2025 review of the Access to Information Act

On this page

• Why a review
• Feedback and engagement to date
• What’s next for the 2025 review
• Progress since the last review

Why a review

Public trust in government is essential for a healthy and functioning democracy. Building and maintaining public trust requires that the government operate in a transparent, accountable and participatory manner. This is supported by a modern and effective federal access to information regime. The 2025 review of the ATIA is the second review following the introduction of the requirement to conduct a review every 5 years. Since June 2019, section 93 of the ATIA has required the President of Treasury Board to:

• review the act every 5 years
• table a report to Parliament about each review

Regular reviews of the ATIA are important because the way Canadians and the government handle information has changed considerably since the act came into force in 1983. Such reviews help keep the act up to date with these changes and ensure that it supports a transparent, accountable and participatory government in the digital age.

Feedback and engagement to date

The first legislative review under section 93 of the ATIA, launched in June 2020, was completed in December 2022 and resulted in the Access to Information Review Report to Parliament.

The 2025 review of the ATIA will build on the conclusions of the 2020 review and consider previous feedback from various stakeholders from 2015 onward, including:

• agents of Parliament
• parliamentary committees
• Indigenous partners
• academics
• journalists
• civil society members

What’s next for the 2025 review

Based on previous feedback, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) has identified the following areas of focus for the 2025 review:

• enhancing transparency, accountability and public participation
• facilitating access
• declassification and disclosure of historical records
• information management
• Indigenous access to and protection of information
• oversight and compliance

TBS will initiate formal engagement activities with stakeholders and Indigenous partners later in 2025. More information will follow as soon as it is available.

Progress since the last review

Since the completion of the last review, the Government of Canada has acted to continuously improve the ATI regime and, in turn, support transparent, accountable, and participatory government.

In May 2024, TBS published the Government of Canada’s Trust and Transparency Strategy, with the goal of strengthening public trust. One of the key pillars of the strategy is the Access to Information (ATI) Modernization Action Plan, which sets out actions TBS is taking to address the most pressing administrative and operational challenges impacting the ATI regime.

The ATI Modernization Action Plan includes measures intended to:

• improve service to Canadians as it relates to access to information, by strengthening the ATI workforce, providing guidance to enable the timely processing of requests and by having a single digital window where requesters can access government information
• increase trust and transparency in institutions, by providing guidance to improve the administration of records as well as the application of exceptions to disclosure and by increasing the publication of high-value information to the public
• advance Indigenous reconciliation, by developing new guidance to help institutions offer culturally appropriate services to Indigenous requesters and by working to transition toward greater Indigenous control of information and data

The ATI Modernization Action Plan and its results tracking tool provide details of these initiatives as well as progress updates.

For additional information, contact the review team at reviewingATIA.revisionLAI@tbs-sct.gc.ca.