5823-02861 — Privy Council Office
The complainant alleged that the Privy Council Office (PCO) failed to conduct a reasonable search for records in response to an access request concerning emails related to a CSIS Issues Management Brief on foreign interference activity. The initial search by PCO yielded no relevant records from most offices, leading the complainant to provide evidence suggesting that PCO should hold such records. Following this, the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) requested PCO to conduct a second search. This subsequent search located 11 pages of additional relevant records within PCO's Security and Intelligence Unit. The OIC concluded that PCO's initial search was not reasonable. Consequently, the Information Commissioner ordered PCO to provide a new response to the access request, including access to the newly found records, subject to any applicable exemptions. PCO confirmed its intention to implement the order.
- 1Whether the institution conducted a reasonable search for records under s.30(1)(a) ATIA
- Adequacy of search: Initial search found unreasonable
- Search for records: Further search ordered
- Disclosure of records: Records ordered disclosed
- Compliance with order: Institution agreed to implement order
Complaint well founded — disclosure ordered
The institution's initial search failed to locate relevant records that were subsequently found during a second search prompted by the OIC's investigation, demonstrating that the initial search was not reasonable.
The Information Commissioner ordered the Privy Council Office to provide a new response to the access request on the 36th business day following the date of the final report, including access to the additional responsive records identified during the second search, unless access to them may be refused under a specific provision of Part 1 of the Act.
- s.30(1)(a) ATIA
This summary is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
Related by meaning
Decisions with similar reasoning and facts — found by AI across statutes and jurisdictions, not just keywords.
Coverage — 13 of 14 jurisdictions searchable
Fully searchable: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, New Brunswick, Manitoba.
Partial (recent decisions only): Federal (Canada) (651 of 1,631), Nova Scotia (49 of 472), Quebec (6 of 7,090), Prince Edward Island (2 of 279), Yukon (1 of 75).
Coming soon: Nunavut — being re-processed for AI search.
Find decisions like this one — by meaning, not keywords.
Related by meaning is a Pro feature. Upgrade to surface conceptually similar decisions across the corpus, powered by AI.
Upgrade to Pro