2013-2014 Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) develops and implements policies and programs in support of Canada's scientific, ecological, social and economic interests in oceans and fresh waters, and works towards ensuring these resources benefit current and future generations.

DFO received 417 requests in 2013–2014,^{Footnote 1} a decrease of 24% compared to 2012–2013 (547).^{Footnote 2} However, the volume of pages processed increased considerably. DFO’s performance in 2013–2014 declined significantly compared to 2012–2013 results, especially in terms of completion time. Results were also below the government-wide levels.

Of a total of 583 requests in hand, DFO completed 68% of them. This completion rate represents a significant decrease compared to 2012–2013, when 81% of requests were completed. A larger backlog of requests was carried over to the next reporting period might affect DFO’s performance in 2014–2015.

Requests received in 2013–2014 came mostly from members of the public (37.17%), followed by the private sector (28.54%) and the media (19.66%).

DFO reported receiving an additional 128 requests for previously released ATI packages (an increase compared to 91 requests in 2012–2013).

Table 1. Workload

In 2013–2014, the workload of pages increased considerably, with an average of 538 pages per request completed, compared to 378 in 2012-13. A larger proportion of requests also required processing more than 1,000 pages (from 8.2% to 13.5% in 2013-14).

Timeliness

A total of 184 requests were completed within 30 days or less in 2013–2014, representing about 46.3%. This is 13% lower than in 2012–2013 (59.2%). The proportion of requests that required more than 120 days more than doubled in 2013–2014 (23.9%) compared to the previous reporting period (10.6%). Among those, 8% took more than a year to complete in 2013–2014.

On average, DFO took 104 days to complete a request. This is twice the average time in 2012–2013 (52 days).^{Footnote 3}

The proportion of requests completed past the statutory deadline also increased significantly, from 5.5% in 2012–2013 to 17.3% in 2013–2014; 87% of the requests past deadline had received an extension. According to the OIC ranking, DFO went from a “B” to a “D” grade.^{Footnote 4}

Workload was invoked as the principal reason why requests were closed late (54 requests or 78.3%).

Extensions

In 2013-14, despite completing fewer requests, DFO used 114 more extensions, an increase of 66% compared to 2012–2013. Most extensions in 2013-14 were for consultations (43%) and for interference with operations (40%).

The proportion of extensions that were for 30 days or less in 2013–2014 was similar to the previous reporting period (34% and 35%, respectively). However, the proportion of extensions taken for more than 120 days increased, from 14% in 2012–2013 to 21% in 2013–2014.

Figure 1. Length of extensions (2011–2012 to 2013–2014)

Disclosure

Information was disclosed entirely for 66 requests in 2013–2014, representing 16.6% of all requests completed. This is below the government-wide full disclosure rate of 26.85% and represents a decrease of 1.5% compared to the previous reporting period.

Exemptions/Exclusions

A total of 747 exemptions and 98 exclusions were applied in 2013–2014, a proportion of 2.13 exemptions/exclusions per request completed. This represents a considerable increase compared to 2012–2013 (1.48 exemptions/exclusions per request completed).

Most applied exemptions in 2013-14 included: government operations (220 times), personal information (182 times) and third party information (128 times). This is similar to the previous reporting period.

Table 2. Performance

Other activities

DFO recognizes the importance of sound information management practices for ATIP performance. As such, the institution reported having put in place an official IM Strategy as well as a three-year action plan (2011–2014). The next action plan (2014–2017) will focus, among other things, on implementing the Directive on Open Government.

DFO’s ATIP office also developed a new ATIP training program for all employees. This new program is mandatory for Directors and Directors General. This training was scheduled to start in the summer of 2014.

Complaints

The number of complaints received against DFO^{Footnote 5} went up slightly from 18 complaints in 2012–2013 to 21 in 2013–2014.

The proportion of administrative complaints increased by about 12% in 2013–2014, representing 61.9% of complaints received that year.

Ten of the 21 complaints received in 2013–2014 were considered well-founded. Discontinued and still pending^{Footnote 6} complaints accounted for 2 and 4 complaints, respectively. Finally, 4 complaints were not well-founded and one was settled.