Annual Report to Parliament on the Access to Information Act April 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019

Table of Contents

Introduction  
Our Mandate  
Our Mission  
Access to Information Activities  
Historical Trend Analysis  
Appendix A – Statistical Report  
Appendix B – Delegation Order  
 

INTRODUCTION

The Office of the Correctional Investigator is pleased to submit to Parliament its Annual Report on the administration of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) for the fiscal year commencing on April 1, 2018 and ending March 31, 2019. This report is submitted in accordance with section 72 of the Act . This report is tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

The Access to Information Act took effect on July 1, 1983. The ATIA gives Canadian citizens, permanent residents and any person and corporation present in Canada a right of access to information contained in government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

OUR MANDATE

The Office of the Correctional Investigator is mandated by Part III of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act as an Ombudsman for federal offenders. The primary function of the Office is to investigate and bring resolution to individual offender complaints. The Office as well, has a responsibility to review and make recommendations on the Correctional Service's policies and procedures associated with the areas of individual complaints to ensure that systemic areas of concern are identified and appropriately addressed.

OUR MISSION

As the ombudsman for federally sentenced offenders, the Office of the Correctional Investigator serves Canadians and contributes to safe, lawful and humane corrections through independent oversight of the Correctional Service of Canada by providing accessible, impartial and timely investigation of individual and systemic concerns. While an independent organization, the Office of the Correctional Investigator is part of the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Portfolio.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACTIVITIES

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is the designated head of the institution for the Access to Information Act . The Correctional Investigator has been delegated full authority under the Access to Information Act by the Minister. Full authority under the Act has also been delegated to the Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator. The delegation of authority to administer the Act was confirmed by the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on November 30, 2015 (see Appendix B ).

While the responsibilities of the ATIP Coordinator are assigned to the Director of Corporate Services and Planning, the actual processing of requests and any associated activities are generally carried out by a consultant. Given the limited number of requests, it is felt that this is the most cost effective utilization of resources and delivery of these activities.

The ATIP Coordinator is accountable for the development, coordination and implementation of effective policies, guidelines, systems and procedures to ensure the responsibilities under the Access to Information Act are met and to enable appropriate processing and proper disclosure of information. The Coordinator is also responsible for related policies, systems and procedures emanating from the Act .

The main activities of the ATIP Coordinator include:

• Processing requests under the Act ;
• Developing and maintaining policies, procedures and guidelines to ensure the Act is respected;
• Promoting awareness of the Act to ensure the OCI’s responsiveness to the obligations imposed on the government;
• Monitoring the OCI’s compliance with the Act , regulations and relevant procedures and policies;
• Preparing annual reports to Parliament and other statutory reports, as well as other material that may be required by central agencies;
• Representing the OCI in dealings with the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Information Commissioner and other government agencies regarding the application of the Act as they relate to the OCI; and
• Supporting the OCI in meeting its commitments in relation to greater openness and transparency through proactive disclosure of information and the disclosure of information through informal avenues.

During the Reporting Period:

Thirty-nine (39) requests were received and there were two (2) outstanding from the previous reporting period. Twenty-seven (27) of these requests were disclosed in part, two (2) were released in their entirety, none exempted in their entirety, one (1) was abandoned, nine (9) had no existing records, none were transferred and two (2) were carried forward to the next reporting period. Extensions were needed for twenty-three (23) of the requests. Only four (4) informal requests were received this year.

The Office could not meet the statutory response delays for twelve (12) requests during the reporting period. In ten (10) of those twelve (12) requests, the delays were attributable to consultation timeframes with Correctional Services Canada. As is the standard, CSC is most often given ten (10) days to respond to a consultation. Where possible, extensions are provided when requested by CSC.

Since the fall of 2016, CSC has established service standards for consulting with their department. These service standards include the following:

Although the said service standards were apparently intended to be temporary, it appears they have become permanent.

This year CSC response times to our consultations were an average of 129 days to review an average of 212 pages.

Because the majority of the documents requested from my Office require consultation with CSC, consultation response times are greatly impacting the Office’s ability to complete our reviews in a timely fashion. Over the past year, I have decided that in cases where CSC does not or cannot respond on time, my Office would proceed with the response to the requesters as long as there are no apparent concerns with content based in my Office’s view. This approach has allowed my Office to ensure timely responses to requesters.

Monitoring, by the ATIP Coordinator, of the time required to process these access requests was completed in preparing the historical trend analysis in this report. The Executive Director and the ATIP Coordinator are advised by way of a briefing note when requests are not closed within the required time limits. The briefing note advises of the reason for the late response, which is typically a late or never received response from other government departments on a consultation.

No training sessions were provided during the reporting period. Advice, guidance and recommendations were provided by the consultant on an as required basis to Management and staff.

There were no new OCI-specific access related procedures, policies or guidelines implemented.  
The OCI received no complaints during the reporting period.

For 2018-19, the costs directly associated with the administration of the Access to Information Act are estimated at $45,014.

Staff: $11,069  
Consultant fees: $33,945

The associated employee resources for 2018-19 are estimated at 0.48 FTE for administering the Access to Information Act .

HISTORICAL TREND ANALYSIS

Over a five year period, from 2014-15 to 2018-19, the OCI received an average of eighteen (18) requests annually; the lowest number of requests received in a reporting period was eight (8) and the highest number of requests received in a reporting period was thirty-nine (39). Over the last five years the OCI has maintained a 68% completion rate of requests processed between 1-60 days. The average completion time within 30 days was 36% of all requests; and, the average completion time between 30 and 60 days was 32% of all requests.

The Source of the Requests was most often the Public with an average of thirteen (13) requests followed by the Media with an average of two (2) requests. With regards to the number of pages processed, an average of four thousand, eight hundred and sixty-four (4,864) was recorded; the highest number of pages processed in a reporting period was seven thousand six hundred and thirty-seven (7,637); the lowest number of pages processed in a reporting period was three thousand, one hundred and sixty-two (3,162).

The most frequently used exemptions were:

• 19(1): 48%
• 16(1)(d): 10%
• 24(1)(b): 10%

A total of fifty-nine (59) extensions for consultations were recorded for an average of twelve (12) extensions per reporting period; the highest number of extensions in one reporting period was twenty-three (23); the lowest number of extensions in one reporting period was four (4).

A total of thirty-three (33) consultations were received from other government organizations for an average of six (6) consultations per reporting period.

This baseline data will continue to be used in future years to assess trends, inform ongoing improvement in the processing of ATI requests and implementing corrective measures where necessary.

APPENDIX A - Statistical Report

Name of institution: Office of the Correctional Investigator

Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2019-03-31

Part 1 - Requests Under the Access to Information Act 

Note: All requests previously recorded as "treated informally" will now be accounted for in this section only.

Part 2 - Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 3 - Extensions

PART 4 - Fees

Part 5 - Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Part 6 - Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Part 7 - Complaints and Investigations

Part 8: Court Action

Part 9 - Resources Related to the Access to Information Act 

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

Appendix B - Delegation Order

Access to Information Act Delegation Order

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness , pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act , hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Minister as head of a government institution, that is, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, under the sections of the Act set out in the schedule opposite each position

Dated at the City of Ottawa this 30th day of November, 2015

Signed by:  
The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.  
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Date modified  
2022-01-06