Annual Report to Parliament 2022–2023 on the Access to Information Act

Introduction

Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) is pleased to present to Parliament its Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act (ATIA), in accordance with section 94 of the Access to Information Act and section 20 of the Service Fees Act. The report describes how WAGE fulfilled its responsibilities and obligations for the reporting period of April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

ISSN: 2817-6405

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions. In furtherance of that purpose:

• Part 1 provides a right of access to information (ATI) in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government
• Part 2 sets out requirements for the proactive publication of specific information known to be of interest to the public in order to provide greater transparency and accountability for the use of public funds

Mandate of Women and Gender Equality Canada

The mandate of Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) is to advance equality with respect to sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression through the inclusion of people of all genders, including women, in Canada's economic, social, and political life. This application of a gender and diversity lens will help us to understand better the intersection of sex and gender with other identity factors. These factors include but are not limited to race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic condition, place of residence and disability.

For more information about WAGE, click here to visit our website.

Organizational structure

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is responsible for the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, and the Briefing and Correspondence Unit is responsible for the coordination and monitoring of the proactive publications legislated in Part 2 of the Access to Information Act. Both units are part of the Corporate Secretariat at WAGE, and both responsible managers report directly to the Corporate Secretary.

Structure of the Access to Information and Privacy Office

The ATIP coordinator at WAGE is the manager of the ATIP Office. The ATIP coordinator acts on behalf of the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth to ensure that the Department's responsibilities under the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act,and the Service Fees Act are met.

The ATIP Office is responsible for the administration of the Access to Information Act, and the Privacy Act, and they also serve as the centre of ATIP expertise within WAGE. Activities include:

• providing timely and complete responses to requests made under the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, as well as assisting clients in accordance with the Principles for Assisting Requesters
• processing consultation requests received from other institutions, providing recommendations on the disclosure of information of primary interest to WAGE
• representing the Department in resolving complaints filed with the Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner
• providing advice and guidance to senior management and all employees of the Department on ATIP-related matters, including privacy policy advisory services related to the safeguarding of personal information
• delivering training sessions to departmental employees on their obligations under the ATIP legislation and related policies, as well as on departmental procedures
• reviewing proactive publication material and providing recommendations regarding disclosure within the spirit of the Access to Information Act

The ATIP Office consists of five positions: the ATIP coordinator and four ATIP analysts at various levels. In fiscal year 2022–23, the ATIP Office operated with 3.5 full-time employees, and called on the services of a consultant to provide privacy expertise when needed.

WAGE was not a party to any service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act during this reporting period.

Structure of proactive publication

WAGE's structure for the proactive publications legislated in Part 2 of the Access to Information Act is as follows:

• The Briefing and Correspondence Unit is responsible for:
  • briefing materials for a new or incoming minister or deputy minister (paragraphs 74(a) and 88(a))
  • titles and reference numbers of memoranda (paragraphs 74(b) and 88(b))
• Parliamentary Affairs and Cabinet Operations is responsible for:
  • Question Period notes (paragraph 74(c))
  • briefing materials for parliamentary committee appearances (paragraphs 74(d) and 88(c))
  • reports tabled in Parliament (section 84)
• The Corporate Services Branch is responsible for:
  • travel expenses (sections 75 and 82)
  • hospitality expenses (sections 76 and 83)
  • contracts over $10,000 (sections 77 and 86)
  • Minister's Office expenses (section 78)
• The Human Resources Branch is responsible for:
  • the reclassification of positions (section 85)
• The Programs Branch is responsible for:
  • grants and contributions over $25,000 (section 87)

Delegation order

The Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth has delegated the responsibilities associated with the administration of the Access to Information Act to WAGE officials through a delegation order, which can be found in Appendix A. At WAGE, the ATIP coordinator has full delegated authority.

Performance 2022–23

This section highlights key information on the Department's performance for fiscal year 2022–23. See Appendix B for the complete Statistical Report and Appendix C for the Supplemental ATIP Statistical Report.

Overview of formal requests received and completed

WAGE received 33 formal requests under the Access to Information Act in 2022–23. This was in addition to the 22 requests carried forward from previous years, for a total of 55 active requests.

Of these 55 requests, 52 were completed during the reporting period. The remaining three requests were carried over to the 2023–24 fiscal year. These three were received in fiscal year 2022–23 and remained within the legislated timeline at the end of the reporting period.

Of the 52 requests closed, 37 requests were completed within the legislated timelines under the Act. WAGE's compliance rate decreased compared to the previous fiscal year, from 96% in fiscal year 2021–22 to 71% for this reporting period. It is important to underscore that this reduction is the result of a positive achievement, as WAGE eliminated the backlog caused by COVID-19 challenges. All 15 late requests that accumulated from previous years are now finalized and closed.

Other than the impact on the compliance rate, WAGE's ability to fulfill its Access to Information Act responsibilities has not been negatively impacted by COVID-19 during fiscal year 2022–23.

The number of pages processed drastically increased, from approximately 1200 pages in fiscal year 2019–20 to almost 7000 pages in fiscal year 2022–23. Much of this increase is attributed to transitory and duplicate records being captured in the retrieval process. To address this, WAGE added additional material about information management practices to the departmental ATIP Essentials training.

Of the 52 requests closed this reporting period, 48% were released in part (25), 23% were released in full (12), 13% of the requests were excluded in their entirety (7), 8% had no responsive records (4), and 8% were abandoned (4).

Extensions and processing time

Under specific circumstances, the Act contains provisions for departments to extend the legislated deadline if the request cannot be completed within the 30-day time limit.

In 2022–23, WAGE invoked extensions for 28 of the 52 completed requests. Extensions were primarily invoked for the purposes of consultation that could not reasonably be completed within the original time limit (24 cases). In five instances, extensions were required to follow the notification process with a third party, and in two others, because there was a large volume of records, and complying with the original time limit would have unreasonably interfered with operations. More than one type of extension may apply to the same request.

During the reporting period, the Department was able to close a total of 46% of requests in 30 days or less (24), 35% of requests took between 31 and 365 days to complete (18), and 19% of requests took over 365 days (10).

Complaints

WAGE worked with the Office of the Information Commissioner and successfully resolved all three outstanding complaints from the past fiscal year: two received in October 2020 and one in June 2021. No new complaints were filed against WAGE during this reporting year, and WAGE had no active complaints at the end of the fiscal year.

Consultations from other institutions

WAGE received 37 consultations from other institutions during the reporting period. In addition, 2 requests were carried forward from the previous year, for a total of 39 active consultations.

WAGE completed 38 consultations, providing recommendations on 3803 pages. One consultation request was carried over to the next reporting year; this request was still within the negotiated timeline.

Of the 38 consultation requests, 20 were answered within 15 days, 14 were answered within 16 to 30 days, 2 were answered within 31 to 60 Days, 1 was answered within 61 to 120 Days, and exceptionally, 1 consultation took more than 365 days to respond to. The lateness of the last consultation was due to a misunderstanding with the consulting department.

Unless it is voluminous, WAGE's service standard to respond to consultations received from other institutions is three weeks.

Informal requests

The Department proactively publishes summaries of completed access to information requests on the Open Government Portal. Members of the public can submit informal requests for a copy of the previously released information without having to pay the application fee. During 2022–23, WAGE responded to 114 such informal requests, 113 of which were in response to a request made to all federal institutions to provide a rerelease of all closed ATI requests that had not been destroyed due to the retention period.

Training and awareness

Access to Information requests

Within the first three months of employment, all new WAGE employees must take the Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals course offered by the Canada School of Public Service. Topics include:

• reviewing current legislation and related policies
• processing access to information requests effectively
• protecting personal information
• understanding the requirements concerning the collection, use, communication, retention, and disposal of personal information

In addition, employees are invited to participate in departmental ATIP Essentials training sessions. During the past fiscal year, the training material was updated to ensure that it fully met all requirements set out in Treasury Board Secretariat policies. In piloting the new material in fiscal year 2022–23, ATIP delivered one training session to 15 people.

Furthermore, the employees of the ATIP Office regularly provide informal training on the application of ATIP legislation to departmental employees who retrieve and review relevant records requested under the Acts.

Proactive Publication

Training and awareness are achieved through conversations with the sectors responsible for proactive publication requirements. WAGE is developing material specific to requirements under Part 2 of the ATIA.

Policies, guidelines, procedures, and initiatives

During fiscal year 2022–23, WAGE continued the modernization of ATIP tools, templates, and processes. An ATIP liaison working group was created to assist in these efforts, as well as to foster greater understanding of each team's challenges and to enhance collaboration.

Proactive publication under part 2 of the Access to Information Act

For the purposes of Part 2 of the ATIA, Women and Gender Equality Canada is a government institution listed in Schedule I of the Financial Administration Act. A list of all proactive publication requirements that apply to the Minister and the institution is available in Appendix D.

WAGE published proactive publication requirements that were due during the reporting period on the following websites:

• Open Government Proactive disclosure website
• Transparency: Women and Gender Equality Canada website
• WAGE's Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy website

During the reporting period, WAGE published proactive publication requirements within the legislated timelines 88% of the time.

WAGE has put in place the following procedures and systems to meet proactive publication requirements:

• Meetings were held with those involved in the approval process to clarify roles, responsibilities, and timelines.
• Resources were developed and shared to support those involved in the process.
• Monthly calendar-based tracking mechanisms were put in place to ensure that reporting guidelines are followed within the required timelines.
• Weekly reports were shared with senior management to enforce on-time delivery.

Initiatives and projects to improve Access to Information

WAGE initiated planning for the implementation of new request processing software to replace the current one.

To ensure compliance and efficiency, the ATIP Office created a two-year work plan to optimize internal guidance documents, internal procedures, and tools.

Actions taken on complaints

WAGE disclosed additional records to resolve the exemption complaints filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner. No new complaints were received during the reporting year. WAGE currently has no active complaints.

Reporting on access to information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act

The Service Fees Act requires a responsible authority to report annually to Parliament on the fees collected by the institution.

With respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act:

• Enabling authority: Access to Information Act
• Fee payable: A $5.00 application fee is the only fee charged for an ATI request
• Total revenue: $130 was collected
• Fees waived or refunded: $25 was waived, and $10 was refunded
• Cost of operating the program: $183,802

Monitoring compliance

Access to information requests and inter-institutional consultations

The ATIP team meets daily to ensure that all requests are on track and that deadlines will be met. This also provides an opportunity to discuss issues that have arisen and for analysts to receive guidance on the processing of their requests.

A report of active access to information requests is prepared on a weekly basis for review and oversight by the Corporate Secretary, and for WAGE's senior management. This report is also used by the ATIP Office to identify frequently requested types of information that would prompt the Department to assess the feasibility of making that information available by other means.

Consistent with the requirement to provide timely access to requested records, WAGE limits inter-institutional consultation to only when required for the proper exercise of discretion or when there is an intention to disclose.

Contracts, information-sharing agreements, and information-sharing arrangements

WAGE uses standard clauses to ensure that the right of public access to information is reflected in contracts, information-sharing agreements, and information-sharing arrangements.

Accuracy and completeness of proactively published information under part 2 of the Act

The Corporate Secretariat, Corporate Services Branch, Human Resources Branch, and Programs Branch have developed suitable processes for extracting real-time data from different departmental systems, including financial and corporate correspondence management systems. Data generated from individual systems are converted into reports and manually verified and validated by each responsible sector to ensure accuracy. The ATIP Office reviews the material and provides recommendations regarding disclosure prior to its publication.

Once validations have been completed by the branches, approvals are sought from senior management. Every level of the production and approval process is rigorously tracked by a critical path to ensure compliance with the posting date.

Appendix A: Delegation order

The responsibilities associated with the administration of the Access to Information Act are delegated to departmental officials through a delegation order signed by the Minister for Women and Gender Equality, currently Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth.

Department For Women and Gender Equality

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation Order

The Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth, pursuant to section 95 of the Access to Information Act and section 73 the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers and functions of the Minister as the head of a government institution. This Delegation Order supersedes all previous Delegation Orders.

Dated this 28 day of March 2022

Appendix B: Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

April 1, 2022 – March 31, 2023

Section 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

Section 2: Informal Requests

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on Declining to Act on Requests

Section 4: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

* I.A.: International Affairs, Def.: Defence of Canada, S.A.: Subversive Activities

4.5 Complexity

4.6 Closed requests

4.7 Deemed refusals

Section 5: Extensions

Section 6: Fees

Section 7: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Section 8: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Section 9: Investigations and Reports of finding

Section 10: Court Action

Section 11: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

Appendix C: Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

April 1, 2022-March 3,2023

Section 1: Capacity to Receive Requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Section 2: Capacity to Process Records under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Section 3: Open Requests and Complaints Under the Access to Information Act

Section 4: Open Requests and Complaints Under the Privacy Act

Section 5: Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Section 6: Universal Access under the Privacy Act

Appendix D: Proactive publication requirements table