2014-2015 Appendix A: Facts and figures

Complaints registered, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015

Note: As of April 1, 2013, the Commissioner counts all miscellaneous complaints as refusal complaints. Previously, they had been classified as administrative complaints.

Text Version

The figure is a vertical bar chart showing the number of complaints that the Commissioner registered for the years 2010–2011 to 2014–2015. There are three categories each year: refusal complaints, administrative complaints and complaints related to Cabinet Confidences exclusions.

In 2010–2011, the Commissioner received 996 refusal complaints, 810 administrative complaints and 22 Cabinet Confidences complaints.

In 2011–2012, the Commissioner received 1,036 refusal complaints, 391 administrative complaints and 38 Cabinet Confidences complaints.

In 2012–2013, the Commissioner received 1,040 refusal complaints, 519 administrative complaints and 37 Cabinet confidences complaints.

In 2013–2014, the Commissioner received 1,219 refusal complaints, 801 administrative complaints and 61 Cabinet confidences complaints.

In 2014–2015, the Commissioner received 1,102 refusal complaints, 604 administrative complaints and 43 Cabinet confidences complaints.

In 2014–2015 the Commissioner received 604 administrative complaints (about delays, time extensions and fees), 43 Cabinet confidence refusal complaints and 1,102 refusal complaints (about the application of exemptions).

The ratio of administrative complaints to refusal complaints registered was 35:65.

New complaints by institution, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015^{Footnote 1}

	2010–2011	2011–2012	2012–2013	2013–2014	2014–2015
Citizenship and Immigration Canada	84	66	109	305	246
Canada Revenue Agency	502	324	336	283	221
Royal Canadian Mounted Police	69	68	125	185	178
National Defence	68	74	72	119	118
Transport Canada	77	30	72	83	87
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada	31	56	83	120	83
Canada Border Services Agency	29	36	63	106	78
Health Canada	81	49	37	48	65
Privy Council Office	57	36	52	48	54
VIA Rail Canada Inc.	2	7	7	2	54
Department of Justice Canada	30	47	24	51	44
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation	183	71	45	61	37
Natural Resources Canada	5	12	21	38	35
Correctional Service Canada	82	65	57	56	33
Employment and Social Development Canada	26	25	20	37	33
Canada Post Corporation	41	46	8	10	30
Canadian Security Intelligence Service	22	8	15	20	27
Environment Canada	15	17	26	29	26
Public Works and Government Services Canada	88	45	35	28	26
Public Safety Canada	21	6	5	14	25

The chart above shows the 20 institutions that received the most complaints in 2014–2015. Many institutions appear on this list from year to year. For example, 2014–2015’s top three (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canada Revenue Agency and Royal Canadian Mounted Police) were the same as in 2013–2014, although all three institutions received fewer complaints. Two institutions made their first appearance on the list in five years: VIA Rail Canada Inc. (due to its receiving a large number of complaints from one individual) and Public Safety Canada.

Turnaround times for complaint investigations, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015

Complaints closed within nine months from date of assignment

Text Version

This bar chart shows the proportion of complaints that the Commissioner has closed within nine months after the date on which they were assigned to an investigator in fiscal years 2010–2011 to 2014–2015.

In 2010–2011, 85.3% of complaints were resolved within nine months (1,759 complaints).

In 2011–2012, 76.9% of complaints were resolved within nine months (1,149 complaints).

In 2012–2013, 76.8% of complaints were resolved within nine months (1,245 complaints).

In 2013–2014, 78.0% of complaints were resolved within nine months (1,395 complaints).

In 2014–2015, 78.6% of complaints were resolved within nine months (1,262 complaints).

In 2014–2015, the Commissioner closed more than three-quarters (79 percent) of complaints within nine months of being assigned to an investigator. However, given a shortage of staff, there is a gap of about five months (142 days) before a file can be assigned.

Administrative complaints closed within 90 days from date of assignment

Text Version

This vertical bar chart shows the proportion of administrative complaints that the Commissioner closed within 90 days after the date on which they were assigned to an investigator during the years 2010–11 to 2014–2015.

In 2010–2011, 73.2% of administrative complaints were resolved within 90 days (638 complaints).

In 2011–2012, 49.0% of administrative complaints were resolved within 90 days (266 complaints).

In 2012–2013, 70.4% of administrative complaints were resolved within 90 days (336 complaints).

In 2013–2014, 68.4% of administrative complaints were resolved within 90 days (473 complaints).

In 2014–2015, 63.4% of administrative complaints were resolved within 90 days (396 complaints).

The Commissioner’s performance objective is to close 85 percent of administrative complaints within 90 days of their being assigned to an investigator. This rate is not always achievable, in part because of the difficulty in obtaining commitment dates and work plans from some institutions. In light of the Federal Court of Appeal’s March 2015 decision in Information Commissioner of Canada v. Minister of National Defence, 2015 FCA 56, the Commissioner will be taking a more stringent approach to the use of extensions. The Commissioner will issue an advisory notice in 2015–2016 on how she will implement the Court of Appeal’s decision when conducting investigations.

Priority and early resolution complaints closed within six months from date of assignment

Text Version

This vertical bar chart shows the proportion of priority and early resolutions complaints that were closed within six months from their date of assignment during the years 2010–2011 to 2014–2015.

In 2010–2011, 74.6% of administrative complaints were resolved within six months (308 complaints).

In 2011–2012, 63.3% of administrative complaints were resolved within six months (202 complaints).

In 2012–2013, 64.3% of administrative complaints were resolved within six months (301 complaints).

In 2013–2014, 64.6% of administrative complaints were resolved within six months (261 complaints).

In 2014–2015, 58.0% of administrative complaints were resolved within six months (238 complaints).

The Commissioner’s performance objective is to close 75 percent of her priority and early resolution cases (refusal investigations) within six months from the date they are assigned to an investigator. In 2014–2015, she closed 58 percent of these files in this time frame. This difference from the previous year was due, in part, to a number of more complex investigations (as described in Chapter 1) that required the dedicated attention of a number of investigators.

Complaints closed in 2014–2015

	Overall	Well-founded	Not well-founded	Settled	Discontinued
Citizenship and Immigration Canada	285	156	39	60	30
Royal Canadian Mounted Police	148	54	32	12	50
Canada Border Services Agency	110	34	10	52	14
National Defence	110	32	20	35	23
Canada Revenue Agency	104	65	8	6	25
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada	71	20	1	24	26
Transport Canada	61	30	16	0	15
Correctional Service Canada	53	16	11	2	24
Privy Council Office	52	17	2	9	24
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation	41	14	15	9	3
VIA Rail Canada Inc.	40	1	36	3	0
Health Canada	38	20	7	4	7
Employment and Social Development Canada	37	21	2	3	11
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada	33	19	1	5	8
Department of Justice Canada	33	4	4	13	12
Industry Canada	32	7	1	2	22
Natural Resources Canada	30	19	3	1	7
Environment Canada	30	10	3	9	8
Public Works and Government Services Canada	26	10	8	2	6
Public Safety Canada	20	6	7	1	6
Others (61 institutions)	251	88	44	24	95
Total^{Footnote 2}	1,605	643	270	276	416

This chart lists the 20 institutions about which the Commissioner completed the most complaints in 2014–2015.

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Institutions are listed by the number of complaints the Commissioner received about them in 2014–2015. The figures for each year include any complaints initiated by the Commissioner under subsection 30(3) of the Access to Information Act (11 in 2014–2015).

This chart contains real numbers only and does not reflect the proportion of complaints as compared to the number of requests.

Return to footnote referrer

Footnote 2

The total number of complaints closed includes any that had been initiated by the Commissioner under subsection 30(3) of the Access to Information Act (15 in 2014–2015).

Return to first footnote referrer

2014-2015 Appendix A: Facts and figures

Complaints registered, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015

New complaints by institution, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015Footnote 1

Turnaround times for complaint investigations, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015

Complaints closed within nine months from date of assignment

Administrative complaints closed within 90 days from date of assignment

Priority and early resolution complaints closed within six months from date of assignment

Complaints closed in 2014–2015

Footnotes

New complaints by institution, 2010–2011 to 2014–2015^{Footnote 1}