5823-04210 — Canada Border Services Agency
The complainant alleged that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) did not conduct a reasonable search for Microsoft Teams messages related to ArriveCAN. CBSA's policy retains these messages for only 30 days, but an administrative error delayed the processing of the request beyond this period, leading officials to believe no records existed. Although CBSA later found one relevant record in its corporate repositories during the investigation, the initial delay meant a reasonable search was not conducted at the time of the request. The complaint was found to be well founded.
- Reasonableness of the search conducted by the institution
- Timeliness of request processing
- Impact of administrative errors on the right of access
- Proper retention and retrieval of electronic records
Complaint well founded — reasonable search not conducted
The Information Commissioner found that the CBSA did not conduct a reasonable search because an administrative error delayed the processing of the request beyond the 30-day retention period for Microsoft Teams messages, and no records were proactively sought from program areas. Although an additional record was found during the investigation, the initial search was deficient.
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No order was required as CBSA disclosed the only record responsive to the access request during the investigation.
- s.30(1)(a) ATIA
This is a summary of a decision by the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada and is for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice.