Canadian privacy & access decisions

The complainant alleged that the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS) did not conduct a reasonable search for emails from a senior executive and that records were potentially deleted. The investigation found that the CSPS kept the request on hold without lawful authority, failed to retain records responsive to an active access request, and conducted an inadequate search. The Commissioner concluded the complaint was well-founded regarding the search, but found no evidence of an intent to deny access or that the requester's identity was considered. Additional records were eventually found and provided to the complainant.

• Reasonableness of search
• Failure to retain records
• Intent to deny access
• Consideration of requester's identity