The complainant alleged that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) did not conduct a reasonable search in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act for records related to the fee schedule or dispersal of payments to every province and territory of Canada pursuant to Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, SC 2021, c 23, s 197. This complaint falls within paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

During the investigation, the OIC sought information from PHAC related to the program areas tasked to search for records and the parameters of the search. In response, PHAC re-tasked the relevant program areas. As a result, approximately 104 additional pages identified as responsive to the request were retrieved.

The Information Commissioner ordered that PHAC complete the retrieval of the records identified by PHAC as responsive to the request and provide a new response to the complainant no later than 60 days after the effective date of the order. PHAC gave notice that it would implement the order.

The complaint is well founded.