Implementation Report No. 111 - Statistical Reports on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Implementation Report No. 111

Date: February 21, 2008

To: Access to Information and Privacy Coordinators

Subject: Statistical Reports on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Statistical Reports

These instructions are intended to assist federal institutions prepare Statistical Reports on the administration of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) and the Privacy Act (PA).

This applies to those institutions that became subject to the Access to Information Act and/or the Privacy Act in 2007.

Due Dates

The Statistical Reports are to be submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) no later than May 30, 2008.

Note: Institutions that do not submit Statistical Reports by the stated deadline will be cited in the Bulletin.

Purpose

The Statistical Reports provide annual statistics on the application of the legislation and enables TBS to monitor trends. The information institutions submit in their Statistical Reports is published at an aggregate level in the Info Source Bulletin. Statistical Reports are also included in institutions' Annual Reports to Parliament.

Institutions should ensure that their Statistical Reports are completed for inclusion in their Annual Reports to Parliament. Please see Implementation Report No. 109 for information regarding deadlines for the tabling of Annual Reports.

Content

Statistical Reports consist of a completed form and additional narrative information submitted as an attachment.

Institutions must use the following forms:

Access to Information

• TBS/SCT 350-62 "Report on the Access to Information Act"

Privacy

• TBS/SCT 350-63 "Report on the Privacy Act".

These forms are available under "Access to Information and Privacy" on the TBS Internet site at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/atip-aiprp/forms/list-eng.asp

Considerations

The following should be considered when completing the Statistical Reports forms:

• All fields should be completed using numerical data.
• Statistics must be compiled according to the instructions attached as Appendix A.
• Some statistical categories must be reconciled mathematically. Any discrepancies should be explained in Appendix C.
• Statistical Reports and the attachment to the Statistical Report form submitted to the Treasury Board Secretariat must be identical to those appearing in the institution's Annual Reports to Parliament.

Supplemental Reporting Requirements for 2007-2008 - Access to Information and Privacy

In addition to the reporting requirements addressed in the TBS Statistical Report forms, institutions are required to report supplemental information using the form provided in Appendix B.

Submission

Institutions must submit either an electronic or hard copy of their Statistical Reports and attachments to Treasury Board Secretariat.

Please submit electronic copies of the Statistical Reports and attachments to Infosource@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Hard copies of the Statistical Reports and attachments should be sent to:

Information and Privacy Policy Division
Attention: Colette Dubois
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
219 Laurier Ave. 14^th floor
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0R5

Enquiries

Please direct any questions regarding these instructions to the Compliance Assessment and Reporting Team of the Information and Privacy Policy Division at (613) 957-2455 or by e-mail to Infosource@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Donald Lemieux

Executive Director
Information and Privacy Policy Division
Chief Information Officer Branch

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Attachments
Appendix A – How to Complete the Statistical Report Forms
Appendix B – Supplemental Reporting Requirements form
Appendix C – Discrepancies
Distribution List

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Appendix A

How to Complete the Statistical Report Forms

The following instructions are intended to provide guidance on the data that must be entered in forms TBS/SCT 350-62 "Report on the Access to Information Act" and TBS/SCT 350-63 "Report on the Privacy Act".

Reporting Period

For institutions whose financial year ends on December 31, 2007, the Reporting Period is January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007.

For institutions whose financial year ends on March 31, 2008 the Reporting Period is April 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008.

Source (Access to Information Act only)

Specify the number of requests received from each of the sources listed on the form. When it is not possible to identify the source, include the request under "Public". The sum of these Source fields should be equal to the total number of requests received during the reporting period in Part I.

Part I – Requests under the Access to Information Act (ATIA) and the Privacy Act (PA)

Only formal requests filed pursuant to section 6 of the ATIA and section 13 of the PA should be included in the Statistical Reports.

A formal request must meet the following requirements:

• It is in writing; was submitted using the "Access to Information Request Form" or the "Personal Information Request Form"; or refers to the Act.
• It is made by an individual or corporation entitled to apply, as defined by section 4 of the ATIA, section 12 of the PA and relevant Extension Orders.
• It adequately identifies the individual submitting a request under the Privacy Act.
• It provides sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of the institution to identify the relevant record(s) with a reasonable effort.
• It has been received by an appropriate official in the federal institution.
• It is accompanied by the application fee required by the Access to Information Act. (The government institution may waive the application fee).

If you receive clarification about a formal request do not count that request twice.

Do not include requests received under subsection 8(2) - permissible disclosures - of the PAin the Statistical Reports. This information will be included in your institution's Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Privacy Act.

For instructions on the preparation of Annual Reports, please see Implementation Report No. 109.

Received during reporting period

This category includes all formal requests received during the reporting period.

Outstanding from previous period

These are the formal requests that were not completed at the end of the previous reporting period.

Completed during reporting period

A request is completed when all actions for its processing have taken place and the file has been closed. In other words, the request is completed when:

• a response has been sent to the requester to advise of the disposition of the request - either a disclosure (full or partial) or denial of access has taken place, or the information requested could not be provided (because the records do not exist, the institution is unable to process, etc); or
• the request has been transferred to another institution; or
• the request was abandoned.

Carried forward

Carried forward refers to requests that were not completed at the end of this reporting period, including cases where physical access has not yet been provided.

Note: Parts II to X include statistical data for completed requestsonly.

Part II – Disposition of requests completed

Indicate the disposition of each request under only one of the following categories. If more than one category applies, the discrepancy must be explained in Appendix C.

All disclosed

All of the information requested was disclosed to the applicant without the application of an exemptions and/or exclusions.

Disclosed in part

Only a portion of the information requested was disclosed because the remainder was exempt and/or excluded. Cite the specific exemptions invoked in Part III of the form and the specific exclusions in Part IV.

Nothing disclosed (excluded)

There was no disclosure because all of the information requested qualified for exclusion under section 68 or section 69 of the ATIA or section 69 or section 70 of the PA. The specific exclusions are to be cited in Part IV of the Report.

Nothing disclosed (exempt)

There was no disclosure because all of the information requested qualified for exemption. Cite all exemptions invoked in Part III of the Report.

Transferred

This refers to requests filed under the Access to Information Act that were transferred to another government institution with "greater interest". The receiving institution will account for the request under "Received during reporting period".

Unable to process

This category includes requests that are not accounted for elsewhere, such as requests made under the wrong legislation, requests where there was insufficient information to locate any relevant information, requests for records that are not under the control of the institution, or requests for which no identifiable records exist.

Abandoned by applicant

A request is considered abandoned when the applicant formally withdraws it or when the applicant does not respond to a notice that the request will be closed if not responded to within thirty days.

Treated informally

Requests are treated informally when it has been determined, through consultation with the applicant, that processing a formal request can be discontinued in favour of providing the information informally, i.e. outside the Access to Information Act. A request treated in this manner is not considered to have been abandoned.

Note: The number of requests treated informally should not be added to the total of requests treated formally in Part VIII-Method of access.

Total

The total number of requests reported in this field should be the same as the total showing in Part I – "Completed during reporting period" field.

Part III – Exemptions invoked

For each request, indicate the exemption(s). For example, if five different exemptions were invoked to refuse the disclosure of records relevant to one request, report one exemption under each of the relevant provisions, for a total of five. If the same exemption was used several times for the same request, report it only once.

Part IV – Exclusions cited

For each request, indicate the exclusions cited. If the same exclusion was used several times for the same request, report it only once. See the example provided in Part III above.

Part V – Completion time

Completion time is to be counted from the day the complete request was received by the institution until the day the processing of the request was completed. There are four categories in this field ranging from under 30 days to over 121 days. The sum of these fields should be equal to the number of completed requests reported in Part I.

Part VI – Extensions

Indicate the number of times an extension was sought during the reporting period; by number of days (i.e. 30 days or under or 31 days or over) and the reason for the extension (i.e. searching, consultation or third party).

Part VII – Translations

The numbers reported in "Translations requested" should be the number of times records requested under the Act were translated from "English to French" or from "French to English". If a discrepancy exists, it must be explained in Appendix C.

Part VIII – Method of access

Copies given

This refers to the number of requests for which access was provided by giving copies of records to the applicants. (Copies could be electronic or paper). Include only cases where copies provided were the only method of access. Do not count the number of pages supplied to the applicant.

Examination

Count the number of requests for which access was given by allowing the applicant an opportunity to view the record requested. Include only those cases where no copy was provided.

Copies and examination

Include all cases where information was both examined and copied, in whole or in part.

Note: Do not double-count (i.e. do not duplicate information included in the two previous fields).

The sum of the fields should equal the sum of "All disclosed" and "Disclosed in part" in Part II.

Indicate any other methods of access in Appendix C.

Part IX – Fees (Access to Information only)

The fields are self-explanatory. Unless otherwise indicated, fees should be reported in dollar amounts. Fees are to be calculated in accordance with the Regulations.

Part IX – Corrections and notation (Privacy only)

The number of corrections requested should be the sum of the "Corrections made" and "Notation attached" fields.

If a discrepancy exists, it must be explained in Appendix C.

Part X – Costs

Account for all costs involved in administering the legislation by indicating the resources spent during the reporting period, including staff salary and other estimated operating and maintenance costs.

Do not attempt to simply calculate the costs of processing individual requests. What should be indicated are the total expenditures associated with those activities that are directly related to the administration of the legislation, such as processing requests, training and consultations. Staff resources should be reported in person-years or a decimal thereof (220 working days = 1 FTE; 1 working day = 0.0045 of an FTE). Include only those costs involved in processing the requests completed during the reporting period. Costs of carried forward cases are to be included in the next report. Attention should be paid to separating access and privacy costs and avoiding double counting.

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Appendix B

Supplemental Reporting Requirements for 2007-2008

Access to Information Act

In addition to the reporting requirements addressed in form TBS/SCT 350-62 "Report on the Access to Information Act", institutions are required to report on the following using this form:

Part III – Exemptions invoked

Section 13

Subsection 13(e) _______________

Section 14

Subsections 14(a) __________________

Subsections 14(b) __________________

Part IV – Exclusions cited:

Subsection 69.1 ________________

Supplemental Reporting Requirements for 2007-2008

Privacy Act

Treasury Board Secretariat is monitoring compliance with the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) Policy (which came into effect on May 2, 2002) through a variety of means. Institutions are therefore required to report the following information for the 2007-2008 reporting period.

Indicate the number of:

Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments initiated: ________

Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments completed: _______________

Privacy Impact Assessments initiated:________

Privacy Impact Assessments completed:_________

Privacy Impact Assessments forwarded to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC): ________________

If your institution did not undertake any of the activities noted above during the reporting period, this must be stated explicitly.

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Appendix C

Discrepancies