Federal (Canada) privacy & access decisions

The complainant alleged that the Privy Council Office (PCO) failed to conduct a reasonable search for records related to a review of the Canadian intelligence program by the Intelligence Advisory Committee (IAC) for the Cabinet Committee for Security and Intelligence (CCSI) between January 1972 and June 1975. The investigation found that PCO's initial search was inadequate, as Offices of Primary Interest did not retrieve all relevant records. The complainant specifically identified several missing documents and references to unreleased annexes within the records provided. Following the Office of the Information Commissioner's (OIC) intervention, PCO conducted a secondary search, which identified an additional 265 pages of responsive records. Although the OIC was satisfied with the subsequent search, the complaint was deemed well founded due to the initial failure. The Commissioner ordered PCO to complete the retrieval and processing of all additional records and provide a supplementary response by March 18, 2025, which PCO agreed to implement.

• Whether the Privy Council Office conducted a reasonable search for records responsive to the access request
• Whether specific requested records were omitted from the initial response
• Whether referenced annexes and supporting papers were missing from the initial release

A federal institution sought the Information Commissioner's approval to decline to act on an access request, arguing it constituted an abuse of the right to make a request under subsection 6.1(1) of the Access to Information Act. The institution claimed the request, for emails and chat messages from a specific office over a two-month period, was too broad and would result in over 75,800 pages, taking an estimated 12.6 years to process. It argued this would severely disrupt its operations, particularly a small office with limited resources, and hinder its ATIP office's ability to respond to other requests. The requester disputed the institution's capacity estimates and argued that exclusions and duplicates would significantly reduce the volume. The Commissioner found that the institution did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that acting on the request would overburden its operations or hinder other requesters' rights, noting that the institution's ATIP processing capacity seemed understated and that no evidence of backlog was provided. Consequently, the Commissioner denied the institution's application.

• Whether the access request constitutes an abuse of the right to make a request under s.6.1(1) ATIA
• Whether the estimated volume of records would overburden the institution
• Whether the institution's efforts to assist the requester were sufficient
• Whether processing the request would severely impact the OPI's ability to advance its mandate
• Whether processing the request would cause undue strain on the ATIP office and hinder other requesters' rights of access
• Whether the institution's estimated processing capacity was accurate