Info Source Bulletin 38B - Statistical Reporting, 2014-15

Requests Under the Access to Information Act: 2014—15

Figure 1 - Text version

This table compares the number of requests under the Access to Information Act received, closed and carried forward within the 2014-15 reporting period with those from 2013-14.

Requests Under the Access to Information Act	2013-14	2014-15
Received during reporting period	60,105	68,193
Closed during reporting period	58,475	67,032
Carried over to next reporting period	11,175	11,772
Outstanding from previous reporting period	9,545	10,611

The preceding figure shows a 13.5% increase in requests received in 2014—15, as compared with the previous period. It also shows that, of the 78,804 requests that were received in 2014-15 or outstanding from the previous period, 85.1% of requests were closed. The closure rate increased by 1.1% when compared to the previous period.

Figure 2 - Text version

This table compares the categories of requestor for the 2014–15 reporting period with those from 2013–14.

Category of Requestor	2013–14	2014–15
Public	23,723	28,082
Business	23,129	25,170
Media	8,421	7,873
Organization	2,898	3,297
Academia	1,934	2,008
Decline to identify	-	1,763

The preceding table illustrates that 65.1% of requests had been closed within the initial statutory deadline of 30 days and that 78.8% of closed requests disclosed records either in full or in part.

Figure 3 - Text version

This table compares the disposition of closed requests for the 2013–14 reporting period with that from 2014–15.

Disposition of Closed Requests	2013–14	2014–15
Disclosed in part	29,250	34,545
All disclosed	15,684	18,253
No records exist	6,143	6,493
Request abandoned	4,520	5,851
Treated informally	1,242	-
All exempted	679	727
All excluded	521	377
Request transferred	436	591
Neither confirmed nor denied	-	195

The preceding table demonstrates a 4.1% increase in the rate of requests closed within the first 30 days after they were received and a 1.6% increase in the closure rate for the period between 31 and 60 days, as compared with the previous reporting period.

Figure 4 - Text version

This table compares the time required closing requests according to time periods for the last five years from 2010 to 2015. Data is shown in percentages.

Closure Time	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
0 to 30 days	56.9%	55.3%	64.8%	61.0%	65.1%
31 to 60 days	21.1%	21.3%	17.2%	18.0%	19.6%
61 to 120 days	11.5%	12.9%	9.8%	10.4%	8.0%
121 days or more	10.6%	10.5%	8.1%	10.7%	7.3%

The preceding table shows that, of the 9,919,349 pages processed in the closure of requests, 56.2% were disclosed.

The preceding table demonstrates that there was a 1.5% decrease in the percentage of requests closed in deemed refusal in 2014-15, as compared with the previous reporting period.

The preceding table illustrates that 72.0% of closed requests disclosed records electronically.

Access to Information Act Requests Since 1983

Please note that the statistics reflect adjustments made throughout the years.

Figure 5 - Text version

This table identifies the disposition of closed requests since 1983. Data is shown in percentages.

Disposition of Closed Requests	Requests as Percentage
Disclosed in part	47.1%
All disclosed	26.7%
Unable to process	20.1%
Withheld entirely	2.7%
Other	3.4%

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"^{Footnote 20}, "abandoned"^{Footnote 21} and "requests that could not be processed".^{Footnote 22}

Requests Under the Privacy Act: 2014‒15

Figure 6 - Text version

This table compares the number of requests under the Privacy Act received, closed and carried forward from the 2013-14 reporting period with those from 2014-15.

Requests Under the Privacy Act	2013–14	2014-15
Requests received during reporting period	56,338	67,399
Closed during reporting period	54,912	63,650
Carried over to next reporting period	11,436	15,297
Outstanding from previous reporting period	10,010	11,548

The preceding figure shows a 19.6% increase in requests received in 2014—15, as compared with the previous period. It also shows that, of the 78,947 requests that were either received in 2014-15 or outstanding from the previous period, 80.6% of requests were closed. The closure rate decreased by 2.2% when compared to the previous period.

The preceding table illustrates that 69.9% of requests had been closed within the initial statutory deadline of 30 days and that 74.7% of closed requests disclosed records either in full or in part.

Figure 7 - Text version

This table compares the disposition of closed requests for the 2013–14 reporting period with that from 2014–15.

Disposition of Closed Requests	2013-14	2014-15
Disclosed in part	26,529	29,289
All disclosed	17,010	18,266
No records exist	7,271	10,453
Request abandoned	3,639	4,998
All exempted	456	476
All excluded	7	11
Neither confirmed nor denied	-	157

The preceding table shows a 5.2% increase in the rate of requests closed within the first 30 days after they were received and a similar rate of closure for the period between 31 and 60 days, as compared with the previous reporting period.

Figure 8 - Text version

This table compares the time required closing requests according to time periods for the last five years from 2010 to 2015. Data is shown in percentages.

Closure Time	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
0 to 30 days	66.8%	68.9%	51.8%	64.7%	69.9%
31 to 60 days	18.2%	14.9%	23.7%	16.0%	15.9%
61 to 120 days	7.1%	6.4%	12.0%	5.8%	4.4%
121 days or more	7.9%	9.8%	12.6%	13.5%	9.8%

The preceding table demonstrates that, of the 7,345,258 pages processed in the closure of requests, 79.5% were disclosed.

The preceding table shows that there was a 5.7% decrease in the percentage of requests closed in deemed refusal in 2014-15, as compared with the previous reporting period.

The preceding table demonstrates that 85.0% of extensions taken for closed requests invoked paragraph 15(a)(i) of the Privacy Act, relating to interference with operations, as rationale.

Disclosures Under Subsection 8(2) of the Privacy Act

Subsection 8(1) of the Privacy Act states that "personal information under the control of a government institution shall not, without the consent of the individual to whom it relates, be disclosed by the institution except in accordance with this section." Subsection 8(2) of the Act, subject to other Acts of Parliament, provides for limited instances in which it would be possible for federal institutions to disclose personal information without consent.

Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

Subsection 12(2) of the Privacy Act provides individuals with the right to request that federal institutions correct personal information under their control when they believe that it may contain errors or omissions or, alternatively, that institutions attach a notation to reflect any corrections that were requested but not made. Where the information has been disclosed to other individuals or organizations, federal institutions are required to advise them of the correction or notation.

Privacy Impact Assessments

Privacy impact assessments (PIAs) provide a framework to ensure that privacy is considered throughout the design or redesign of programs, activities or service delivery. The PIAs identify the extent to which proposals comply with all appropriate statutes, assist managers and decision makers in avoiding or mitigating privacy risks, and promote fully informed policy, program and system design choices. Completed PIAs must be submitted to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as well as to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Personal Information Banks

Personal Information Banks (PIBs) provide a description of personal information about individuals that is held by federal institutions. The Privacy Act requires that PIBs describe all personal information that is organized and retrievable by a person's name or by an identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned only to that person. PIBs must include personal information that has been or is being used, or is available for use for an administrative purpose.

Institution-specific PIBs describe personal information that is contained in the records of a specific federal government institution, and standard PIBs describe personal information that may be found in records created, collected and maintained by most federal government institutions to support common internal functions, programs and activities such as communications, travel and employment.

Standard PIBs are created by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and institutions can register against them.

Central PIBs describe personal information about members of the general public and employees (current and former) from all or several government institutions and are maintained by central government departments and agencies.

Privacy Act Requests Since 1983

Please note that the statistics reflect adjustments made throughout the years.

Figure 9 - Text version

This table identifies the disposition of closed requests since 1983. Data is shown in percentages.

Disposition of Closed Requests	Requests as Percentage
Disclosed in part	36.6%
All disclosed	45.5%
Unable to process	16.8%
Withheld entirely	1.0%
Other	0.0%

In the preceding figure:

• "Withheld entirely" includes categories "all exempted" and "all excluded."
• "Unable to process" includes the categories "no records exist"^{Footnote 47}, "transferred"^{Footnote 48}, "abandoned"^{Footnote 49} and "requests that could not be processed".^{Footnote 50}
• "Other" consists of the category "neither confirmed nor denied."

Figure 10 - Text version

This table compares the costs of operations relating to the administration of the Access to Information Act within institutions since 1983 with those regarding the Privacy Act.

Access to Information Act Costs	$737,544,121.70
Privacy Act Costs	$461,185,792.12

The Government of Canada has invested a total of $1,198,729,913.82 in the administration of the Access to Information and Privacy program since 1983.