The complainant alleged that Transport Canada had improperly withheld information under subsection 19(1) (personal information) and paragraphs 20(1)(a) (third-party trade secrets), 20(1)(b) (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information) and 20(1)(c) (financial impact on a third party) of the Access to Information Act. This was in response to an access request for specific types of records related to a Boeing 737 MAX aircraft system (Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS)). The complaint falls within paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

Personal information withheld under subsection 19(1) was removed from the scope of the complaint.

Transport Canada withheld the responsive records in full under paragraphs 20(1)(a), (b) and (c) concurrently.

The institution and third party did not demonstrate that the requirements of paragraph 20(1)(a) were met, that all of the information is confidential financial, commercial, scientific or technical information meeting the requirements of paragraph 20(1)(b) or that general and innocuous information met the requirements of paragraph 20(1)(c).

The Information Commissioner ordered that Transport Canada disclose specific information at issue and re-exercise discretion under subsection 20(6).

Transport Canada gave notice that it would disclose specific pages in accordance with the order.

The complaint is well founded.