5820-03930 — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Laurentian Bank of Canada
The complainant alleged that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) improperly withheld information related to mortgage loans inadvertently insured or sold by Laurentian Bank of Canada under its securitization program. CMHC initially claimed multiple exemptions, but during the investigation, it released some information and maintained exemptions only under subsection 20(1) (third-party information). The Information Commissioner found that CMHC and Laurentian Bank did not demonstrate that all the requirements for the applied exemptions were met for certain third-party information. Specifically, some information was not financial, commercial, or technical in nature, or was CMHC's own work product rather than information supplied by Laurentian Bank. The Commissioner ordered CMHC to disclose this information. CMHC subsequently notified the Commissioner that it would not fully comply with the order and intended to apply to the Federal Court for a review. The complaint was found to be well founded.
- 1Whether s.18(a) ATIA (government financial, commercial, scientific or technical information) applied
- 2Whether s.18(b) ATIA (competitive position of government institutions, negotiations by government institutions) applied
- 3Whether s.19(1) ATIA (personal information) applied
- 4Whether s.20(1)(b) ATIA (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information) applied to all withheld information
- 5Whether the information was financial, commercial, scientific or technical for s.20(1)(b) ATIA
- 6Whether the information was confidential for s.20(1)(b) ATIA
- 7Whether the information was supplied by a third party for s.20(1)(b) ATIA
- 8Whether the third party consistently treated the information as confidential for s.20(1)(b) ATIA
- 9Whether s.20(1)(c) ATIA (financial impact on a third party) applied to all withheld information
- 10Whether disclosure could result in material financial loss or gain to the third party for s.20(1)(c) ATIA
- 11Whether there was a reasonable expectation of harm to the third party's competitive position for s.20(1)(c) ATIA
- 12Whether s.20(1)(d) ATIA (negotiations by a third party) applied to all withheld information
- 13Whether disclosure could interfere with the third party's contractual or other negotiations for s.20(1)(d) ATIA
- Application of s.20(1): Exemption not fully justified for some information
- Disclosure of records: Partial disclosure ordered
- Compliance with order: Institution stated intent not to comply
- Complaint outcome: Complaint well founded
Complaint well founded — disclosure ordered, but institution will not comply and intends to apply to Federal Court
The institution and third party failed to demonstrate that all requirements of the claimed exemptions under subsection 20(1) of the ATIA were met for certain information. Specifically, some information was not financial, commercial, or technical, or was CMHC's own work product rather than information supplied by the third party, and the potential for harm under paragraphs 20(1)(c) and (d) was not sufficiently established.
The President of CMHC is ordered to disclose specific information on pages 183-188, 191-197, 1008-1014 that was not supplied by a third party, including types of files excluded from samples, confidence levels, results of file reviews not revealing third-party information, number of data elements reviewed, CMHC's observations not revealing third-party information, and the 'Next Steps' section of CMHC's report.
- s.18(a) ATIA
- s.18(b) ATIA
- s.19(1) ATIA
- s.20(1)(b) ATIA
- s.20(1)(c) ATIA
- s.20(1)(d) ATIA
- s.21(1)(a) ATIA
- s.21(1)(b) ATIA
- s.30(1)(a) ATIA
- s.37(2) ATIA
- s.41(2) ATIA
- s.43 ATIA
This summary is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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