Source: http://international.gc.ca/gac-amc/publications/atip-aiprp/annual_reports-rapport_annuels/parl1314_atia_lai.aspx?lang=eng
Timestamp: 2017-10-23 18:48:19
Document Index: 702163278

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 612', 'art 1', 'art 77', 'art 27432', 'art 75', 'art 70', 'art 33', 'art 8', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 41', 'art 11049', 'art 40', 'art 52', 'art 4', 'art 7', 'art 11', 'art 355', 'art 118085', 'art 365', 'art 356', 'art 170', 'art 19', 'art 0']

Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act - 2013-2014
1.1 Number of Requestes
1.2 Source of requestes
We are pleased to table the Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) for fiscal year 2013-2014, as required under subsections 72(1) and 72(2) of the Act. This is the first annual report for the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development created as a result of the amalgamation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency in June 2013. In order to provide complete information on the activities of the two former departments, the statistical reports in the annex of this document consists of three sections, one each for the former Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the former Canadian International Development Agency and the recently created Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.
The Department's legal mandate, as set out in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Act, RSC 1985, c. E-22, in force during the first three months of the reporting period, was to:
Passport Canada, which was a Special Operating Agency of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, was transferred to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada on July 2, 2013.
In 2013-2014, the ATIP staff fluctuated between forty-five and fifty-three employees (including contractors) to fulfill the Department's obligations under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. As of March 31, 2014, the ATIP Office consisted of; a Director, three Deputy Directors, eight Team Leaders, thirty-one Analysts at various levels, eight clerical staff, ten consultants, two students, and one Systems Administrator. The work ranges from processing complex and/or voluminous requests to more straight forward, routine requests and consultations from other government departments as well as providing advice to internal and external stakeholders and providing training to departmental staff.
The Division completed an external staffing process at the PM-02, PM-03, PM-04, PM-05, and PM-06 levels. As a result of increased opportunities for ATI analysts throughout government, the division is continuing to deal with staffing challenges, and will continue to look for new practices and procedures to keep up with the increasing workload.
Under Section 73 the Act, the Minister's authority is delegated to enable the Department to meet its legislated requirements as well as exercise its powers. As a result of amalgamation, the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada is currently operating with two separate and distinct Delegation Orders. Since October 2009 responsibility for all sections of the Act was delegated to the Deputy Ministers, to the Corporate Secretary, to the Director of the Access to Information and Privacy Protection Division, as well as to the Deputy Directors of the ATIP Office.
The Department received 214 requests for information under the Access to Information Act. Along with those new requests received, 472 requests were carried over from the previous
fiscal year for a total of 686 requests.
During the reporting period, 225 requests were completed and 461 active files were carried over to the next reporting period.
The Access to Information requests received during this reporting period break down as follows:
Nothing disclosed (excluded) 9
Nothing disclosed (exempted 5
Unable to process 47
Abandoned by applicant 22
The exemptions most commonly used by DFAIT during the period were sub-sections 15(1) [international affairs] and 20(1) [third party information] as well as paragraphs 19(1) [personal information] and 21(1)(a) [consultations and deliberations]. These were invoked for 105, 102, 97, and 71 requests, respectively. DFAIT also applied exclusions under sub-section 69(1) [confidences of cabinet] in 42 instances.
In all, during this reporting period, DFAIT disclosed 16,635 pages of the 31,865 relevant pages processed.
During the reporting period, DFAIT claimed extensions pursuant to paragraphs 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c):43, 72, and 9 times, respectively.
For the reporting period, the Department collected $1,321 in fees, and waived $1,500 in fees.
Given its mandate and various responsibilities at the international level, DFAIT played a key role in its responsibilities under the ATIA on behalf of other government departments (OGDs). As well, DFAIT consulted with foreign organizations abroad on behalf of other federal government institutions that are processing requests for records originating from abroad.
Between April 1, 2013 and June 26, 2013, DFAIT received 275 ATI Act consultations from other government institutions. Most requests originated from federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. However, a small percentage of consultations originated from other organizations.
During the reporting period, 240 consultations were completed representing 22,164 pages.
The Agency received 41 requests for information under the Access to Information Act. Along with those new requests received, 157 requests were carried over from the previous fiscal year for a total of 198 requests.
During the reporting period, 90 requests were completed and 108 active files were carried over to the next reporting period.
Table 3: Requestor sources
Table 4: Disposition of completed requests
Abandoned by applicant 7
The exemptions most commonly used by the Agency during the period were sub-sections 20(1) [third party information] and 19(1) [personal information] as well as paragraphs 21(1)(a) [advice] and 21(1)(b) [consultations and deliberations]. These were invoked for 55, 36, 49, and 51 requests, respectively. The Agency also applied exclusions under sub-section 69(1) [confidences of cabinet] in 16 instances.
In all, during this reporting period, the Agency disclosed 349 pages of the 425 relevant pages processed.
During the reporting period, the Agency claimed extensions pursuant to paragraphs 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c):4, 43, and 17 times, respectively.
For the reporting period, the Agency collected $400 in fees, and waived $426 in fees.
Between April 1, 2013 and June 26, 2013, the Agency received 34 ATI Act consultations from other government institutions.
During the reporting period, 34 consultations were completed representing 540 pages.
DFATD received 904 requests for information under the Access to Information Act. Along with those new requests received, 569 requests were carried over from the previous fiscal year for a total of 1,473 requests.
During the reporting period, 975 requests were completed and 498 active files were carried over to the next reporting period.
Although the amalgamation of the former Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency created administrative and technological challenges related to the merger of the two separate ATIP offices, the amalgamation provided an opportunity to merge and update existing policies, guidelines and procedures resulting in a more efficient and effective department. The labour disruptions by the members of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers resulted in an inability to appropriately determine the length of time to process some ATI requests associated with Foreign Service Officers identified as subject matter experts. As these Foreign Service Officers were on strike they were unavailable to retrieve and review records. These factors, combined with a continued focus on completing the oldest requests, unfortunately contributed to an overall increase in deemed refusals. The DFATD ATIP Office has taken measures and is committed to improve on these numbers for the next fiscal year.
Table 5: Requestor sources
Table 6: Disposition of completed requests
Disclosed in part 612
Nothing disclosed (excluded) 24
Nothing disclosed (exempted 15
Unable to process 94
Abandoned by applicant 118
The exemptions most commonly used by the Department during the period were sub-sections 15(1) [international affairs] and 19(1) [personal information] as well as paragraphs 21(1)(a) [advice] and 21(1)(b) [consultations and deliberations]. These were invoked for 517, 415, 354, and 375 requests, respectively. The Department also applied exclusions under sub-section 69(1) [confidences of cabinet] in 287 instances.
In all, during this reporting period, DFATD disclosed 80 543 pages of the 138 159 relevant pages processed.
During the reporting period, the Department claimed extensions pursuant to paragraphs 9(1)(a), 9(1)(b) and 9(1)(c): 210, 390, and 55 times, respectively.
For the reporting period, the Department collected $6,257 in fees, and waived $2,970 in fees.
When a request contains records that are of interest to another institution, the ATIP Office of that institution is consulted.
Given its mandate and various responsibilities at the international level, DFATD plays a key role under the ATIA on behalf of other government departments (OGDs). As well DFATD consults with foreign organizations abroad on behalf of other federal government institutions that are processing requests for records originating from abroad.
Between June 27, 2013 and March 31, 2014, the Department received 589 ATI Act consultations from other government institutions. Most requests originated from federal institutions subject to the Access to Information Act. However, a small percentage of consultations originated from other organizations.
On January 12, 2012 the Treasury Board Secretariat introduced section 7.7 in the Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act. The intent of this section was to limit and reduce the need for inter-institutional consultation particularly regarding the application of section 15 of the Access to Information Act. With this goal in mind the Department has offered and conducted training sessions for ATIP offices across government to help ensure departments are trained in the exercise of discretion that would allow them to invoke section 15 without the need to consult DFAIT as was mandatory in the past. In order to ensure high-value work on consultations The ATIP Office now conducts an initial triage and should the application of section 15 not be apparent the documents are immediately returned to the consulting institution. With the implementation of these steps we can now see a marked decrease in the amount of consultations received. In the 2011-2012 reporting year DFAIT had received 1136 consultations, In 2012-2013 DFAIT received 971. A significant drop can now be seen as in the current reporting period, after amalgamation, DFATD has only received 589 consultation requests.
During the reporting period, 652 consultations were completed representing 75,454 pages.
During 2013-2014, the ATIP Office continued to provide analysts with the necessary training and tools to perform their jobs effectively via training sessions developed to meet the ATIP Office's training needs and a dedicated trainer. Furthermore, in conjunction with the Centre for Corporate Learning Services, Learning Roadmaps were developed in order to effectively identify and formalize the training requirements for employees in the ATIP Division.
The ATIP Office also continued to benefit from its ATIP Professional Development Program which allows DFATD to "grow its own" ATIP Analysts due to the lack of experienced ATIP Analysts within the federal ATIP Community. This program has been very successful in addressing recruitment, retention and succession planning issues. 12 employees are presently in the program and recruiting continues.
The Department's Intranet ATIP website is accessible to all DFATD employees as is a newly designed Wiki page. In addition, an ATIP Group exists in AGORA, a collaboration tool used to quickly share information, best practices and facilitate collaboration across the Department. The ATIP Division maintains a structured and department-wide ATIP awareness program to ensure that officials across the Department understand their roles and responsibilities. The ATIP Office has also expanded the forums within which ATIP training is delivered to include; staff meetings, "DFATD 101" courses which are designed for new employees, a "Lunch and Learn" program and pre-posting training sessions in order to better prepare employees for their work at Canada's missions abroad.
The ATIP Office also holds sessions with subject matter experts during which records are reviewed in order to educate employees on the exercise of discretion when making recommendations.
To ensure that employees at Canadian missions abroad also receive necessary training, sessions are delivered to Locally Engaged Staff, Trade, Political, Development, Consular Officers, and Administrative Assistants using videoconferencing and webinar technology. In addition, an online interactive ATIP awareness tutorial, developed in collaboration with the Canadian Foreign Service Institute, continues to be used. For this reporting period, one hundred and eighty-two employees completed the online training. This important tool allows employees to receive training without additional resources being allotted to such efforts.
Training on the Directive 7.7 of the Access to Information Act, which requires consultation with DFATD on Section 15 of the Act only if another department requires additional information for the proper exercise of discretion to withhold or another department intends to disclose sensitive information pertaining to international affairs, continued to be delivered during this reporting period to the federal ATIP community via TBS community meetings and various training sessions. As well, this training provides information on the responsibilities of DFATD vis-à-vis the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act as it pertains to records that have international implications. As expected, this training was beneficial to other federal departments in identifying what information and/or records should be sent to DFATD for consultation.
To assist Consular Officers in understanding their roles and responsibilities vis-a-vis the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act in the context of providing consular services to Canadians, a specific training program is delivered using scenario-based practical exercises to better prepare employees for situations they may encounter in the course of their duties. During the reporting period sixteen Consular Training sessions were held with one hundred and eighty-three participants. Training was also provided to Honourary Consuls to help them better understand their roles and responsibilities.
The ATIP Office continues to refine both the training program for ATIP Liaison Officers and subject-matter experts within Offices of Primary Interest (OPIs) across the Department. Employees can register for these courses via an automated online service, which has improved the ATIP Office's ability to deliver training.
subject matter experts within Offices of Primary Interest;
DFATD's ATIP Division continuously strives to develop and refine its training tools through comments from employees participating in the various training session delivered.
From April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, 105 complaints were made to the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) regarding access to information requests to the Department. The reasons for the complaints are as follows:
Table 7: Complaints, audits, and investigations
Refusal – Exemptions 71
Furthermore, during FY 2013-14, 58 complaints were closed. The findings on closed complaints are as follows:
Table 8: Complaints, audits, and investigations
Well-Founded 9
The Department takes the issue of complaints seriously. The highest number of complaints pertain to the application of exemptions and this is being addressed through numerous means including; using the ATIP Professional Development Program to recruit, train and promote employees, providing ATIP Awareness sessions throughout the Department, updating the Intranet ATIP web site, ensuring that new personnel receive appropriate training and can refer to a new online ATIP tutorial. The Division has also dedicated an officer to deal solely with complaints.
As previously mentioned, although the amalgamation of the former Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency created administrative and technological challenges related to the merger of the two separate ATIP offices, the amalgamation provided an opportunity to merge and update existing policies, guidelines and procedures resulting in a more efficient and effective department. The labour disruptions by the members of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers resulted in an inability to appropriately determine the length of time to process some ATI requests associated with Foreign Service Officers identified as subject matter experts. As these Foreign Service Officers were on strike, they were unavailable to retrieve and review records. These factors, combined with a continued focus on completing the oldest requests, unfortunately contributed to an overall increase in deemed refusals. The DFATD ATIP Office has taken measures and is committed to improve on these numbers for the next fiscal year.
The Access to Information and Privacy Protection Office at DFATD is continually working to find efficiencies to deal with the ever increasing workload. The past fiscal year saw the implementation of Learning Roadmaps to guide management and staff in their professional development as ATIP experts. To aid staff in better understanding the roles of the branches, bureaus and divisions in the new department, an evergreen chart was created and continues to be updated on a weekly basis given the ongoing organizational changes in the new department. For new ATIP Office employees, an ATIP request process workflow chart was created to help them better understand their role. Finally, a detailed Access to Information and Access Consultation step-by-step process document was prepared to increase the efficiency of new employees.
The ATIP Office completed its external staffing processes for PM-02 to PM-06 positions as well as a PM-04 deployment process.
Quarterly Performance Report to Executive Board: Departmental overview of each area's compliance with ATIP taskings (number of extensions requested, % of completion on time, average response time). The Executive Board consists of: the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Minister of International Trade and the Deputy Minister of International Development, two Associate Deputy Ministers, all Assistant Deputy Ministers, the heads of communications and of the Corporate Secretariat, and four senior Heads of Mission
Table 9: Number of requestes
Received during reporting period 214
Outstanding from previous reporting period 472
Closed during reporting period 225
Carried over to next reporting period 461
Table 10: Source of requestes
Business (Private Sector) 46
Table 11: Disposition and completion time
All disclosed 2 8 5 2 0 0 0 17
Disclosed in part 1 22 14 36 8 24 15 120
All excluded 1 0 1 3 0 3 1 9
No records exist 10 34 2 1 0 0 0 47
Request abandoned 5 6 3 2 0 2 4 22
Table 12: Exemptions
15(1) - I.A.* 96
15(1) - Def.* 7
15(1) - S.A.* 2
Table 13: Exclusions
Table 14: Format of information released
All disclosed 15 1 1
Disclosed in part 77 37 6
Table 15: Relevant pages processed and disclosed
All disclosed 1303 1162 17
Disclosed in part 27432 14869 120
All exempted 118 0 5
All excluded 205 0 9
Request abandoned 2807 1766 22
Table 16: Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
All disclosed 15 226 1 291 1 645 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 75 1914 33 6047 6 2392 6 4516 0 0
All exempted 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Abandoned 16 0 4 903 2 863 0 0 0 0
Table 17: Other complexities
All disclosed 3 0 0 3
Disclosed in part 70 2 0 0 72
Abandoned 4 2 0 0 6
Table 18: Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Table 19: Number of days past deadline
1 to 15 days 10 4 14
16 to 30 days 4 5 9
31 to 60 days 5 4 9
61 to 120 days 1 8 9
181 to 365 days 7 11 18
More than 365 days 0 4 4
Table 20: Requests for translation
Table 21: Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
Disclosed in part 33 0 56 8
All excluded 1 0 7 0
Request abandoned 7 0 8 0
Table 22: Length of extensions
30 days or less 16 0 9 3
31 to 60 days 9 0 21 4
61 to 120 days 11 0 18 2
121 to 180 days 3 0 13 0
181 to 365 days 1 0 11 0
Table 23: Fees
Application 217 $1,085 7 $40
Search 1 $163 1 $1,263
Preparation 1 $73 1 $197
Table 24: Consultations received from other government institutions and organizations
Received during reporting period 275 8123 4 752
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 123 20671 6 318
Closed during the reporting period 240 6630 6 797
Pending at the end of the reporting period 158 22164 4 273
Table 25: Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government institutions
Disclose entirely 11 13 18 9 0 0 51
Disclose in part 8 30 53 32 4 1 0 128
Exempt entirely 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 4
Consult other institution 4 3 5 3 1 1 0 17
Other 24 13 2 1 0 0 0 40
Table 26: Recommendations and completion time for consultations
Disclose in part 1 0 1 0 0 0 2
Consult other institution 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Table 27: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences
31 to 60 5 0
61 to 120 8 0
Salaries $716,415
Overtime $3,057
Goods and Services $516,648
Professional services contracts $482,878
Other $33,770
Full-time employees 38.55 0.00 38.55
Consultants and agency personnel 14.15 0.00 14.15
Name of institution: Canadian International Agency
Table 30: Number of requestes
Received during reporting period 41
Outstanding from previous reporting period 157
Closed during reporting period 90
Carried over to next reporting period 108
Table 31: Source of requestes
Table 32: Disposition and completion time
All disclosed 0 9 0 0 2 0 0 11
Disclosed in part 1 14 2 26 17 1 3 64
No records exist 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 7
Request abandoned 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 7
Table 33: Exemptions
15(1) - I.A.* 23
Table 34: Exclusions
Table 35: Format of information released
All disclosed 11 0 0
Disclosed in part 41 23 0
Table 36: Relevant pages processed and disclosed
All disclosed 217 217 11
Disclosed in part 11049 8198 64
Request abandoned 425 349 7
Table 37: Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
All disclosed 10 86 1 131 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 40 1273 19 3409 3 1379 2 2137 0 0
Abandoned 6 0 1 349 0 0 0 0 0 0
Table 38: Other complexities
All disclosed 2 1 0 0 3
Disclosed in part 52 0 0 0 52
Abandoned 1 2 0 0 3
Table 39: Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Table 40: Number of days past deadline
Table 41: Requests for translation
Table 42: Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
Disclosed in part 4 6 34 17
Request abandoned 0 1 0 0
Table 43: Length of extensions
31 to 60 days 1 1 0 14
61 to 120 days 1 3 32 3
121 to 180 days 0 4 3 0
Table 44: Fees
Application 80 $400 10 $50
Preparation 0 $0 22 $44
Table 45: Consultations received from other government institutions and organizations
Received during reporting period 34 504 0 0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 6 128 0 0
Closed during the reporting period 34 540 0 0
Pending at the end of the reporting period 6 92 0 0
Table 46: Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government institutions
Disclose entirely 14 6 0 0 0 0 0 20
Disclose in part 7 5 0 0 0 0 0 12
Table 47: Recommendations and completion time for consultations
Table 48: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences
16 to 30 1 0
61 to 120 3 0
121 to 180 2 2
181 to 365 2 2
Table 49: Costs
Salaries $118,953
Goods and Services $45,695
Professional services contracts $14,772
Other $30,923
Table 50: Human Resources
Full-time employees 3.07 0.00 3.07
Consultants and agency personnel 3.43 0.00 3.43
Table 51: Number of requestes
Received during reporting period 904
Outstanding from previous reporting period 569
Closed during reporting period 975
Carried over to next reporting period 498
Table 52: Source of requestes
Business (Private Sector) 90
Table 53: Disposition and completion time
All disclosed 10 54 16 10 3 2 3 98
Disclosed in part 11 56 97 156 83 103 106 612
All exempted 0 2 3 5 2 2 1 15
All exempted 0 1 0 9 11 2 1 24
No records exist 9 63 10 6 0 3 3 94
Request abandoned 54 27 9 4 2 7 15 118
Table 54: Exemptions
15(1) - I.A.* 471
15(1) - Def.* 34
15(1) - S.A.* 12
Table 55: Exclusions
Table 56: Format of information released
All disclosed 78 11 9
Disclosed in part 355 233 24
Table 57: Relevant pages processed and disclosed
All disclosed 5264 2542 98
Disclosed in part 118085 74371 612
All exempted 3768 0 15
All excluded 1751 0 24
Request abandoned 9291 3630 118
Table 58: Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests
All disclosed 93 1284 3 709 1 538 1 11 0 0
Disclosed in part 365 7290 184 31263 37 17122 26 18696 0 0
All exempted 11 0 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
All excluded 22 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Abandoned 103 165 7 607 4 901 4 1957 0 0
Table 59: Other complexities
All disclosed 7 0 0 10 17
Disclosed in part 356 18 4 73 451
All exempted 7 0 0 1 8
All excluded 22 0 0 2 24
Abandoned 17 5 0 24 46
Table 60: Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Table 61: Number of days past deadline
1 to 15 days 26 44 70
16 to 30 days 21 15 36
31 to 60 days 15 26 41
61 to 120 days 19 31 50
121 to 180 days 10 29 39
181 to 365 days 25 49 74
More than 365 days 15 69 84
Table 62: Requests for translation
Table 63: Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests
All disclosed 12 0 8 2
Disclosed in part 170 57 267 48
All exempted 2 2 7 3
All excluded 5 6 14 0
No records exist 8 0 10 2
Request abandoned 13 4 15 0
Table 64: Length of extensions
30 days or less 105 0 54 1
31 to 60 days 54 2 98 32
61 to 120 days 32 22 94 18
121 to 180 days 8 45 36 3
181 to 365 days 7 0 39 1
365 days or more 4 0 0 0
Table 65: Fees
Application 922 $4,610 46 $232
Search 7 $735 5 $2,523
Preparation 3 $667 24 $48
Table 66: Consultations received from other government institutions and organizations
Received during reporting period 589 71729 24 483
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 164 22256 4 273
Closed during the reporting period 652 75454 21 626
Pending at the end of the reporting period 101 18531 7 130
Table 67: Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government institutions
Disclose entirely 41 64 71 25 0 0 0 201
Disclose in part 19 64 102 103 17 8 1 314
Exempt entirely 1 6 5 1 0 0 0 13
Consult other institution 19 11 19 17 2 5 2 75
Other 34 6 7 1 0 0 0 48
Table 68: Recommendations and completion time for consultations
Disclose entirely 4 4 4 1 0 1 0 14
Disclose in part 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 6
Table 69: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences
1 to 15 6 0
16 to 30 3 0
61 to 120 51 1
121 to 180 7 7
181 to 365 12 12
Table 70: Costs
Overtime $8,989
Goods and Services $1,519,065
Professional services contracts $1,419,775
Other $99,290
Table 71: Human Resources
Full-time employees 46.35 0.00 46.35
Consultants and agency personnel 10.99 0.00 10.99
Students 0.86 0.86