Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

The requester filed a complaint after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) failed to respond to an access to information request for over two years. The RCMP provided insufficient information during the investigation regarding the records or the processing of the request. As a result, the Information Commissioner found the complaint to be well-founded and ordered the RCMP to respond to the request within 10 business days.

• Failure to respond to an access to information request within the prescribed time limits.
• Adequacy of information provided by the institution during the investigation.

A requester alleged that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) failed to respond to an access to information request within the statutory time limit. The RCMP was deemed to have refused access as they did not respond by the due date. Although the RCMP cited high volume and resource pressures, the Commissioner found these reasons did not justify the delay, especially given the moderate volume of records. The complaint was found to be well-founded. An initial report with an intended order was issued, but the RCMP subsequently responded to the request, rendering the order moot.

• Failure to respond within statutory time limits
• Adequacy of reasons for delay
• Assessment of record volume and complexity