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Chief Information Officer Branch

Information and Privacy Policy

Access to Information and Privacy

Information Notice 2006-06 - User Fees and Service Standards

No.:	2006-06
DATE:	April 25, 2006
TO:	Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Community
SUBJECT:	User Fees and Service Standards

This is further to Information Notice 2005-14, which was intended to provide clarification with respect to your obligations under the User Fees Act and the Policy on Service Standards for External Fees as they relate to the Access to Information Act.

As mentioned in Information Notice 2005-14, the Policy on Service Standards for External Fees requires institutions to develop service standards for the provision of services external to the federal government for which fees are charged. Institutions must report their service standards annually to Parliament in the Departmental Performance Report (DPR).

With regard to fees required under the Access to Information Act, the service standards are contained in the Act and its regulations. Therefore, the Information, Privacy and Security Policy Division has established the wording to be used by all institutions, with the help of the Department of Justice. Institutions should use the information in the example of template 2 found at Annex B. The information in the shaded areas should be the same for all institutions

Similarly, if institutions choose to report to Parliament on the User Fees Act in the DPR, they should use the information in the example of template 1 found at Annex A. The information in the shaded areas should be the same for all institutions.

Information Notice 2005-14 provides additional general information on user fees. Please note that templates 1 and 2 were prepared by the Cost Recovery Section of the Office of the Comptroller General, Treasury Board Secretariat. For additional information on the reporting requirements, please contact the officials in your institution who are responsible for preparing the departmental performance report.

Donald Lemieux

A/Executive Director
Information, Privacy and Security Policy Division
Chief Information Officer Branch

Appendix A

Example – How to Fill Out Template 1 – User Fees Act

Please note that the information in the shaded areas should be the same for all institutions.

A. User Fee	Fee Type	Fee Setting Authority	Date Last Modified	2005-2006					Planning Years
A. User Fee	Fee Type	Fee Setting Authority	Date Last Modified	Forecast Revenue ($000)	Actual Revenue ($000)	Full Cost ($000)	Performance Standard	Performance Results	Fiscal Year	Forecast Revenue ($000)	Estimated Full Cost ($000)
Fees charged for the processing of access requests filed under the Access to Information Act (ATIA)	Other products and services (O)	Access to Information Act	1992	Institution's data	Institution's data	Institution's data	Response provided within 30 days following receipt of request; the response time may be extended pursuant to section 9 of the ATIA. Notice of extension to be sent within 30 days after receipt of request. The Access to Information Act provides fuller details: http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/A-1/index.html.	Institution's data	2006-07 2007-08 2008-09	Institution's data	Institution's data
				Sub-Total (R) Sub-total (O) Total	Sub-Total (R) Sub-total (O) Total	Sub-Total (R) Sub-total (O) Total			Sub-total: Sub-total: Sub-total	2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Total	2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Total
B. Date Last Modified: N/A
C. Other Information: Institution's data [Departments may use this area to describe any significant factors or events that have impacted user fee activities. For example, how performance results may have been affected by external factors, or what measures, beyond strict legal requirements, are being taken to address performance gaps.]

Appendix B

Example – How to Fill Out Template 2 – Policy on Service Standards for External Fees

Please note that the information in the shaded areas should be the same for all institutions.

A. External Fee	Service Standard	Performance Result	Stakeholder Consultation
Fees charged for the processing of access requests filed under the Access to Information Act (ATIA)	Response provided within 30 days following receipt of request; the response time may be extended pursuant to section 9 of the ATIA. Notice of extension to be sent within 30 days after receipt of request. The Access to Information Act provides fuller details: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/A-1/index.html.	Institution's data	The service standard is established by the Access to Information Act and the Access to Information Regulations. Consultations with stakeholders were undertaken by the Department of Justice and the Treasury Board Secretariat for amendments done in 1986 and 1992.
B. Other Information: Institution's data [Institutions may use this area to relate any additional information relevant to their external fees; for example, planned measures for improving service or addressing performance gaps.]