An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (S.C. 2019, c. 18)
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Assented to 2019-06-21
An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
S.C. 2019, c. 18
Assented to 2019-06-21
An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
SUMMARY
This enactment amends the Access to Information Act to, among other things,
(a) authorize the head of a government institution, with the approval of the Information Commissioner, to decline to act on a request for access to a record for various reasons;
(b) authorize the Information Commissioner to refuse to investigate or cease to investigate a complaint that is, in the Commissioner’s opinion, trivial, frivolous or vexatious or made in bad faith;
(c) clarify the powers of the Information Commissioner and the Privacy Commissioner to examine documents containing information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege in the course of their investigations and clarify that the disclosure by the head of a government institution to either of those Commissioners of such documents does not constitute a waiver of those privileges or that professional secrecy;
(d) authorize the Information Commissioner to make orders for the release of records or with respect to other matters relating to requesting or obtaining records and to publish any reports that he or she makes, including those that contain any orders he or she makes, and give parties the right to apply to the Federal Court for a review of the matter;
(e) create a new Part providing for the proactive publication of information or materials related to the Senate, the House of Commons, parliamentary entities, ministers’ offices, government institutions and institutions that support superior courts;
(f) require the designated Minister to undertake a review of the Act within one year after the day on which this enactment receives royal assent and every five years afterward;
(g) authorize government institutions to provide to other government institutions services related to requests for access to records; and
(h) expand the Governor in Council’s power to amend Schedule I to the Act and to retroactively validate amendments to that schedule.
It amends the Privacy Act to, among other things,
(a) create a new exception to the definition of “personal information” with respect to certain information regarding an individual who is a ministerial adviser or a member of a ministerial staff;
(b) authorize government institutions to provide to other government institutions services related to requests for personal information; and
(c) expand the Governor in Council’s power to amend the schedule to the Act and to retroactively validate amendments to that schedule.
It also makes consequential amendments to the Canada Evidence Act and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:
R.S., c. A-1Access to Information Act
Amendments to the Act
1 The long title of the Access to Information Act is replaced by the following:
2 Section 2 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Purpose of Act
2 (1) The purpose of this Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions.
Marginal note:Specific purposes of Parts 1 and 2
(2) In furtherance of that purpose,
(a) Part 1 extends the present laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government; and
(b) Part 2 sets out requirements for the proactive publication of information.
Marginal note:Complementary procedures
(3) This Act is also intended to complement and not replace existing procedures for access to government information and is not intended to limit in any way access to the type of government information that is normally available to the general public.
3 (1) The definition third party in section 3 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
- third party
third party, in respect of a request for access to a record under Part 1, means any person, group of persons or organization other than the person that made the request or a government institution. (tiers)
(2) Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:
- business day
business day means a day other than
(a) a Saturday;
(b) a Sunday or other holiday; and
(c) a day that falls during the Christmas recess, as defined in section 2 of the Federal Courts Rules; (jour ouvrable)
- personal information
personal information has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Privacy Act; (renseignements personnels)
4 The heading “Access to Government Records” after section 3.2 of the Act is replaced by the following:
PART 1Access to Government Records
Access
6 Section 6 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Request for access to record
6 A request for access to a record under this Part shall be made in writing to the government institution that has control of the record and shall provide sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of the institution to identify the record with a reasonable effort.
6.1 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 6:
Marginal note:Reasons for declining to act on request
6.1 (1) With the Information Commissioner’s written approval, the head of a government institution may, before giving a person access to a record or refusing to do so, decline to act on the person’s request if, in the opinion of the head of the institution, the request is vexatious, is made in bad faith or is otherwise an abuse of the right to make a request for access to records.
Marginal note:Limitation
(1.1) The head of a government institution is not authorized under subsection (1) to decline to act on a person’s request for a record for the sole reason that the information contained in it has been published under Part 2.
Marginal note:Time limit suspended
(1.2) If the head of a government institution communicates with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act, the 30-day period set out in section 7 — and any extension to it under section 9 — is suspended during the period beginning on the day on which the head of the institution communicates with the Information Commissioner and ending on the day on which he or she receives the Information Commissioner’s decision in writing.
Marginal note:Notice — suspension
(1.3) The head of the institution shall give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the suspension of the period, and of the reasons for the suspension, at the same time as they communicate with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act.
Marginal note:Notice — end of suspension
(1.4) If the Information Commissioner refuses to give his or her approval, the head of the institution shall, on receiving the Information Commissioner’s decision in writing, give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the refusal and of the date on which the running of the period resumes in accordance with subsection (1.2).
Marginal note:Notice
(2) If the head of a government institution declines to act on the person’s request, they shall give the person written notice of their decision to decline to act on the request and their reasons for doing so.
6.2 The portion of section 7 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Notice where access requested
7 Where access to a record is requested under this Act, the head of the government institution to which the request is made shall, subject to sections 8 and 9, within 30 days after the request is received,
7 (1) Section 11 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Application fee
11 (1) Subject to this section, a person who makes a request for access to a record under this Part shall pay, at the time the request is made, any application fee of not more than $25, that may be prescribed by regulation.
Marginal note:Waiver
(2) The head of a government institution to which a request for access to a record is made under this Part may waive the requirement to pay a fee or a part of a fee under this section or may refund a fee or a part of a fee paid under this section.
8 The heading before section 12 of the English version of the Act is replaced by the following:
Access Given
9 Subsection 19(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Personal information
19 (1) Subject to subsection (2), the head of a government institution shall refuse to disclose any record requested under this Part that contains personal information.
10 Section 23 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Protected information — solicitors, advocates and notaries
23 The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Part that contains information that is subject to solicitor-client privilege or the professional secrecy of advocates and notaries or to litigation privilege.
11 Subsection 24(2) of the Act is repealed.
11.1 Section 26 of the Act is replaced by the following:
Marginal note:Refusal of access if information to be published
26 The head of a government institution may refuse to disclose any record requested under this Part or any part of a record if the head of the institution believes on reasonable grounds that the material in the record or in part of the record will be published by a government institution, agent of the Government of Canada or minister of the Crown — other than under Part 2 — within 90 days after the request is made or within any further period of time that may be necessary for printing or translating the material for the purpose of printing it.
12 Section 29 of the Act is repealed.
13 Section 30 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (3):
Marginal note:Reasons for refusing or ceasing to investigate
(4) The Information Commissioner may refuse or cease to investigate a complaint if, in the Commissioner’s opinion,
(a) the complaint is trivial, frivolous or vexatious or is made in bad faith; or
(b) an investigation or any further investigation is unnecessary having regard to all the circumstances of the complaint, including that the complaint is already the subject of an investigation or that the subject matter of the complaint has already been the subject of a report by the Commissioner.
Marginal note:Notice
(5) If the Information Commissioner refuses or ceases to investigate a complaint, he or she shall give a written notice to
(a) the complainant, stating the reasons for refusing or ceasing to investigate the complaint;
(b) the head of the government institution concerned, if the Commissioner provided the head of the institution with a notice under section 32;
(c) any third party that was entitled under paragraph 35(2)(c) to make and that made representations to the Commissioner in respect of the complaint; and
(d) the Privacy Commissioner, if the Information Commissioner consulted him or her under subsection 36(1.1) or section 36.2.
- Date modified: