Canadian privacy & access decisions

The complainant alleged that Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) improperly withheld information under subsections 19(1), 20(1)(b), and 24(1) of the Access to Information Act regarding records about Canadian universities' engagement in the Federal Contractors Program. The OIC removed the s.24(1) claim from the scope of the complaint as the only information withheld under it (business numbers) was no longer at issue. The Commissioner found that ESDC did not demonstrate that all information withheld under s.19(1) was personal information about identifiable individuals, nor did it appropriately exercise its discretion under s.19(2)(b). Furthermore, neither ESDC nor the third party (University of Waterloo) demonstrated that the requirements of s.20(1)(b) were met for a completed Employment Equity Achievement Awards Application Form. The complaint was found to be well founded, and the Commissioner ordered ESDC to disclose the information at issue. ESDC subsequently gave notice that it would fully implement the order.

• Whether information withheld under s.19(1) was personal information about identifiable individuals
• Whether ESDC properly severed non-personal information from personal information under s.19(1)
• Whether ESDC reasonably exercised its discretion under s.19(2)(b) regarding publicly available information
• Whether the Employment Equity Achievement Awards Application Form met the requirements of s.20(1)(b)
• Whether the information was financial, commercial, scientific or technical under s.20(1)(b)
• Whether the information was confidential under s.20(1)(b)
• Whether the third party consistently treated the information as confidential under s.20(1)(b)