Decisions

The complainant alleged that Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada did not conduct a reasonable search in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act for records from the Deputy Minister’s Office relating to funding or fiscal management of the Assembly of First Nations from January 1, 2016 to April 1, 2019.

The investigation identified deficiencies with the search, and determined that Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada did not conduct a reasonable search for records.

The Information Commissioner ordered Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada to conduct a new search for records and to provide a new response to the complainant no later than 36 business days after the final report.

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada gave notice to the Commissioner that it would be implementing the order.

The complaint is well founded.

The complainant alleges that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) did not conduct a reasonable search in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act. This was in response to a request for emails, text messages and briefing notes related to CBSA’s list of companies that worked on the ArriveCAN application. 

The complainant questioned the fact that they received no text messages in response to their request. The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) sought information from CBSA related to the program areas tasked to search for records, the parameters of the search and its policies related to the management of text messages. The Offices of Primary Interest most likely to have records relevant to the access request under their control, searched for records in the appropriate repositories and provided these records to the Access to Information and Privacy unit for review. It is reasonable to believe that text messages did not exist at the time the present request was made and/or were not caught as relevant.

The Information Commissioner concluded that CBSA conducted a reasonable search for records. The complaint is not well founded.

The complainant alleged that Health Canada did not respond to an access request within the 30-day period set out in section 7 of the Access to Information Act. The request was for internal and external records referenced in a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement for the Regulations Amending the Tobacco Products Regulations. The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

During the investigation, the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) was advised that 20,250 pages of responsive records were received. The OIC noted that information management deficiencies had resulted in a significant delay in the processing of the request. In addition, consultations within Health Canada, with other government departments, as well as with a number of third parties, would be required.

Heath Canada committed to responding to the request by July 17, 2030.

Considering the amount of time that had already passed without significant progress in processing this request and the overly long approval timeline, the proposed response date was found to be unreasonable. The Information Commissioner ordered the Minister of Health to provide a complete response to the access request no later than April 7, 2026.

Health Canada gave notice to the Commissioner that it would implement the order.

The complaint is well founded.