Employment and Social Development Canada (Re), 2026 OIC 32
The complainant alleged that Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) improperly withheld records related to the Canada Student Service Grant. The complainant also alleged that ESDC did not conduct a reasonable search. The Information Commissioner found that ESDC improperly withheld information under exemptions related to third-party commercial information, advice and deliberations, and solicitor-client privilege. The Commissioner also found that ESDC did not reasonably exercise its discretion for some of these exemptions. The Commissioner ordered ESDC to disclose certain information and re-exercise its discretion on others. The complaint was found to be well founded.
- Improperly withheld third-party commercial information
- Improperly withheld advice or recommendations and accounts of deliberations
- Improperly withheld information under solicitor-client privilege
- Failure to reasonably exercise discretion
Complaint well founded — disclosure ordered and discretion to be re-exercised
The Commissioner found that ESDC failed to demonstrate that the exemptions claimed for third-party information and advice/deliberations were met, and that solicitor-client privilege was improperly applied to some information. Additionally, ESDC did not provide evidence of reasonably exercising its discretion for certain exemptions. The Commissioner found the search to be reasonable.
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The Commissioner ordered ESDC to disclose specific withheld information and to re-exercise its discretion regarding other withheld information.
- s.16(2) ATIA
- s.19(1) ATIA
- s.20(1)(b) ATIA
- s.20(1)(c) ATIA
- s.21(1)(a) ATIA
- s.21(1)(b) ATIA
- s.23 ATIA
- s.30(1)(a) ATIA
- s.25 ATIA
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