Canadian privacy & access decisions

The complainant alleged that Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) failed to conduct a reasonable search for records in response to an access request for entries in the Service Administration Log, including incident notes, for suicide occurrence forms and medevac data entries related to suicide, substance use, or mental health from January 1, 2019, to July 7, 2020. Initially, ISC stated no records were located. However, during the OIC's investigation, ISC informed the OIC that 3,286 pages of responsive records were received by its access to information unit after the initial response had been sent to the requester. The Information Commissioner concluded that ISC did not initially conduct a reasonable search. The complaint was found to be well founded, and the Commissioner ordered ISC to provide a new response to the complainant by May 31, 2025, granting access to responsive records unless specific exemptions apply. ISC agreed to implement the order.

• Whether Indigenous Services Canada conducted a reasonable search for records in response to the access request