recognized by the CIOC and received the CIOC Community Award in Excellence in the ATIP category.

Tremendous work was completed during the reporting period by the ATIP Policy and Governance Team as well as the ATIP Operations Team in terms of the development of policy instruments and the proactive monthly posting of briefing note lists. This work helped pave the way for a greater level of transparency and accountability at SSC.

Intradepartmental Collaboration

In 2016–2017, tiger teams were created within SSC for the purpose of promoting discussion and developing strategies to address issues covering various work-related themes, such as work processes, learning and development and customer service. Many members of the ATIP Division participated and along with their team members, received awards of excellence in collaboration in recognition of their efforts.

“Duty to Assist” Principle

The ATIP Division’s process under the Access to Information Act is based upon the “duty to assist” principle, which is defined in the TBS Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act as follows:

1. Process requests without regard for the identity of the applicant;
2. Offer reasonable assistance throughout the request process;
3. Provide information on the Access to Information Act, including information on the processing of requests and the right to complain to the Information Commissioner of Canada;
4. Inform the applicant as appropriate and without undue delay when the request needs to be clarified;
5. Make every reasonable effort to locate and retrieve the requested records under the control of the institution;
6. Apply limited and specific exemptions to the requested records;
7. Provide accurate and complete responses;
8. Provide timely access to the requested information;
9. Provide records in the format and official language requested, as appropriate; and
10. Provide an appropriate location within the institution to examine the requested information.

SSC’s ATIP process is further supported by best practices within the federal ATIP community, which enable SSC to meet the challenges of responding in a timely manner to Access to Information Act requests for access and consultations.

ATIP Process Manual

During the reporting period, the ATIP Division continued to update its procedural manual to guide ATIP staff in processing requests received under the Access to Access to Information Act and its accompanying piece of legislation, the Privacy Act. The manual provides information about the types of documents processed and how they should be handled pursuant to the Acts. The manual serves as a reference tool for ATIP staff and is designed to ensure consistent application of the Acts and related policy instruments. Further, the manual supports SSC’s “duty to assist” all applicants, so that all reasonable effort is made to help applicants receive complete, accurate and timely responses in accordance with the legislation.

SSC has developed internal procedures and guidelines to ensure appropriate monitoring of and reporting on ATIP requests, as well as compliance with TBS policies and guidelines. They provide important checks and balances required to maintain full compliance.

Control of Records and Partner Organizations

Given SSC’s mandate, there are challenges surrounding the roles and responsibilities under the Access to Access to Information Act. Section 15 of the Shared Services Canada Act states that:

…for the purposes of the Access to Information Act, the records of other government institutions […] that are, on behalf of those institutions or organizations, contained in or carried on Shared Services Canada’s information technology systems are not under the control of Shared Services Canada.

Given the unique relationship between SSC and its partner organizations, from time to time the partner organizations may require SSC’s assistance to access their data residing on the SSC IT infrastructure. When all efforts by partners to retrieve records internally have been unsuccessful, the primary contact within SSC to facilitate partner access to their data is SSC’s Security Operations Centre (SOC). The SOC’s assistance may be requested in the following cases, if attempts by partner organizations have been unsuccessful:

1. When partners receive ATIP requests for their records (records under their control residing on the SSC IT infrastructure);
2. When partners are subject to court orders, subpoenas, warrants or any other binding order made by a person or body with jurisdiction to compel the production of records; and
3. When a lawful investigation (administrative or criminal) requires the retrieval of records residing on the SSC IT infrastructure.

As previously indicated, the related policy has been shared on several occasions with SSC’s partner organizations through various forums where SSC’s Director of ATIP has given presentations on the matter. It is also available to partner organizations on SSC’s Serving Government website.

Info Source Update

Info Source: Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information provides information about the functions, programs, activities and related information holdings of government institutions subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. It provides individuals as well as current and former employees of the government with relevant information to assist them in accessing personal information about them held by government institutions subject to the Privacy Act and exercising their rights under the Privacy Act.

TBS requires that government institutions publish their own Info Source chapter on their Internet site. During the reporting period, SSC completed its review of its Info Source chapter and met all legislative and TBS mandatory requirements. In fact, SSC received notification from TBS that the 2015–2016 update was deemed excellent.

Complaints and Investigations

Early in the reporting period, SSC received a finding from the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada for a complaint that was received in 2014. SSC had claimed an extension of 870 days under section 9(1) of the Act for a very large procurement-related file of 192,654 pages. The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada deemed the extension complaint Not Substantiated, and the file was closed on time with a total of 48 releases.

During the reporting period, the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada notified SSC that it had received five new complaints against SSC under section 32 of the Access to Information Act.

Three of the above-mentioned complaints alleged that SSC has claimed an invalid extension of time under the Act. Of these three, one complaint has been closed as resolved while two are ongoing with the files collectively producing 29,870 pages.

A fourth complaint alleged that SSC had improperly applied exemptions, so as to unjustifiably deny access to records or portions thereof, as requested under the Act. This matter was ongoing at the end of the reporting period.

Also during the reporting period, as a result of a notification by SSC to the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada, the Commissioner initiated an investigation pertaining to potential obstruction pursuant to section 67.1 of the Act. This matter was also ongoing at the end of the reporting period.

Parliamentary Affairs

During the period under review, eight order paper questions were placed by members of Parliament with respect to the following: budget allocated to the ATIP Division, statistical data of ATIP requests received, and data pertaining to privacy breaches. SSC provided its written responses. Upon request, these responses are available to the public via the Library of Parliament.

Next Steps for the Year Ahead

SSC’s ATIP Division will continue to be innovative in its administration of the Privacy Act Act and take part in SSC internal services transformation initiatives as well as federal ATIP community initiatives. The ATIP Division is committed to further supporting SSC as it instils a culture of service excellence and moves toward an efficient and modern paperless environment.

At the end of the reporting period, the ATIP Division was mapping its information holdings against SSC’s 2017–2018 Program Alignment Architecture. This initiative will assist in further defining SSC’s information holdings for the purpose of enhancing the clarity of its Info Source chapter.

The ATIP Division will continue to foster the development of knowledge tools for the ATIP Liaison Network as well as to provide ATIP training and awareness opportunities for executives, managers and employees across the Department. Meetings will be scheduled with liaison officers, their delegates and office of primary interest subject matter experts for the purpose of discussing issues related to the processing of requests, to further awareness and refine processes. The liaison officers play a crucial role in ensuring the Department fulfills its legislative requirement. This being the case, their involvement, expertise and collaboration are invaluable.

Finally, it should also be noted that the ATIP Division is developing a Logic Model and performance measurement indicators in relation to its ATIP Management Framework and its 14 policy instruments, which consist of desired outcomes, performance indicators and targets. This exercise will enable the ATIP Division to gauge the efficacy of its policy instruments.

Annex A – Partner Organizations

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

Annex B – Delegated Authority

Privacy Act Designation Order

The President of Shared Services Canada, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons acting in those positions, to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the President of Shared Services Canada as the head of a government institution under all sections of the Access to Information Act. This designation is effective immediately upon being signed.

SCHEDULE

1. Chief Operating Officer
   
2. Senior Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer
   Corporate Services
   
3. Cooperative Secretary and
   Chief privacy Offices
   
4. Director,
   Access to Information and Privacy Protection Division

Ron Parker

Ottawa

Annex C – Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Shared Services Canada
Reporting period: 2016–04–01 to 2017–03–31

Part 1 – Requests Under the Access to Information Act

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

Part 2 - Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

 

Part 3 - Extensions

 

Part 4 - Fees

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Part 8: Court Action

Part 9 - Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

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