Access to information and privacy statistical report, 2016-17

From Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Access to Information and Privacy Statistical Report is an annual report of statistical information about the Government of Canada’s access to information and privacy programs.

The Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act both came in to effect on July 1, 1983.

Section 70(1)(c.1) of the Access to Information Act assigns responsibility to the President of the Treasury Board, as the designated Minister, to collect statistics on an annual basis. These statistics are used to assess the performance of the Government of Canada’s access to information and privacy programs according to the provisions of the Acts.

The tables and figures that follow present data from the period of April 1, 2016, to March 31, 2017, provided by government institutions subject to the Acts. Cumulative data from 1983 to March 31, 2017 is also presented.

The complete statistical dataset will be made available in open format on the Government of Canada’s Open Data Portal.

Access to Information Act statistics, 2016-17

Requests under the Access to Information Act

91,880 requests were received in 2016-17, an increase of 21.9 percent from 2015-16.

Of 105,973 requests that were received in 2016-17 or were outstanding from the previous period, 82 percent were closed. This is relatively consistent with 2015-16: out of 87,115 requests that were received in 2015-16 or were outstanding from the previous period, 83.3 percent were closed.

Ten government institutions received 82.8 percent of all new requests in 2016-17.

Requests received and closed under the Access to Information Act
Requests under the Access to Information Act	Number of requests
Outstanding from 2015-16 reporting period^{See table 1 note 1}	14,093
Received during 2016-17 reporting period	91,880
Total	105,973
Closed during 2016-17 period	86,908
Carried over to 2017-18 reporting period	19,065
Table 1 Notes Table 1 Note 1 Due to administrative errors, there are small inconsistencies between the 2015-16 statistical data and the 2016-17 statistical data regarding the number of requests or consultations left outstanding at the end of the 2015-16 reporting period. Return to table 1 note 1 referrer

Bar chart. Text version below: — **Figure 01: Requests received and closed under the Access to Information Act: 2015-16 and 2016-17**

Requests under the Access to Information Act	2015-16	2016-17
Outstanding from previous reporting period	11,728	14,093
Received during reporting period	75,387	91,880
Closed during reporting period	72,581	86,908
Carried over to next reporting period	14,534	19,065

Access to Information Act requests by top ten institutions
Rank	Name of institution	Received requests as percentage	Number of received requests	Number of pages processed^{See table 2 note 1}
1	Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada	55.2%	50,728	2,834,527
2	Canada Border Services Agency	6.8%	6,265	751,829
3	Royal Canadian Mounted Police	5.3%	4,826	654,127
4	National Defence	3.1%	2,838	160,063
5	Canada Revenue Agency	3.0%	2,747	1,406,334
6	Employment and Social Development Canada	2.5%	2,268	438,368
7	Health Canada	2.1%	1,959	1,891,795
8	Environment and Climate Change Canada	1.9%	1,720	164,831
9	Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada	1.6%	1,476	1,947,063
10	Public Services and Procurement Canada	1.4%	1,295	240,567
Other Institutions		17.2%	15,758	5,557,742
Total		100.00%	91,880	16,047,246
Table 2 Notes Table 2 Note 1 The number of pages processed per government institution represents the total processed pages for closed requests. This does not include the number of pages processed for requests that were carried over into the next reporting period. Return to table 2 note 1 referrer

Sources of received Access to Information Act requests
Source	Number of requests	Percentage of requests
Business (private sector)	38,319	41.7%
Public	31,030	33.8%
Media	8,838	9.6%
Organization^{See table 3 note 1}	4,631	5.0%
Academia	3,452	3.8%
Decline to identify^{See table 3 note 2}	5,610	6.1%
Total	91,880	100.0%
Table 3 Notes Table 3 Note 1 The category “organization” includes, but is not limited to, associations, unions, non-for-profit and voluntary organizations, offices of Members of Parliament, political parties and non-government organizations. It also includes requesters that selected “organization” when submitting their request. Return to table 3 note 1 referrer Table 3 Note 2 The category “decline to identify” includes requesters that selected “decline to identify” when submitting their request. It also includes instances where the requestor did not select any of the available categories when submitting a hard-copy application. Return to table 3 note 2 referrer

Source	2015-16	2016-17
Business	30,780	38,319
Public	26,638	31,030
Media	6,862	8,838
Organization	3,602	4,631
Academia	2,885	3,452
Decline to identify	4,620	5,610

Timeliness

Of 86,908 requests closed in 2016-17, 56,084, or 64.5 percent, were closed within the initial statutory deadline of 30 days.

80.7 percent of requests were closed within established timelines (that is, closed within the statutory deadline of 30 days or within an extension period provided for in the Act). The comparable figure in 2015-16 was 85.9 percent.

Disposition and time required to close Access to Information Act requests
Disposition of requests (including requests for which extensions were required)	Closure time^{See table 4 note 1}
	0 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More Than 365 days	Total
All disclosed	12,199	3,208	1,276	203	202	88	17,176
Disclosed in part	30,721	10,998	6,264	1,934	1,854	1,399	53,170
All exempted	476	157	150	35	34	18	870
All excluded	216	61	93	17	13	3	403
No records exist	5,205	848	279	72	46	33	6,483
Request transferred	638	7	0	1	0	0	646
Request abandoned^{See table 4 note 2}	6,436	314	167	88	100	781	7,886
Neither confirmed nor denied^{See table 4 note 3}	193	23	19	9	26	4	274
Total number of requests	56,084	15,616	8,248	2,359	2,275	2,326	86,908
Total as percentage	64.5%	18.0%	9.5%	2.7%	2.6%	2.7%	100.0%
Table 4 Notes Table 4 Note 1 The number of days to close requests or consultations refers to calendar days. Return to table 4 note 1 referrer Table 4 Note 2 An abandoned request is a request that has been formally withdrawn by the requester, or the requester did not respond to a notice indicating that the request will be closed if they do not respond within a specified time period. Return to table 4 note 2 referrer Table 4 Note 3 The category “neither confirmed nor denied” relate to requests for which subsection 10(2) of the Access to Information Act was invoked: “The head of a government institution may but is not required to indicate under subsection 10(1) whether a record exists.” Return to table 4 note 3 referrer

Time required to close Access to Information Act requests according to time period: 2015-16 and 2016-17^{See table 5 note 1}
Closure time	Requests as percentage		Number of requests
Closure time	2015-16	2016-17	2015-16	2016-17
0 to 30 days	64.1%	64.5%	46,543	56,084
31 to 60 days	21.3%	18.0%	15,442	15,616
61 to 120 days	7.5%	9.5%	5,446	8,248
121 to 180 days	2.6%	2.7%	1,883	2,359
181 to 365 days	2.4%	2.6%	1,741	2,275
More than 365 days	2.1%	2.7%	1,526	2,326
Total	100.0%	100.0%	72,581	86,908
Table 5 Notes Table 5 Note 1 The Access to Information Act provides for the extension of the time limit to respond to a request beyond 30 days if: (1) it involves a large number of records or necessitates a search through a large number of records AND meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution; (2) external consultations are necessary and cannot reasonably be expected to be closed within the original time limit; or (3) notice to a third party is required to advise the third party that their information is the subject of a request. The data in this table reflects all closed requests, including requests for which extensions were taken. Return to table 5 note 1 referrer

Closure time	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
0 to 30 days	64.8%	61.0%	65.1%	64.1%	64.5%
31 to 60 days	17.2%	18.0%	19.6%	21.3%	18.0%
61 to 120 days	9.8%	10.4%	8.0%	7.5%	9.5%
121 days or more	8.1%	10.6%	7.3%	7.1%	8.0%

Status of closed Access to Information Act requests: 2015-16 and 2016-17
Status of closed requests	Requests as percentage		Number of requests
Status of closed requests	2015-16	2016-17	2015-16	2016-17
Closed within the statutory deadline including extensions	85.9%	80.7%	62,366	70,128
Closed in deemed refusal	14.1%	19.3%	10,215	16,780
Total	100.0%	100.0%	72,581	86,908

Line chart. Text version below: — **Figure 04: Access to Information Act requests closed within established timelines, 2012-13 to 2016-17**

Status of closed request	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Closed Within the Statutory Deadline Including Extensions	89.3%	86.0%	87.5%	85.9%	80.7%
Deemed Refusals	10.7%	14.0%	12.5%	14.1%	19.3%

Reasons for deemed refusals^{See table 6 note 1} regarding closed Access to Information Act requests
Total number of requests closed past the statutory deadline or not within the timeframe covered by an extension (deemed refusal)	Principal reason
	Workload	External consultation	Internal consultation	Other^{See table 6 note 2}
16,780	14,725	500	398	1,157
Table 6 Notes Table 6 Note 1 The information in this table reflects requests that were neither closed in the initial 30 days nor closed within the timeframe covered by an extension. These requests are referred to as “deemed refusals.” Return to table 6 note 1 referrer Table 6 Note 2 Other reasons include the unavailability of key officials, difficulties in obtaining relevant records, labour disputes, lengthy power outages, etc. Return to table 6 note 2 referrer

Number of days past deadline for Access to Information Act requests closed in deemed refusal
Number of days past deadline	Number of requests past deadline where no extension was taken	Number of requests past deadline where an extension was taken	Total deemed refusals	Total as percentage
1 to 30 days	7,176	923	8,099	48.3%
31 to 60 days	2,024	510	2,534	15.1%
61 to 120 days	1,510	595	2,105	12.5%
121 to 180 days	520	385	905	5.4%
181 to 365 days	795	601	1,396	8.3%
More than 365 days	947	794	1,741	10.4%
Total	12,972	3,808	16,780	100.0%

Disposition

Records were disclosed either in full or in part for 81 percent of closed requests. This is stable, as compared with the previous period.

Disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests: 2015-16 and 2016-17
Disposition of closed requests	Requests as percentage		Number of requests
Disposition of closed requests	2015-16	2016-17	2015-16	2016-17
All disclosed	24.2%	19.8%	17,556	17,176
Disclosed in part	56.7%	61.2%	41,152	53,170
All exempted	1.1%	1.0%	798	870
All excluded	0.4%	0.5%	315	403
No records exist	8.0%	7.5%	5,823	6,483
Request transferred	0.7%	0.7%	473	646
Request abandoned	8.2%	9.1%	5,953	7,886
Neither confirmed nor denied	0.7%	0.3%	511	274
Total	100.0%	100.0%	72,581	86,908

Disposition of closed requests	2015-16	2016-17
All disclosed	17,556	17,176
Disclosed in part	41,152	53,170
All exempted	798	870
All excluded	315	403
No records exist	5,823	6,483
Request transferred	473	646
Request abandoned	5,953	7,886
Neither confirmed nor denied	511	274

Complexity

In 2016-17, Government institutions processed about 16 million pages for closed requests, an increase of about 7 million pages as compared to 2015-16; 62.3 percent of pages were disclosed either in full or in part.

Government institutions undertook outside consultations in 8.9 percent of all closed requests.

Relevant pages processed and disclosed regarding closed Access to Information Act requests: 2015-16 and 2016-17
Disposition of requests	Number of pages processed		Number of pages disclosed		Number of requests^{See table 7 note 1}
Disposition of requests	2015-16	2016-17	2015-16	2016-17	2015-16	2016-17
All disclosed	1,054,276	3,165,256	991,379	3,116,170	17,556	17,176
Disclosed in part	7,305,111	10,200,570	5,574,908	6,832,982	41,152	53,170
All exempted	165,984	389,436	0	0	798	870
All excluded	22,556	16,497	0	0	315	403
Request abandoned^{See table 7 note 2}	477,802	2,275,487	56,714	51,976	5,953	7886
Total	9,025,729	16,047,246	6,623,001	10,001,128	65,774	79,505
Table 7 Notes Table 7 Note 1 The total number of requests for each reporting period reflects the total number of requests closed in each period with the exception of those categorized as “no records exist,” “request transferred” or “neither confirmed nor denied.” Return to table 7 note 1 referrer Table 7 Note 2 Some records may have been disclosed to the requester prior to the request’s abandonment. Return to table 7 note 2 referrer

Other considerations regarding complexity of closed Access to Information Act requests
Disposition	Consultation required	Assessment of fees	Legal advice sought	Other^{See table 8 note 1}	Total
All disclosed	680	16	20	529	1,245
Disclosed in part	6,516	66	282	1,575	8,439
All exempted	118	2	18	69	207
All excluded	142	0	16	26	184
Request abandoned	236	28	20	285	569
Neither confirmed nor denied	7	1	2	11	21
Total	7,699	113	358	2,495	10,665
Table 8 Notes Table 8 Note 1 Other considerations include requests for the contents of a database, requests to process audio or video recordings, high-profile subject matter, instances in which records are located in another region or country, instances in which the records are in a language other than English or French. Return to table 8 note 1 referrer

Extensions

43.2 percent of all extensions taken for closed requests cited paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Access to Information Act as a reason for the extension, relating to interference with government operations. Furthermore, 30.4 percent of all extensions taken for closed requests were for 30 days or less, and 92.9 percent were for 120 days or less.

Reasons for and length of extensions regarding closed Access to Information Act requests
Length of extensions^{See table 9 note 1}	9(1)(a) - Interference with operations	9(1)(b) - Consultation		9(1)(c) - Third-party notice	Total
Length of extensions^{See table 9 note 1}	9(1)(a) - Interference with operations	Section 69^{See table 9 note 2}	Other^{See table 9 note 3}	9(1)(c) - Third-party notice	Total
30 days or less	2,449	90	1,705	215	4,459
31 to 60 days	2,211	249	1,906	1,323	5,689
61 to 120 days	1,151	517	1,517	307	3,492
121 to 180 days	237	38	231	54	560
181 to 365 days	175	9	111	29	324
365 days or more	118	1	25	6	150
Total	6,341	904	5,495	1,934	14,674
Table 9 Notes Table 9 Note 1 The timelines associated with extensions begin at the end of the initial 30-day response period. Return to table 9 note 1 referrer Table 9 Note 2 Section 69 of the Access to Information Act states that the Act does not apply to confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. Return to table 9 note 2 referrer Table 9 Note 3 The “other” category includes consultations with one or more of the following: other federal government institutions, provincial and municipal governments, foreign states, international organizations of states, Aboriginal governments, non-governmental organizations or individuals. Return to table 9 note 3 referrer

Exemptions^{See Footnote 2}

The tables that follow indicate exemptions applied under the Access to Information Act in requests closed during the reporting period.

Information obtained in confidence
Provision	Number of requests
13(1)(a)	3,852
13(1)(b)	258
13(1)(c)	823
13(1)(d)	334
13(1)(e)	53

Federal-provincial affairs
Provision	Number of requests
14	633
14(a)	526
14(b)	233

International affairs and defence
Provision	Number of requests
15(1)	666
15(1) International Affairs	2,152
15(1) Defence	1,370
15(1) Subversive activities	9,134

Law enforcement and investigations
Provision	Number of requests
16(1)(a)(i)	1,185
16(1)(a)(ii)	833
16(1)(a)(iii)	169
16(1)(b)	644
16(1)(c)	23,453
16(1)(d)	90
16(2)	1,492
16(2)(a)	22
16(2)(b)	30
16(2)(c)	2,541
16(3)	7
16.1(1)(a)	38
16.1(1)(b)	26
16.1(1)(c)	80
16.1(1)(d)	91
16.2(1)	102
16.3	15
16.4(1)(a)	8
16.4(1)(b)	0
16.5	18

Safety of individuals
Provision	Number of requests
17	349

Economic interests of Canada
Provision	Number of requests
18(a)	291
18(b)	458
18(c)	20
18(d)	280
18.1(1)(a)	80
18.1(1)(b)	33
18.1(1)(c)	8
18.1(1)(d)	18

Personal information
Provision	Number of requests
19(1)	34,426

Third-party information
Provision	Number of requests
20(1)(a)	136
20(1)(b)	2,682
20(1)(b.1)	121
20(1)(c)	2,312
20(1)(d)	550
20.1	104
20.2	0
20.4	0

Operations of government
Provision	Number of requests
21(1)(a)	4,577
21(1)(b)	4,897
21(1)(c)	997
21(1)(d)	411

Testing procedures, tests and audits
Provision	Number of requests
22	374
22.1(1)	72

Solicitor-Client Privilege
Provision	Number of requests
23	2,639

Statutory prohibitions
Provision	Number of requests
24(1)	2,310

Information to be published
Provision	Number of requests
26	188

Exclusions^{See Footnote 3}

The tables that follow indicate exclusions applied under the Access to Information Act for requests closed during the reporting period.

Act does not apply to certain materials
Provision	Number of requests
68(a)	562
68(b)	5
68(c)	5
68.1	122
68.2(a)	85
68.2(b)	21

Cabinet confidences
Provision	Number of requests
69(1)	91
69(1)(a)	246
69(1)(b)	20
69(1)(c)	92
69(1)(d)	164
69(1)(e)	487
69(1)(f)	66
69(1)(g) re (a)	998
69(1)(g) re (b)	29
69(1)(g) re (c)	578
69(1)(g) re (d)	316
69(1)(g) re (e)	658
69(1)(g) re (f)	278

Certificate under the Canada Evidence Act
Provision	Number of requests
69.1(1)	37

Consultations

The number of consultations between federal government institutions in 2016-17 was fairly consistent with 2015-16, an increase of 3.5 percent, however the number of pages to review increased by 24.9 percent.

Consultations by other government institutions regarding Access to Information Act requests: 2015-16 and 2016-17
Consultations	Number of consultations		Number of pages to review
Consultations	2015-16	2016-17	2015-16	2016-17
Received during reporting period	8,099	8,532	397,689	533,526
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	687	564	123,076	117,101
Total	8,786	9,096	520,765	650,627
Closed during the reporting period	8,101	8,137	409,929	515,121
Pending at the end of the reporting period	685	959	111,736	135,506

Recommendations and closure time for consultations by other government institutions regarding Access to Information Act requests
Recommendation	Number of days required to close consultation requests
Recommendation	1 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More Than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	3,359	573	238	34	20	10	4,234
Disclose in part	1,704	764	409	107	63	9	3,056
Exempt entirely	129	38	16	5	1	1	190
Exclude entirely	13	5	5	0	0	1	24
Consult other institution^{See table 10 note 1}	113	14	18	5	4	1	155
Other	389	51	21	4	10	3	478
Total	5,707	1,445	707	155	98	25	8,137
Table 10 Notes Table 10 Note 1 “Consult other institution” refers to a government institution’s recommendation that the institution that consulted them contact additional government institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. Return to table 10 note 1 referrer

Fees and costs

The annual cost to administer the Government of Canada’s access to information program increased by 0.2 percent to $64.7 million in 2016-17, with the average cost per closed request declining by 16.3 percent to about $745 per request.

The increase in fees waived to $229,955 reflects that on May 5, 2016, the President of the Treasury Board issued the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, directing government institutions to waive all fees apart from the initial $5 application fee.

Fees and costs of Access to Information Act operations: 2015-16 and 2016-17
Description of fees and costs	Amount
Description of fees and costs	2015-16	2016-17
Cost of operations^{See table 11 note 1}	$64,619,278.00	$64,771,471.00
Requests closed	72,581	86,908
Average cost per closed request^{See table 11 note 2}	$890.31	$745.29
Pages processed	9,025,729	16,047,246
Average cost per processed page	$7.16	$4.04
Number of requests in which fees were collected	69,450	82,941
Fees collected	$386,390	$442,956
Average fees collected per request	$5.56	$5.34
Number of requests in which fees were waived or refunded	10,041	5,597
Fees waived or refunded	$138,070	$229,955
Average fees waived per request	$13.75	$41.09
Table 11 Notes Table 11 Note 1 Cost of operations includes salaries, overtime, goods and services, contracts and all other expenses specific to Access to Information and Privacy offices. Costs associated with time spent by business areas searching for and reviewing records are not included here. Return to table 11 note 1 referrer Table 11 Note 2 This calculation uses the total cost of operations in the reporting period to obtain the average cost per closed request. However, in actuality, the total cost of operations reflects processing costs of some requests that will be carried over into the next reporting period, in addition to closed requests, so the calculation is an approximation. Return to table 11 note 2 referrer

Informal requests for government information

An informal request is a request for information made to a government institution subject to the Access to Information Act that is either not made or not processed under the Act. Unlike formal requests, fees cannot be charged under the Act for informal requests, and there are no deadlines for responding. In addition, the requester has no statutory right of complaint to the Information Commissioner.

Informal requests include formal requests that were discontinued in favour of providing information informally, in consultation with the requester. Other types of informal requests include advising requesters when information is already publicly available online, or the re-release of information made available through previously closed formal requests, summaries of which are found online. They do not include responses to Parliamentary Questions or media enquiries, or requests made internally within a government institution to share information between sectors.

In 2016-17, 61.2 percent of informal requests were closed within 30 days, as compared with 67.1 percent in 2015-16.

Time required to close informal requests
0 to 30 Days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More Than 365 days	Total
10,808	1,897	1,086	2,640	1,120	86	17,637

Access to Information Act requests since 1983

The statistics that follow reflect the best available data since 1983. The categories have been adjusted in some cases in order to compare data across the years.

Number of Access to Information Act Requests Since 1983
Requests under the Access to Information Act	Number of requests
Requests received	873,276
Requests closed	849,151

Pie chart. Text version below: — **Figure 06: Disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests since 1983**

Disposition of closed requests	Requests as percentage
All disclosed	25.7%
Disclosed in part	49.4%
Unable to process	19.4%
Withheld entirely	2.5%
Other	3.0%

In the preceding figure:

“Withheld entirely” includes categories “all exempted” and “all excluded.”
“Other” includes the categories “transferred,” “neither confirmed nor denied” and “treated informally.”
“Unable to process” includes the categories “no records exist^{See Footnote 4},” “abandoned^{See Footnote 5}” and “requests that could not be processed^{See Footnote 6}.”

Disposition of closed Access to Information Act requests since 1983
Disposition of closed requests	Requests as percentage	Number of requests
Disclosed in part	49.4%	419,386
All disclosed	25.7%	218,592
All exempted	1.9%	15,717
All excluded	0.6%	5,275
No records exist	4.3%	36,491
Abandoned	3.9%	33,428
Transferred	1.2%	10,519
Neither confirmed nor denied	0.1%	980
Treated informally	1.7%	14,057
Requests that could not be processed	11.2%	94,706
Total	100.0%	849,151

Time required to close Access to Information Act Requests since 1983
Closure time (including requests for which extensions were required)	Requests as percentage	Number of requests
0 to 30 days	60.8%	516,213
31 to 60 days	18.6%	157,862
61 days or more	20.6%	175,076
Total	100.0%	849,151

Fees and costs of Access to Information Act since 1983
Description of fees and costs of operations	Amount
Requests closed	849,151
Cost of operations^{See table 12 note 1}	$866,934,870.70
Average cost per closed request^{See table 12 note 2}	$1,020.94
Fees collected	$7,313,741.02
Average fees collected per closed request^{See table 12 note 3}	$8.61
Fees waived	$3,602,399.94
Average fees waived per closed request^{See table 12 note 4}	$4.24
Table 12 Notes Table 12 Note 1 The cumulative cost of operations since 1983 has not been adjusted for inflation. Return to table 12 note 1 referrer Table 12 Note 2 This calculation uses the total cost of operations to obtain the average cost per closed request since 1983. However, in actuality, the total cost of operations reflects processing costs of some requests that will be carried over into the next reporting period, in addition to closed requests, so the calculation is an approximation. Return to table 12 note 2 referrer Table 12 Note 3 This calculation uses the total amount of fees collected to obtain the average fees collected per closed request since 1983. However, in actuality, fees would not have been collected for every closed request. Return to table 12 note 3 referrer Table 12 Note 4 This calculation uses the total amount of fees waived to obtain the average fees waived per closed request since 1983. However, in actuality, fees would not have been waived for every closed request. Return to table 12 note 4 referrer

Privacy Act statistics, 2016-17

Requests under the Privacy Act

70,490 requests were received in 2016-17, a decrease of 0.5 percent from 2015-16.

Of 86,916 requests that were received in 2016-17 or were outstanding from the previous period, 75.6 percent were closed. This is a decrease from 2015-16: out of 85,855 requests that were received in 2015-16 or were outstanding from the previous period, 81.6 percent were closed.

Ten government institutions received 92.4 percent of all new requests in 2016-17.

Requests received and closed under the Privacy Act
Requests under the Privacy Act	Number of requests
Outstanding from 2015-16 reporting period^{See table 13 note 1}	16,426
Received during 2016-17 reporting period	70,490
Total	86,916
Closed during 2016-17 reporting period	65,713
Carried over to 2017-18 reporting period	21,203
Table 13 Notes Table 13 Note 1 Due to administrative errors, there are small inconsistencies between the 2015-16 statistical data and the 2016-17 statistical data regarding the number of requests or consultations left outstanding at the end of the 2015-16 reporting period. Return to table 13 note 1 referrer

Requests under the Privacy Act	2015-16	2016-17
Outstanding from previous reporting period	15,022	16,426
Requests received during reporting period	70,833	70,490
Closed during reporting period	70,079	65,713
Carried over to next reporting period	15,776	21,203

Privacy Act requests by top ten institutions
Rank	Name of institution	Received requests as percentage	Number of received requests	Pages processed^{See table 14 note 1}
1	Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada	17.9%	12,605	744,971
2	Canada Border Services Agency	16.4%	11,590	545,763
3	Employment and Social Development Canada	11.8%	8,353	818,954
4	National Defence	11.7%	8,244	2,111,559
5	Correctional Service of Canada	9.7%	6,861	599,106
6	Immigration and Refugee Board	7.5%	5,310	132,648
7	Royal Canadian Mounted Police	7.3%	5,139	724,306
8	Canada Revenue Agency	4.5%	3,174	1,086,917
9	Public Service Commission of Canada	4.3%	3,062	45,253
10	Canada Post Corporation	1.2%	845	58,798
Other institutions		7.5%	5,307	1,345,648
Total		100.0%	70,490	8,213,923
Table 14 Notes Table 14 Note 1 The number of pages processed per government institution represents the total processed pages for closed requests. This does not include the number of pages processed for requests that were carried over into the next reporting period. Return to table 14 note 1 referrer