2021–22 Annual Report on the Privacy Act

From April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022

Click to view the Report in PDF.

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Introduction

The Privacy Act (PA – the Act) gives Canadians the broad legal right to access and correct their personal information contained in federal government records. The Act also places limits on the collection, use and disclosure of personal information.

The Act provides government institutions with 30 days to respond to personal information requests. Additional time may be granted if there are many records to examine, other government agencies to be consulted, or documents to be translated. Access rights are subject to specific and limited exemptions.

This annual report to Parliament is submitted by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (the Commissioner) pursuant to section 72 of the PA. On April 15, 2007, the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act came into force. It created the Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada (the Office). The new legislation replaced the Treasury Board Policy on the Internal Disclosure of Information Concerning Wrongdoing in the Workplace.

The Office is mandated to establish a safe, independent and confidential process for public servants and members of the public to disclose potential wrongdoing in the federal public sector. The Office also helps to protect from reprisal public servants who have filed disclosures or participated in related investigations.

The Commissioner is an independent Agent of Parliament.

Description of the Institution’s Structure

The Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator is the only employee dedicated, on a part-time basis, to fulfil the PA responsibilities. The Coordinator is assisted by a contractor for the processing of the requests, for training and education, and for reporting activities.

This last reporting period, the services of a program officer and of the Commission’s legal advisor were also sought to assist in the processing of a substantive request.

Delegation

The Commissioner, as the head of the government institution, has designated, pursuant to section 73 of the PA, the persons holding the positions set out in the delegation order, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties or functions of the Commissioner as specified therein. A copy of the delegation order is included in Appendix A.

Interpretation of the Annual Statistical Report

Appendix B provides a statistical report on the PA applications processed by the Office between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.

Three formal requests were received and closed during this reporting period. None of them required an extension under section 15(a)(i) of the PA and none were carried over from the previous period.

For the three requests received, no records corresponding to these were held by the Commission. Consequently, no translations were required to respond to the requests and no disclosures were made under sections 8(2) and 8(5) of the PA.

No requests for the correction of personal information or for the production of annotations were received.

No consultations were received from other federal government institutions including on Cabinet Confidences.

The Office spent some $2,160 in resources administering the PA.

Five-Year Trend of Privacy Requests

Fiscal Year	New Requests Received	Total Requests Processed*
2017–18	1	1
2018–19	0	0
2019–20	10	10
2020–21	5	5
2021–22	3	3

*Note: Total requests processed include any requests carried over from previous reporting periods.

Interpretation of the Supplemental Statistical Report

Appendix C provides a statistical report on the COVID-19 measures applied by the Office between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.

Education and Training Activities

A formal briefing session covering the notions of personal information and of privacy breach was delivered virtually to all PSIC employees during this reporting period. Furthermore, advice was provided on an individual basis as required.

Overview of New or Revised Institutional Policies and Procedures

No new or revised institutional policies or procedures were implemented during this reporting period which would have had an impact on privacy.

Key Issues Relating to Privacy Complaints and/or Investigations

No complaints were received from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner during this reporting period. However, one complaint received during the previous reporting period was investigated and deemed unfounded.

Time Monitoring for Processing Privacy Requests

Though no formal time monitoring was conducted during this reporting period, the Office uses a case management system to track processing times regarding privacy requests. This tool assists the Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator and the contractor dedicated to this function in monitoring timelines to ensure compliancy with legislated deadlines.

Material Privacy Breaches

No serious material privacy breaches took place during this reporting period.

Privacy Impact Assessments

No Privacy Impact Assessments were completed during this reporting period.

Personal Information Disclosed Pursuant to 8(2) and 8(5) of the Privacy Act

No disclosures were made under sections 8(2) and 8(5) of the PA during this reporting period.

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Appendix A – Delegation Order

The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada, as the head of the government institution, hereby designates, pursuant to section 73.1 of the Privacy Act, the person holding the position set out below, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties or functions of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner as specified below.

Position	Sections of Privacy Act
Deputy Commissioner	Full Authority – pre and post C-58
ATIP Coordinator	Full Authority, except for section 8(2)(m) – pre and post C-58

I hereby name Denis Bilodeau as Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator.

(Original signed by)

Joe Friday
Public Sector Integrity Commissioner

February 12, 2020

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Appendix B – Annual Statistical Report

Name of Institution: Office of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada

Reporting Period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31

Section 1: Requests under the Privacy Act

1.1 Number of Requests received

		Montant
Received during reporting period		3
Outstanding from previous reporting periods		0
Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total		3
Closed during reporting period		3
Carried over the next reporting period		0
Carried over within legislated timeline	0
Carried over beyond legislated timeline	0

1.2 Channels of Requests

Source	Number of Requests
Online	0
E-mail	3
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	3

Section 2: Informal Requests

2.1 Number of Informal Requests

		Nombre de demandes
Received during reporting period		0
Outstanding from previous reporting periods		0
Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total		0
Closed during reporting period		0
Carried over the next reporting period		0

2.2 Channels of Informal Requests

Source	Number of Requests
Online	0
E-mail	0
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	0

2.3 Completion time of Informal Requests

Completion Time
1–15 days	16–30 days	31–60 days	61–120 days	121–180 days	181–365 days	More than 365 days	Total
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2.4 Pages released Informally

Less than 100 Pages released		101–500 Pages released		501–1,000 Pages released		1,001–5,000 Pages released		More than 5,000 Pages released
Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 3: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

	Completion Time
Disposition of Requests	1–15 days	16–30 days	31–60 days	61–120 days	121–180 days	181–365 days	More than 365 days	Total
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests
18(2)	0
19(1)(a)	0
19(1)(b)	0
19(1)(c)	0
19(1)(d)	0
19(1)(e)	0
19(1)(f)	0
20	0
21	0
22(1)(a)(i)	0
22(1)(a)(ii)	0
22(1)(a)(iii)	0
22(1)(b)	0
22(1)(c)	0
22(2)	0
22.1	0
22.2	0
22.3	0
22.4	0
23(a)	0
23(b)	0
24(a)	0
24(b)	0
25	0
26	0
27	0
27.1	0
28	0

3.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of Requests
69(1)(a)	0
69(1)(b)	0
69.1	0
70(1)	0
70(1)(a)	0
70(1)(b)	0
70(1)(c)	0
70(1)(d)	0
70(1)(e)	0
70(1)(f)	0
70.1	0

3.4 Format of Information Released

Paper	Electronic				Other
	E-record	Data set	Video	Audio
0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant Pages Processed and Disclosed for paper and e-record Formats

Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
0	0	0

3.5.2 Relevant Pages Processed by Requests disposition for paper and e-record by Size of Requests

Disposition	Less than 100 Pages Processed		101–500 Pages Processed		501–1,000 Pages Processed		1,001–5,000 Pages Processed		More than 5,000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Processed	Number of Requests	Pages Processed	Number of Requests	Pages Processed	Number of Requests	Pages Processed	Number of Requests	Pages Processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.3 Relevant Minutes Processed and Disclosed for audio Formats

Number of Minutes Processed	Number of Minutes Disclosed	Number of Requests
0	0	0

3.5.4 Relevant Minutes Processed per Requests disposition for audio Formats by Size of Requests

Disposition	Less than 60 Minutes Processed		60-120 Minutes Processed		More than 120 Minutes Processed
	Number of Requests	Minutes Processed	Number of Requests	Minutes Processed	Number of Requests	Minutes Processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.5 Relevant Minutes Processed and Disclosed for video Formats

Number of Minutes Processed	Number of Minutes Disclosed	Number of Requests
0	0	0

3.5.6 Relevant Minutes Processed per Requests disposition for video Formats by Size of Requests

Disposition	Less than 60 Minutes Processed		60-120 Minutes Processed		More than 120 Minutes Processed
	Number of Requests	Minutes Processed	Number of Requests	Minutes Processed	Number of Requests	Minutes Processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.7 Other Complexities

Disposition	Consultation Required	Legal Advice Sought	Interwoven Information	Other	Total
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	4	0	0	0

3.6 Closed Requests

3.6.1 Number of Requests Closed within Legislated Timelines

Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	3
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%)	100

3.7 Deemed Refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for Not Meeting Legislated Timelines

Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline	Principal Reason
	Interference with Operations / Workload	External Consultation	Internal Consultation	Other
0	0	0	0	0

3.7.2 Requests Closed Beyond Legislated Timelines (Including Any Extension Taken)

Number of Days Past Legislated Timelines	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timelines where No Extension Was Taken	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timelines where an Extension Was Taken	Total
1–15 days	0	0	0
16–30 days	0	0	0
31–60 days	0	0	0
61–120 days	0	0	0
121–180 days	0	0	0
181–365 days	0	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0	0
Total	1	0	1

3.8 Requests for Translation

Translation Requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

Section 4: Disclosures Under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Paragraph 8(2)(e)	Paragraph 8(2)(m)	Subsection 8(5)	Total
0	0	0	0

Section 5: Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

Disposition for Correction Requests Received	Number
Notation attached	0
Requests for correction accepted	0
Total	0

Section 6: Extensions

6.1 Reasons for Extensions

Number of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken	15(a)(i) Interference with Operations				15(a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation Purposes or Conversion
	Further Review Required to Determine Exemptions	Large Volume of Pages	Large Volume of Requests	Documents Are Difficult to Obtain	Cabinet Confidence Section (Section 70)	External	Internal
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

6.2 Length of Extensions

Length of Extensions	15(a)(i) Interference with Operations				15(a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation Purposes or Conversion
	Further Review Required to Determine Exemptions	Large Volume of Pages	Large Volume of Requests	Documents Are Difficult to Obtain	Cabinet Confidence Section (Section 70)	External	Internal
1-15 days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16-30 days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 days or greater	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 7: Consultations Received from Other Institutions and Organizations

7.1 Consultations Received from other Government of Canada Institutions and other Organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review	Other Organizations	Number of Pages to Review
Received during the reporting period	0	0	0	0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0
Closed during the reporting period	0	0	0	0
Carried over within negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0

7.2 Recommendations and Completion Time for Consultations Received from other Government of Canada Institutions

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1–15 days	16–30 days	31–60 days	61–120 days	121–180 days	181–365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institutions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

7.3 Recommendations and Completion Time for Consultations Received from other Organizations outside the Government of Canada

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1–15 days	16–30 days	31–60 days	61–120 days	121–180 days	181–365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institutions	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 8: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days	Fewer than 100 Pages Processed		101–500 Pages Processed		501–1,000 Pages Processed		1,001–5,000 Pages Processed		More than 5,000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1–15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16–30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31–60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61–120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121–180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181–365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days	Fewer than 100 Pages Processed		101–500 Pages Processed		501–1,000 Pages Processed		1,001–5,000 Pages Processed		More than 5,000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1–15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16–30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31–60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61–120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121–180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181–365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 9: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received

Section 31	Section 33	Section 35	Court Action	Total
0	0	0	0	0

Section 10: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and Personal Information Banks (PIBs)

10.1 Privacy Impact Assessments

Number of PIA(s) completed	0
Number of PIA(s) modified	0

10.2 Institution-specific and Central Personal Information Banks

Personal Information Banks	Active	Created	Terminated	Modified
Insitution-specific	0	0	0	0
Central	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

Section 11: Material Privacy Breaches

11.1 Material Privacy Breaches reported

Number of material privacy breaches reported to TBS	0
Number of material privacy breaches reported to OPC	0

11.2 Non-Material Privacy Breaches

Number of non-material privacy breaches	0

Section 12: Resources Related to the Privacy Act

12.1 Allocated Costs

Expenditures		Amount
Salaries		$1,000
Overtime		$0
Goods and Services		$1,160
Professional Services Contracts	$1,000
Other	$100
Total		$2,160

12.2 Human Resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Privacy Activities
Full-time Employees	0.010
Part-time and Casual Employees	0.000
Regional Staff	0.000
Consultants and Agency Personnel	0.010
Students	0.000
Total	0.020

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Appendix C – Supplemental Statistical Report

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

Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to receive ATIP requests through the different channels

	Number of Week
Able to receive requests by mail	52
Able to receive requests by email	52
Able to receive requests through the digital request service	52

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

2.1 Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to process paper records in different classification levels

	No Capacity	Partial Capacity	Full Capacity	Total
Unclassified Paper Records	0	0	52	52
Protected B Paper Records	0	0	52	52
Secret and Top Secret Paper Records	0	0	52	52

2.2 Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to process electronic records in different classification levels

	No Capacity	Partial Capacity	Full Capacity	Total
Unclassified Electronic Records	0	0	52	52
Protected B Electronic Records	0	0	52	52
Secret and Top Secret Electronic Records	0	0	52	52

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

3.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Requests Were Received	Open Requests that are Within Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2022	Open Requests that are Beyond Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2022	Total
Received in 2021–22	0	0	0
Received 2020–21	0	0	0
Received 2019–20	0	0	0
Received 2018–19	0	0	0
Received 2017–18	0	0	0
Received 2016–17	0	0	0
Received in 2015–16 or earlier	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

3.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Requests Were Received by Institution	Number of Open Complaints
Received in 2021–22	0
Received 2020–21	0
Received 2019–20	0
Received 2018–19	0
Received 2017–18	0
Received 2016–17	0
Received in 2015–16 or earlier	0
Total	0

Section 4: Open Requests and Complaints Under the Privacy Act

4.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Requests Were Received	Open Requests that are Within Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2022	Open Requests that are Beyond Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2022	Total
Received in 2021–22	0	0	0
Received 2020–21	0	0	0
Received 2019–20	0	0	0
Received 2018–19	0	0	0
Received 2017–18	0	0	0
Received 2016–17	0	0	0
Received in 2015–16 or earlier	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

4.2 Enter the number of complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Requests Were Received by Institution	Number of Open Complaints
Received in 2021–22	0
Received 2020–21	0
Received 2019–20	0
Received 2018–19	0
Received 2017–18	0
Received 2016–17	0
Received in 2015–16 or earlier	0
Total	0

Section 5: Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Did your institution receive authority for a new collection or new consistent use of the SIN in 2021–22	No