The complainant alleged that National Defence did not conduct a reasonable search in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act for all documents related to a selection process of Steward/Command Master Sailor to the Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy. The complaint falls within paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

The investigation determined that not all relevant Offices of Primary Interest were tasked with retrieval of responsive records. In addition, the taskings were not clear and did not include all pertinent keywords. National Defence was unable to show that it conducted a reasonable search for records that fell within the scope of the access request.

The Information Commissioner ordered that National Defence complete the retrieval of all records responsive to the request, which would include tasking specified individuals and provide a new response to the access request no later than the 36th business day following the date of the final report.

National Defence gave notice to the Commissioner that it would be implementing the order.

The complaint is well founded.