Costing Study of the Access to Information Regime

1.1 Process Overview

A key objective of the costing study is to develop a methodology that is easily replicable for future studies. The flow chart below maps out the institutional process of administering the Act. Based on the process, a bottom-up approach is developed to estimate the total costs by collecting indirect cost information from each party involved in the process and is outlined in the following pages in this sub-section.

For Part 1 of the Act:

For Part 2 of the Act:

1.2 Approach to Analysis:

EY’s methodology consists of three main components: a sampling framework that enables objective selection of statistically representative government institutions through data analysis and coordination with TBS; a primary data collection approach to capture quantitative and qualitative insights through surveys and follow-up interviews; and estimation and extrapolation of overall program costs using sample data collected from government institutions. The following sections provide an overview of EY’s methodology.

2.1 Findings

Part 1 of the Act:

• A total of 38 OPIs from nine ATIP offices completed the surveys for ATI requests and ATI consultation requests. Relative to the total population size, this represents a statistical confidence level of 87%^{Footnote 7}.
• In aggregate, after accounting for the variation in request complexity, the average indirect cost was approximately $6.2^{Footnote 8} per page in FY2020-21.
• As expected, the average indirect cost per page processed at each complexity level has shown considerable cross-institution variation. Further investigation suggests the differences were primarily driven by the number of employees and the type of roles involved in processing each request. Wage expenses made up nearly 99% of total indirect costs.

Overall Cost to Administer Part 1 of the Act:

• The direct cost to administer the ATI program will be $89.7 million. The total direct cost of pages processed by all institutions is $17.1 million which leads to the total cost per page being $5.2. The estimated indirect cost per page is $6.2.
• The estimated total cost per page is $11.4 or the estimated overall cost to administer the Part I of the Act is 195 million.

Part 2 of the Act:

• A total of 15 OPIs from five ATIP offices completed the survey for proactive publication, representing a statistical confidence level of 84%^{Footnote 9} given the population size.
• Analysis of the results indicated that the samples collected were able to capture all publication types. On average, total cost of administering Part 2 of the Act was approximately $64,000 for an OPI in FY 2020-21. Similar to administering Part 1 of the Act, wage expenses made up nearly all of the total cost (99%).

2.2 Qualitative Insights

To better understand the nuances of the institutional processes and key factors impacting efficiency and indirect cost, follow-up interviews were conducted with six OPIs.

2.3 Learning and Recommendations

Throughout the study, EY has received valuable feedback from study participants and TBS. EY’s key learnings centred around the inherent limitation of conducting a retrospective survey, the challenges resulting from data availability and the scope of the study. These learnings along with recommendations are provided below for future studies.

Learning 1: Some of the data points being collected were not tracked by survey respondents since the elimination of search and preparation fees. Several OPIs have indicated difficulty estimating the time spent on the sample requests provided by their ATIP offices and were only able to provide best estimates. Furthermore, respondents added that employee attrition intensified the challenges in cases where the person who responsible for the search and retrieval had left the organization.

• Recommendation: For future studies, adopt a “proactive” approach, with select OPIs being tasked to track the time and resources spent on requests of each complexity level over a set period of time. In fact, throughout EY’s discussions with OPIs, several indicated willingness to participate in a future study of this kind.

Learning 2: Institutions for the Proactive Publication System were sampled using the same framework adopted in selecting institutions for Part 1 of the Act. Among the OPIs that completed the survey, a wide interval of cost estimates was observed, ranging from ~$1,000 to over $300,000. Due to this significant variation, EY was not able to produce a statistically representative per-page cost estimate. Follow-up interviews with OPIs uncovered that the variation was primarily driven by the nature of the publication and OPI’s responsibility areas. As an example, one OPI at Health Canada incurred costs of over $300,000 in producing proactive publication documents in FY2020-21, which was primarily due to a spike in publications related to COVID-19. Furthermore, it should be recognized that the data and information presented in the ATIP Statistical Report are not sufficient to develop a robust sampling approach in estimating the per-page cost of the Proactive Publication System. The Statistical Report, for example, does not break down the number of pages processed by each part of the Act (i.e., Part 1 vs. Part 2).

• Recommendation: To close the data gap and develop a more robust sampling approach, collect data from the top 40 institutions on the total number of pages processed on an annual basis to support proactive publication, as well as their observations in terms of year-by-year variation due to special circumstances (e.g., COVID-19).

Learning 3: Communication assessment, which was out of the scope in the current study, represents an area requiring considerable time and resources for OPIs who are responsible for communication and public affairs. Several OPIs noted that considerable time and resources were spent on preparing material for executive and management briefings as a result of the communication assessment, ranging from 4 to 8 hours every week. Similarly, costs related to legal services were not captured by the current study.

• Recommendation: Include costs associated with communication assessment and legal services in future studies.

A.1 Definitions

Direct and Indirect Costs

• Direct costs include the operational costs incurred by ATIP offices administering the Act. Examples of direct costs include wages and salaries; overtime payments; contracts; costs of materials and supplies; and other institution-specific expenses. Statistics relating to direct costs are collected by TBS and are published in the Access to Information and Privacy Statistical Report on an annual basis.
• Indirect costs include the operational costs incurred by OPIs involved in retrieving, reviewing, and approving ATI request responses to administer Part 1 of the Act, as well as the costs incurred by the OPIs in preparing documents for publication to administer Part 2 of the Act.

Request Complexity

Level 1 (Low Complexity)

• Approximately 100 or fewer pages processed
• Request disposition is typically “all disclosed”, “all exempted” or “all excluded”; one or two exemptions applied and / or exclusions invoked
• One OPI may provide records; little to no consultations
• No extension usually required

Level 2 (Moderate Complexity)

• Approximately 100-500 pages processed
• Request disposition is typically “disclosed in part”; exemptions applied and / or exclusions invoked
• More than one OPI may provide records; limited consultations
• Extension may be required

Level 3 (High Complexity)

• Approximately 500 or more pages processed
• Request disposition is typically “disclosed in part”; many different exemptions applied and / or exclusions invoked
• More than one OPI may provide records; several consultations (other government institutions, third parties, legal advice sought)
• Extension likely required

A.2 Participating Institutions

Institutions that participated in the study:

• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Canada Border Services Agency
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• National Defence
• Public Service and Procurement Canada
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Health Canada
• Global Affairs Canada
• Privy Council Office

Other institutions that were originally included in the sample of participating institutions:

• Canada Revenue Agency
• Employment and Social Development Canada
• Transport Canada
• Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Department of Justice Canada
• Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Alternate institutions:

• Correctional Services Canada
• Department of Finance Canada
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
• Public Safety Canada

Part 1 Survey Participants:

• Canada Border Services Agency
• Public Services and Procurement Canada
• Global Affairs Canada
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
• Royal Canadian Mounted Police
• Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Privy Council Office
• Health Canada
• National Defence

Part 2 Survey Participants:

• National Defence
• Health Canada
• Public Services and Procurement Canada
• Canadian Border Services Agency
• Global Affairs Canada

A.3 Proactive Publication Requirements

As per the Access to Information Act, the following information must be proactively published:

• Memoranda – titles and tracking numbers of memoranda received by minister and deputy heads
• Briefing packages prepared for new or incoming ministers and deputy heads (Transition Binders)
• Briefing packages for parliamentary committee appearances for ministers, deputy heads
• QP Notes – Question Period notes in use on the last sitting day in June and December
• Tabled Reports – Reports tabled in Parliament pursuant to a statutory requirement
• Ministers’ offices expenses - Annual report of all expenses incurred by a minister’s office
• Travel and Hospitality - Expenses related to travel and hospitality: ministers’ offices, senior officials
• Contracts sections - Contracts over $10,000, amendments that increase the value of contracts to over $10,000, and amendments over $10,000: ministers’ offices, institutions
• Grants and Contributions - Grants or contributions over $25,000, and any amendments
• Reclassification of Positions - All reclassification

Disclaimer:

Ernst & Young LLP (“EY”) was engaged by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (“TBS”) to conduct a costing study that estimates the overall costs to administer the Access to Information Act. In preparing this document (“Status Update”), EY relied upon unaudited data and information from third party sources, survey and interviews (collectively, the “Supporting Information”). EY reserves the right to revise any analyses, observations or comments referred to in this Status Update if additional Supporting Information becomes available to us subsequent to the release of this Status Update. EY has assumed the Supporting Information to be accurate, complete and appropriate for the purposes of the Status Update. EY did not audit or independently verify the accuracy or completeness of the Supporting Information. Accordingly, EY expresses no opinion or other forms of assurance in respect of the Supporting Information and does not accept any responsibility for errors or omissions, or any loss or damage as a result of any persons relying on this Status Update for any purpose other than that for which it has been prepared.