The complainant alleged that the length of the extension of time Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) took under subsection 9(1) of the Access to Information Act to respond to an access request was unreasonable. The request was for records produced on or after December 31, 2019, related to the updated version of the Weighing Evidence document available on the IRB’s website. The complaint falls under paragraph 30(1)(c) of the Act. IRB claimed a 1,295-day extension of time pursuant to paragraph 9(1)(a). If the extension were valid, the time limit for the response would be March 31, 2025. IRB could not show that it met all the requirements of paragraph 9(1)(a), in particular that the calculation of the time extension was sufficiently logical and supportable, or that providing access to the records within any materially lesser period of time than the one asserted would unreasonably interfere with its operations. Given that IRB did not establish that the requested extension of time was reasonable, the extension is invalid, and IRB is deemed to have refused access pursuant to subsection 10(3). The Information Commissioner ordered the Chairman of IRB to process all records within the scope of the request as soon as possible but no later than April 18, 2023. The Chairman of IRB gave notice to the Commissioner that it would be implementing her order.

The complaint is well founded.