Health Canada (Re), 2021 OIC 2
The complainant alleged that Health Canada failed to conduct a reasonable search for records in response to two access requests concerning personal or designated producers and users of medical cannabis. Health Canada provided records from one database but argued that retrieving additional potentially relevant information from a second database would be unreasonable due to the extensive manual labour required. The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) agreed with Health Canada's position. The OIC found that the institution's search was reasonable, considering the burden of retrieving records from the second database. Consequently, the complaint was not well-founded.
- 1Whether Health Canada conducted a reasonable search for records under s.4 of the ATIA
- Adequacy of search: Search found reasonable
- Complaint outcome: Complaint not well-founded
Complaint not well founded
The OIC found that retrieving additional potentially relevant records from a second database would involve an unreasonable amount of manual labour, thus Health Canada's search was deemed reasonable.
- s.4 ATIA
This summary is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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