Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

The complainant alleged that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) did not conduct a reasonable search for records concerning the fee schedule or dispersal of payments to provinces and territories under a specific section of the Budget Implementation Act. During the OIC's investigation, PHAC re-searched and found approximately 104 additional responsive pages. The Information Commissioner concluded the initial search was not reasonable but was satisfied after the additional retrieval.

• Reasonableness of the search conducted by PHAC
• PHAC's obligation to identify and locate all responsive records

The complainant alleged that Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) improperly withheld information from rail industry workplace fatality investigation reports under several Access to Information Act exemptions. The Information Commissioner found the complaint to be well-founded. The Commissioner ordered ESDC to disclose information that did not meet the exemption criteria and to re-exercise its discretion where it had not been adequately demonstrated. ESDC indicated it would implement the order.

• Application of exemption 16(1)(c) to investigation reports
• Definition and application of personal information exemption 19(1) to deceased individuals
• Justification for withholding third-party commercial/technical information under 20(1)(b)
• Assessment of financial impact and competitive harm to third parties under 20(1)(c)

The complainant alleged the National Capital Commission (NCC) improperly withheld records concerning renovation projects at Rideau Hall under various provisions of the Access to Information Act. While the NCC initially cited exemptions related to facilitating offences and negotiations, the investigation focused on the personal information exemption. The NCC eventually disclosed some information it had withheld, but the Commissioner found that the remaining personal information, including an employee's name, title, and contact details, did not meet the exemption criteria. Furthermore, the NCC failed to reasonably exercise its discretion regarding publicly available personal information. The Commissioner ordered the NCC to disclose the information and to properly exercise its discretion.

• Whether the NCC properly applied the personal information exemption (subsection 19(1)) to employee contact information.
• Whether the NCC reasonably exercised its discretion to disclose publicly available personal information.
• Whether certain information qualified as personal information under subsection 19(1) or was excluded under paragraph 3(j) of the Privacy Act.