Canadian Privacy Decisions

The complainant alleged that Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) improperly withheld records related to commercial fishing agreements with Eskasoni First Nation (EFN). The information was claimed to be exempt under provisions related to personal information, and confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific, or technical information, and potential financial impact on a third party. The Information Commissioner found that while some information met the criteria for personal information, much of the financial and commercial information was either publicly available, not truly confidential, or not supplied by a third party. The Commissioner also found the claim of financial impact was speculative. Therefore, the complaint was well-founded, and DFO was ordered to disclose most of the withheld information.

• Application of subsection 19(1) (personal information)
• Application of paragraph 20(1)(b) (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information)
• Application of paragraph 20(1)(c) (financial impact on a third party)
• Confidentiality and 'supplied by a third party' requirements under paragraph 20(1)(b)

An institution applied for approval to decline processing an access request, arguing it was an abuse of the right of access due to its excessive breadth and the burden it would place on the small organization. The requested records spanned multiple years and covered broad categories related to rare diseases and medication coverage. The Information Commissioner agreed that the request was overly broad and burdensome, constituting an abuse of the right of access. The Commissioner also found that the institution had met its duty to assist the requester.

• Is the access request an abuse of the right of access under subsection 6.1(1) of the ATIA?
• Would responding to the request overburden the institution?
• Is the request overly broad?
• Did the institution meet its duty to assist the requester under subsection 4(2.1)?