Access to Information Act — The Right to Know! Annual Report, 2020-2021

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Introduction

The Access to Information Act provides a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government.

This report has been prepared and will be tabled in Parliament in accordance with Section 94 of the Access to Information Act. The information contained in this report pertains to the administration of the Access to Information Act within the Parks Canada Agency.

The Parks Canada Agency’s mandate is to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and to foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations. The Agency is responsible for operations under multiple pieces of federal legislation and protects approximately 450 000 km2 of Canada’s terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems. It is the steward of 47 national parks, one national urban park, four national marine conservation areas and 171 national historic sites, including nine heritage canals. The Agency is highly decentralized with team members located across the country and often in remote areas.

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Organizational structure

Parks Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy Office is comprised of six (6) full-time employees. Internal policies and procedures have been developed in order to meet its obligations in compliance with the Access to Information Act, regulations and Treasury Board policies, and those continue to be improved on a regular basis.

Parks Canada met its statutory deadlines for all requests during the reporting period. Parks Canada is committed to transparency, service to Canadians and the expeditious processing of access to information requests and has put in place the systems and processes necessary to meet this commitment.

Parks Canada did not enter in any service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act during the reporting period.

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Delegation Order

Arrêté sur la délégation en vertu de la Loi sur l'accès à l'information et de la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels	Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation Order
En vertu de l'article 95 de la Loi sur l'accès à l'information et de l'article 73 de la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels, le directeur général et président de l'Agence Parcs Canada délègue aux titulaires de postes mentionnés à l'annexe ci-après, ainsi qu'aux personnes occupant à titre intérimaire lesdits postes, les attributions dont il est, en qualité de responsable de l'Agence Parcs Canada, désigné par le Décret sur la désignation des responsables d'institutions fédérales (Loi sur l'accès à l'information) et le Décret sur la désignation des responsables d'institutions fédérales (Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels), investi par les articles de ces lois mentionnés en regard de chaque poste. Le présent arrêté sur la délégation remplace et annule tout arrêté sur la délégation pris précédemment.	The Chief Executive Officer and President of the Parks Canada Agency, pursuant to section 95 of the Access to Information Act and the section 73 of the Privacy Act and his capacity as the head of the Parks Canada Agency designated by the Access to Information Act Heads of the Government Institutions Designation Order and the Privacy Act Heads of Government Institutions Delegation Order, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers and functions pursuant to the provisions of the aforementioned Acts set out in the schedule below opposite each position. This Delegation Order replaces any delegation order made previously.
Daté, à la Ville de Gatineau, ce 26e jour de mars 2020	Dated, at the City of Gatineau, this 26th day of March, 2020
L'original a été signé par Ron Hallman Président et Directeur général, Agence Parcs Canada	Original signed by Ron Hallman President & Chief Executive Officer, Parks Canada Agency

Annexe / Schedule
Poste / Position	Loi sur l'accès à l'information et règlements / Access to information Act and Regulations	Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels et règlements / Privacy Act and Regulations
Vice-Président, Direction générale des relations externes et de l'expérience du visiteur / Vice-President, External Relations and Visitor Experience Directorate	Autorité absolue / Full authority	Autorité absolue / Full authority
Gestionnaire, Bureau de l'Accès à l'information et à la protection des renseignements personnels (AIPRP) / Manager, Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office	Autorité absolue / Full authority	Autorité absolue / Full authority
Analyste principal (PM-05) / Senior analyst (PM-05)	Articles 7 et 9 de la Loi sur l'accès à l'information / Sections 7 and 9 of the Access to Information Act	Articles 14 et 15 de la Loi sur la protection des renseignements personnels / Sections 14 and 15 of the Privacy Act

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Performance 2020-2021

The following report represents an overview of activities carried out within the Agency during the reporting period of April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. The Statistical Report (Appendix A) contains detailed statistics on the Access to Information requests processed under the Access to Information Act.

100 percent of requests were responded to within legislated timelines.

Between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, the Agency received one hundred and twenty-four (124) formal information requests under the Access to Information Act. Thirty-one (31) requests were carried forward from the previous reporting period. Twenty-three (23) requests were carried forward to the next reporting period for the following reasons: required additional time to allow for consultations with third parties or other government entities.

The following is a percentage breakdown by disclosure types for access requests completed in 2020-2021:

18%	All disclosed
58%	Disclosed in part
11%	No records existed
11%	Requests abandoned
1%	All exempted pursuant to Section 19 of the Act
1%	transferred to another institution

During 2020-2021, Parks Canada received 7% fewer requests than the previous fiscal year. Although there were less requests, they involved a large volume of records with some 138,257 pages processed.

The following is a percentage breakdown by source of information requests received during 2020-2021:

43%	Public
7%	Media
26%	Business
2%	Academia
2%	Other Organizations
20%	Decline to Identify

Time limitations

During fiscal year 2020-2021, 64 percent of completed requests (84 cases) were processed within the initial 30-day period. In 9 percent of completed requests (12 cases) a 30-day time extension was required in order to conduct consultations with either third parties and/or other government departments. In 27 percent of the remaining completed requests (36 cases) an extension of over 30 days was required because of the number of records requested to enable the Agency to conduct necessary consultations or due to the complexity of the requests.

Formal/informal interface

Thirty-seven (37) informal requests were released under the Access to Information Act, which represent a 60 percent decrease from the previous reporting period. These requests concerned documents that were previously disclosed in response to information requests.

In addition, Agency officials respond to informal requests from the public and contact the ATIP Office for guidance on the disclosure of information through informal processes. Agency officials are aware of the importance of the legislation and promptly refer formal information requests to the ATIP Office.

The ATIP Office also reviewed responses to parliamentary questions and audit and evaluation reports for publishing on the Agency’s internet site, and provided strategic advice on Access to Information in support of the Agency’s programs. The ATIP Office also reviewed all material that is subject to proactive disclosure.

Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

The Agency received thirty-one (31) consultations under the Access to Information Act from other government institutions and/or organizations. Eight (8) consultations were carried forward from the previous reporting period. Thirty-seven (37) consultations were completed before the end of March 2021. Two (2) consultations were carried forward to the next reporting period as they were received at the end of the reporting period under review.

Impact of COVID-19 and mitigation measures

Exceptional measures have been taken by Parks Canada to support the government's response to COVID-19. The Agency reacted quickly to the COVID-19 challenge. ATIP staff have continued processing requests while working remotely since March 16, 2020.

Initially, due to Agency sites being closed, network access challenges and the shift to telework, some officials had limited to no access to their offices to obtain requested paper records meaning some delays in receiving documents by the ATIP Office. The Agency worked diligently to provide service to clients, and communicated with its clients clearly during the challenge that delays may be possible during the processing of their requests. Despite these challenges, 100 percent of requests were responded to within legislated timelines.

The ATIP Office mitigated potential operational impacts by switching to processing all documents electronically and by receiving electronic submissions on shared drives and importing them into the case management system. The ATIP Office also began delivery of responses electronically via epost connect.

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Reporting on access to information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act

In accordance with the Interim Directive on the Administrative of the Access to Information Act, (effective May 5, 2016), Parks Canada waives all fees prescribed by the Act and Regulations, other than the $5 application fee set out in paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Regulations. The total fees collected were $640.

A total of $568,447 was incurred by the ATIP Secretariat to administer the Access to Information Act, including $517,552 in salary costs, $32,812 for professional services contracts and $18,083 in material costs.

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Training and awareness

Facilitating efficient and transparent access to information and personal information for Canadians is a priority for Parks Canada.

Ten (10) training sessions were given to Agency employees in 2020-2021. In total, two hundred and twenty-four (224) employees attended these sessions.

To ensure that all employees of the Agency are aware of the legislation and their obligations, general awareness sessions are also given periodically to provide basic information on the provisions of the Access to Information Act. Furthermore, there is a comprehensive section on Access to Information and Privacy on the Parks Canada’s Intranet site that is available to all employees.

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Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office was continuously ensuring that its policies and procedures for processing requests made pursuant to the Access to Information Act were up to date and that adjustments were made to areas where the need for improvement was identified.

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Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints

During the reporting period under review, sixteen (16) complaints were filed with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada.

The complaints largely concerned exemptions and extension of time limits. Parks Canada has worked closely and collaboratively with the Office of the Commissioner to resolve these complaints and of those complaints, two (2) were discontinued and one (1) was resolved during the reporting period. Parks Canada Agency was not involved in Federal Court cases or audits during this reporting Period.

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Monitoring Compliance

The Agency monitors the time required to process access to information requests. When the need for improvements are identified, internal processes are adjusted. Parks Canada met its statutory deadlines for all requests during the reporting period

In addition, weekly meetings are held between the ATIP Office and Agency executives in order to monitor active and completed requests including the requests received and completed, pages received and processed, and the complexity of the requests. Weekly reports that provide details on the status of requests are shared with program liaisons and departmental senior managers as well as with the President & Chief Executive Officer’s office.

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2020-2021 Statistical report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution:Parks Canada Agency

Reporting period: 2020-04-01 to 2021-03-31

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Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	124
Outstanding from previous reporting period	31
Total	155
Closed during reporting period	132
Carried over to next reporting period	23

1.2 Sources of requests

Source	Number of Requests
Media	9
Academia	2
Business (private sector)	32
Organization	3
Public	53
Decline to Identify	25
Total	124

1.3 Informal requests

Completion Time
1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
22	8	3	4	0	0	0	37

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

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Section 2: Decline to act vexatious, made in bad faith or abuse of right requests

	Number of Requests
Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
Sent during reporting period	0
Total	0
Approved by the Information Commissioner during reporting period	0
Declined by the Information Commissioner during reporting period	0
Carried over to next reporting period	0

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Section 3: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of Requests	Completion Time
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
All disclosed	3	20	0	0	0	0	0	23
Disclosed in part	6	24	12	20	11	4	0	77
All exempted	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	12	3	0	0	0	0	0	15
Request transferred	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Request abandoned	13	1	0	0	1	0	0	15
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Decline to act with the approval of the Information Commisioner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	35	49	12	20	12	4	0	132

3.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests
13(1)(a)	0	16(2)	40	18(a)	0	20.1	0
13(1)(b)	0	16(2)(a)	0	18(b)	3	20.2	0
13(1)(c)	2	16(2)(b)	0	18(c)	0	20.4	0
13(1)(d)	0	16(2)(c)	0	18(d)	0	21(1)(a)	11
13(1)(e)	3	16(3)	0	18.1(1)(a)	0	21(1)(b)	17
14	2	16.1(1)(a)	0	18.1(1)(b)	0	21(1)(c)	5
14(a)	3	16.1(1)(b)	0	18.1(1)(c)	0	21(1)(d)	1
14(b)	0	16.1(1)(c)	0	18.1(1)(d)	0	22	0
15(1)	0	16.1(1)(d)	0	19(1)	70	22.1(1)	0
15(1) - I.A.*	1	16.2(1)	0	20(1)(a)	0	23	23
15(1) - Def.*	0	16.3	0	20(1)(b)	30	23.1	0
15(1) - S.A.*	1	16.31	0	20(1)(b.1)	0	24(1)	1
16(1)(a)(i)	2	16.4(1)(a)	0	20(1)(c)	9	26	0
16(1)(a)(ii)	0	16.4(1)(b)	0	20(1)(d)	11
16(1)(a)(iii)	1	16.5	0
16(1)(b)	1	16.6	0
16(1)(c)	3	17	2
16(1)(d)	0	* I.A.: International Affairs Def.: Defence of Canada S.A.: Subversive Activities

3.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests	Section	Number of Requests
68(a)	1	69(1)	1	69(1)(g) re (a)	1
68(b)	0	69(1)(a)	0	69(1)(g) re (b)	0
68(c)	0	69(1)(b)	0	69(1)(g) re (c)	0
68.1	0	69(1)(c)	0	69(1)(g) re (d)	0
68.2(a)	0	69(1)(d)	0	69(1)(g) re (e)	0
68.2(b)	0	69(1)(e)	0	69(1)(g) re (f)	0
		69(1)(f)	0	69.1(1)	0

3.4 Format of information released

Paper	Electronic	Other
2	98	0

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
138257	130713	116

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

Disposition	Less Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
All disclosed	19	341	4	928	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	28	1163	19	4944	12	7360	15	28295	3	87637
All exempted	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	14	0	1	45	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	62	1504	24	5917	12	7360	15	28295	3	87637

3.5.3 Other complexities

Disposition	Consultation Required	Assessment of Fees	Legal Advice Sought	Other	Total
All disclosed	2	0	0	0	2
Disclosed in part	41	0	0	0	41
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner	0	0	0	0	0
Total	43	0	0	0	43

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

	Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	132
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%)	100

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

Number of Requests Closed Past the Legislated Timelines	Principal Reason	Interference with Operations / Workload	External Consultation	Internal Consultation	Other
0	0	0	0	0	0

3.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

Number of Days Past Legislated Timelines	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timeline Where No Extension Was Taken	Number of Requests Past Legislated Timeline Where an Extension Was Taken	Total
1 to 15 days	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	0	0	0
31 to 60 days	0	0	0
61 to 120 days	0	0	0
121 to 180 days	0	0	0
181 to 365 days	0	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

3.8 Requests for translation

Translation Requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

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Section 4: Extensions

4.1  Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken	9(1)(a) Interference With Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
All disclosed	5	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	55	0	22	36
All exempted	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0
Decline to act with the approval of the Information Commisioner	0	0	0	0
Total	60	0	22	36

4.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions	9(1)(a) Interference With Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
30 days or less	14	0	5	0
31 to 60 days	25	0	4	28
61 to 120 days	17	0	9	8
121 to 180 days	1	0	1	0
181 to 365 days	3	0	3	0
365 days or more	0	0	0	0
Total	60	0	22	36

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Section 5: Fees

Fee Type	Fee Collected		Fee Waived or Refunded
	Number of Requests	Amount	Number of Requests	Amount
Application	128	$640	4	$20
Other fees	0	$0	0	$0
Total	128	$640	4	$20

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Section 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1  Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review	Other Organizations	Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period	31	1527	0	0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	8	873	0	0
Total	39	2400	0	0
Closed during the reporting period	37	1024	0	0
Carried over to next reporting period	2	1376	0	0

6.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
Disclose entirely	13	9	3	2	0	0	0	27
Disclose in part	1	2	5	1	0	0	0	9
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	14	11	8	4	0	0	0	37

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Section 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

7.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

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Section 8: Complaints and investigations

Section 32 Notice of intention to investigate	Subsection 30(5) Ceased to investigate	Section 35 Formal representations	Section 37 Reports of finding received	Section 37 Reports of finding containing recommendations issued by the Information Commissioner	Section 37 Reports of finding containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner
16	0	2	0	0	0

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Section 9: Court Action

9.1 Court actions on complaints received before June 21, 2019 and on-going

Section 41 (before June 21, 2019)	Section 42	Section 44
0	0	0

9.2 Court actions on complaints received after June 21, 2019

Section 41 (after June 21, 2019)
Complainant (1)	Institution (2)	Third Party (3)	Privacy Commissioner (4)	Total
0	0	0	0	0

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Section 10: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

10.1  Costs

Expenditures		Amount
Salaries		$517 552
Overtime		$0
Goods and Services		$50 895
• Professional services contracts	$32 812
• Other	$18 083
Total		$568 447

10.2  Human Resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	6.000
Part-time and casual employees	1.000
Regional staff	0.000
Consultants and agency personnel	1.000
Students	0.000
Total	8.000

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