Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act – 2023-2024

From: Transport Canada

 

Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act – 2023-2024
(PDF, 716 KB)

 
Copyright

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Transport, 2024

Catalogue No. T1-35E-PDF

ISSN 2816-6353

This document is available on the Transport Canada website at tc.canada.ca.

On this page

Introduction

The purpose of the Access to Information Act

Part 1 of the Access to Information Act (the Act) provides Canadian citizens, permanent residents of Canada within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and individuals who are present in Canada, a right of access to information contained in federal government records subject to certain specific and limited exceptions. Part 2 of the Act sets out requirements for proactive publication. The Act complements, but does not replace, other means of obtaining government information.

This annual report is submitted to Parliament by the Minister of Transport, in accordance with section 94 of the Access to Information Act and section 20 of the Service Fees Act. It describes how Transport Canada (TC) fulfilled its responsibilities and obligations for the reporting period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024.

About Transport Canada

TC is responsible for developing and overseeing the Government of Canada’s transportation policies and programs in support of a safe, secure, green, innovative, and integrated transportation system that promotes trade, economic growth, and a cleaner environment.

For more information about TC, visit tc.canada.ca.

Organizational structure

The Access to Information and Privacy Office

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is the focal point for access to information and privacy requests and services at TC, and during the reporting period, was grouped under Corporate Services. At TC, the ATIP Coordinator (the primary contact for queries) is the Director of the ATIP Office. During the reporting period, the Director reported to the Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, who in turn reports to the Deputy Minister.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office comprised of six units:

  • Two operations units responsible for the review of documents in response to requests made under the Access to Information Act and requests for personal information made under the Privacy Act, as well as internal advisory services related to Part 2 of the Access to Information Act, and to advise TC officials on access to information policy;
  • One operations unit dedicated to processing access to information files received in 2021 or prior;
  • One governance unit responsible for modernization of systems and reporting;
  • One business management unit responsible for human resources and other administrative functions; and
  • One privacy policy unit responsible for advising and supporting TC officials to ensure compliance with the Privacy Act and related policy instruments.

The ATIP Office works closely with departmental liaison officers who are the main points of contact between the ATIP Office and subject matter experts. They are responsible for ensuring requests tasked to their group or region are handled promptly and that relevant records are forwarded from offices of primary interest (OPIs) to the ATIP Office in accordance with established procedures and timelines.

Human resources

During the reporting period, a total of 29.75 person-years were dedicated to access to information activities, with 5.0 of those person-years having been the work of consultants. This figure does not include work performed by liaison officers in TC’s groups and regions.

A business management unit was created during the reporting period with a primary focus on managing human resources for the ATIP Office. This has been helpful to address continuous staffing challenges while allowing other units to concentrate on request processing and policy issues.

Despite this, the ATIP Office continued to experience challenges with staffing certain analyst levels to process operational files, though significant gains were made during the year to staff the office. TC is not alone in the challenge to attract and retain access to information and privacy specialists—many institutions across the public sector are facing the same difficulty.

Delegation of responsibilities

Pursuant to subsection 95(1) of the Act, the Minister of Transport has delegated full powers, duties and functions for the administration of the Act to the following TC officials:

  • The Deputy Minister
  • The Associate Deputy Minister
  • The Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer
  • The Director, ATIP
  • Chiefs of the ATIP Office (except for section 6.1(1))
  • Senior ATIP Advisors of the ATIP Office (sections 7(a), 8(1), 9, 19, 27, 33 and 43(1))

A copy of the delegation order can be found at Annex C.

Section 96 service agreements

Under section 96 of the Act, a government institution may enter into a service agreement with another government institution presided over by, or under the responsibility of the same Minister to provide or receive services related to access to information. TC was not party to any such agreements over the course of the reporting period.

Performance 2023–2024

This section highlights key information on TC’s performance for fiscal year 2023–2024. See Annex A for the Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Annex B for the Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

Access to information processing

Request processing

 
Text version
Fiscal year Requests received Requests completed Outstanding carried to next period Completed within legislated timeframe (%)
2019-2020 739 690 458 87%
2020-2021 630 583 503 68%
2021-2022 782 718 567 76%
2022-2023 592 576 583 74%
2023-2024 701 751 533 59%

During 2023–2024, TC received 701 new requests, an increase of 109 requests from the previous reporting period. 583 requests were carried over from the previous reporting period for a total of 1284 requests on hand. Of note, 751 files were closed during the reporting period, eliminating 50 files from the backlog which were all outside of legislated timelines. 446 out of 751 (59%) of requests closed during the reporting period were within legislated timeframes.

On March 31, 2024, 533 requests were carried over to the 2024–2025 fiscal year.

Completion time

TC endeavours to complete every access to information request in a timely manner. Of the 751 requests completed in 2023–2024, 322 (43%) were completed within 30 days.

Number of days 0 to 15 16 to 30 31 to 60 61 to 120 121 to 180 181 to 365 More than 365
Number of requests 142 180 70 85 41 78 155

Number of days taken to process requests closed in 2023–2024

Outstanding late requests

TC seeks to minimize the number of new requests that go beyond legislated timelines while continuing to reduce the number of late and older requests. Requests carried over from previous years may be within legislated timelines or have become late. Of the 533 requests carried over to 2024–2025 from previous reporting periods, 394 requests were beyond legislated timelines. For a detailed breakdown, refer to table 1.1 in the supplemental statistical report, Annex B.

Dispositions

TC makes every effort to disclose as much information as possible and to uphold the spirit of the Act. Of the 751 requests closed this reporting period, there were:

  • 75 (10.0%) fully disclosed
  • 410 (54.6%) partially disclosed
  • 187 (24.9%) where no records existed
  • 5 (0.7%) transferred to other institutions
  • 51 (6.8%) abandoned
  • 23 (3.1%) where no records were disclosed, of which:
    • 6 (0.8%) were all exempted
    • 17 (2.3%) were all excluded
    • 0 (0.0%) were neither confirmed nor denied

In most cases, redacted information pertained to the application of the following provisions of the Act:

  • Section 19 was applied in 344 requests to protect personal information
  • Subsection 20(1) was applied in 260 requests to protect a third party’s sensitive information
  • Subsection 21(1) was applied in 203 requests to protect sensitive information related to the operations of government

Extensions

Under specific circumstances, the Act contains provisions for departments to extend the legislated deadline if the request cannot be completed within the 30-day time limit. More than one type of extension may apply to the same request. Of the 431 extensions cited during the reporting period, 94 were due to unreasonable interference with the operations of government (e.g., a large volume of responsive records were found or a lengthy search through a large number of records was required), 184 were for necessary consultations within the federal government, and the remaining 153 extensions were for conducting consultations with third parties. This represents a total increase of 149 (53%) from the 2022–2023 reporting period, with the largest increases observed in the number of consultations with other federal government institutions and third parties. See section 5 of the statistical report, Annex A.

Other request processing

Consultation requests received from other government institutions and organizations

TC receives consultation requests from other institutions in relation to requests made under the Access to Information Act or other access to information legislation. In 2023–2024, TC received 122 such requests, with 110 consultations coming from other Government of Canada institutions and 12 from other organizations. This represents a decrease of 72 (37%) from the previous reporting period.

In addition, 18 consultations were carried over from the previous reporting period for a total of 140 consultations. Of these, 128 consultations were completed and 12 were carried forward into the next fiscal year, 8 of which were within negotiated timelines.

Informal requests for previously released information

Summaries of completed access to information requests are published on the Open Government website open.canada.ca. Copies of response packages can be requested through the site. In 2023-24, TC responded to 219 informal requests, an increase of 35 (19%) from the previous reporting period.

Complaints

Every individual who makes a request under the Act has the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) regarding any matter relating to the processing of their request. An individual may also file more than one type of complaint for the same request. In 2023-2024, TC received 67 complaints involving 53 requests, related to the following issues:

  • 26 (38.8%) for time delays
  • 8 (11.9%) for the application of extensions
  • 11 (16.4%) for alleged missing records
  • 19 (28.4%) for alleged improper application of exemptions
  • 2 (3.0%) for alleged improper application of exclusions (section 69)
  • 3 (4.5%) for other reasons related to the non-disclosure of records

A total of 89 complaints were resolved during the reporting period.

Total complaints resolved Discontinued Not well founded Well founded
89 36 14 39

Findings of complaints resolved in 2023–2024

A total of 57 complaints were still open on March 31, 2024:

  • 36 (63.2%) received in 2023–2024
  • 8 (14.0%) received in 2022–2023
  • 3 (5.3%) received in 2021–2022
  • 0 (0.0%) received in 2019–2020
  • 1 (1.8%) received in 2018–2019

Key issues and actions taken on complaints

Of the 39 well-founded complaints resolved during the reporting period, 29 (74%) resulted in a disclosure of information. In about half of those cases, disclosures were made following orders issued by the OIC. A few complaints were resolved by TC re-releasing records in the format desired by the requester.

The ATIP Office works closely with the OIC to follow-up on open complaints, and this cooperative relationship was certainly important in 2023–2024. A number of factors had aggravated reporting issues in the previous few years, including elevated workloads, high ATIP analyst turnover and the constraints of TC’s older case management software. TC made a concerted effort during the reporting period to confirm complaint statuses with the OIC and improve case tracking and reporting accuracy, which will continue to allow for more efficient complaint processing.

During the reporting period, a regular monthly meeting continued proactively between the ATIP Office management team and the Director of Investigations at the OIC. The meetings are an additional measure for progressing individual complaints and addressing general complaint issues.

Proactive disclosures

TC discloses a lot of information proactively as part of the federal government’s Open Government commitment to enhance accountability and transparency, and in line with the spirit of the Access to Information Act. The commitment is bolstered by provisions within the Act itself, requirements found in other pieces of federal legislation, and TBS directives, such as the Directive on Open Government.

TC’s proactive disclosures can be accessed through the Transparency section of the TC website: tc.canada.ca/en/corporate-services/transparency.

Proactive publications listed under the Access to Information Act

Part 2 of the Act sets out various materials that Ministers and heads of government institutions must proactively publish on a regular basis, in electronic form. TC supports the Minister of Transport in meeting their obligations under sections 73 to 80 of the Act. TC is also a government entity as defined under section 81, and therefore all types of information listed in sections 82 to 90 apply to TC’s proactive publishing obligations.

At TC, different groups are responsible for ensuring that materials are made available within statutory timeframes on either the Open Government website at open.canada.ca or TC website at tc.canada.ca. The table below sets out most proactive materials listed under Part 2 of the Act, the groups involved in publishing during the 2023–2024 reporting period, and the rates of compliance for each (e.g., the percentage of monthly/quarterly, etc., materials that were published on time).

Publications prescribed by the Act Section of the Act Publication timeline TC groups responsible Government of Canada websites Compliance rate
For TC
Travel expenses 82 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
  • Corporate Services – Financial Operations and Administrative Services, with assistance from
  • Executive Office (for the Deputy Minister and Associate Deputy Minister) and
  • Assistant deputy ministers’ offices (for assistant deputy ministers and associate assistant deputy ministers)
 Open Government 25%
Hospitality expenses 83 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement As above Open Government 25%
Reports tabled in Parliament 84 Within 30 days after tabling
  • Various OPIs, with assistance from:
  • Communications – Web Services
 Transport Canada 100%
Reclassification of positions 85 Within 30 days after the quarter
  • Corporate Services – Classification Centre of Excellence
 Open Government 100%
Contracts over $10,000 86

Q1–3: Within 30 days after the quarter

Q4: Within 60 days after the quarter
  • Corporate Services – Financial Operations and Administrative Services
 Open Government 50%
Grants and contributions over $25,000 87 Within 30 days after the quarter
  • Programs – Innovation Centre – Centre of Expertise on Financial Instruments, with assistance from:
  • Other OPIs within Programs
 Open Government 100%
Packages of briefing materials prepared for new or incoming deputy heads or equivalent 88(a) Within 120 days after appointment
  • Executive Office, with assistance from:
  • Various OPIs
  • Corporate Services – ATIP and
  • Communications – Web Services
 Transport Canada Nothing to publish for the reporting period
Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared for a deputy head or equivalent, that is received by their office 88(b) Within 30 days after the end of the month received
  • Executive Office, with assistance from:
  • Various OPIs and
  • Corporate Services – ATIP
 Open Government 67%
Packages of briefing materials prepared for a deputy head or equivalent’s appearance before a committee of Parliament 88(c) Within 120 days of after appearance
  • Executive Office Parliamentary Affairs Unit, with assistance from:
  • Various OPIs and
  • Corporate Services – ATIP
 Transport Canada 100%
For the Minister of Transport
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for new or incoming ministers 74(a) Within 120 days after appointment
  • Executive Office, with assistance from:
  • Various OPIs
  • Corporate Services – ATIP and
  • Communications – Web Services
 Transport Canada 100%
Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared by a government institution for the minister, that is received by their office 74(b) Within 30 days after the end of the month received
  • Executive Office, with assistance from:
  • Various OPIs and
  • Corporate Services – ATIP
 Open Government 67%
Packages of question period notes 74(c) Within 30 days of the last sitting day of the House of Common in June and December
  • Executive Office – Policy and Issues Management Directorate, with assistance from:
  • Corporate Services – ATIP and
  • Communications – Web Services
 Transport Canada 100%
Packages of briefing materials prepared by a government institution for a minister’s appearance before a committee of Parliament 74(d) Within 120 days after appearance
  • Executive Office - Parliamentary Affairs Unit, with assistance from:
  • Various OPIs and
  • Corporate Services – ATIP
 Transport Canada 100%
Travel expenses 75 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement
  • Executive Office and
  • Corporate Services – Financial Operations and Administrative Services
 Open Government 25%
Hospitality expenses 76 Within 30 days after the end of the month of reimbursement As above Open Government 25%
Contracts over $10,000 77

Q1–3: Within 30 days after the quarter

Q4: Within 60 days after the quarter
  • Corporate Services – Financial Operations and Administrative Services
 Open Government Nothing to publish for the reporting period

Other proactive disclosures

TC also publishes other information proactively, including:

  • Annual expenditures for travel, hospitality and conferences;
  • Reports on findings of wrongdoing; and
  • Monthly summaries of ATIP requests.

Monitoring and compliance

Oversight of access to information processing

The ATIP Office continues its engagement of internal stakeholders in monitoring of access to information requests and compliance with the Act. During the reporting period, this was primarily done through regular reporting and discussion, including:

  • A weekly progress report produced by the ATIP Office and shared with the Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, which gives an overview of request processing performance;
  • Regular reports to OPIs and Legal Services to track the status of retrievals and consultations coming from the ATIP Office;
  • Weekly reporting within the ATIP Office on upcoming due dates for requests for staff members and managers to follow-up; and
  • Routine reporting on compliance with search and retrieval timelines sent to OPIs and discussed with TC’s senior leadership.

The standard retrieval timeframe for OPIs is eight business days. Overall compliance for the return of records and recommendations to the ATIP Office during the reporting period was 72%. Compliance for access to information requests alone was 65%.

Monitoring of outgoing consultations with other institutions

Consultations with other institutions sometimes take place during access to information processing, either because TC needs the input of another institution to properly exercise its discretion, or TC is required to advise an institution about information it intends to release. As consultations significantly prolong request timelines, it is important that federal institutions are not consulting above what is required. The ATIP Office continues to monitor consultations, ensuring that:

  • Through various training opportunities, analysts have a thorough understanding of the Act’s requirements related to intervention with government institutions and third parties; and
  • Each consultation request is reviewed and approved prior to being sent, with particular attention paid to confirming the source of the information and justification for the need to consult (e.g., for third parties, ensuring that TC does in fact have reason to believe that records might contain information that would be harmful for the third party if released).

Proactive publications

The responsibility of complying with Part 2 of the Act falls to specific TC groups as indicated in ‘Management of proactive publications’ above. Processes have been set up for each set of materials, and multiple teams are involved. Where necessary, the ATIP Office reviews and provides advice on material that should not be published. Each TC area is aware of the importance of on-time publishing and for most materials, publishing times are monitored through the Open Government website, where they are uploaded. For materials published on TC’s website, teams within the Executive Office work with Web Services to ensure publishing deadlines are kept.

TC did not achieve 100% on-time compliance across all materials during the reporting period. In several instances, materials were published one or two days late. There are a few challenges with particular materials, notably travel and hospitality expenses, where confirmation of expenses is often delayed. However, process improvements are needed, and some have already been put in place in the 2024–2025 fiscal year. In 2019, TC’s Programs group modified their online system used for monitoring grants and contributions, allowing multiple levels of review and approval. This contributes to better publishing compliance.

TC is currently reviewing its financial management system to find efficiencies and increase data quality for contracts. Teams within Executive Office are looking at ways to track certain materials independently (e.g. publications for the Minister separate to publications for TC), and to monitor the online publishing for reports that have been presented to Parliament.

Fees

The Service Fees Act requires a responsible authority to report annually to Parliament on the fees collected by the institution. With respect to fees collected under the Access to Information Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fees Act.

In accordance with the changes to the Access to Information Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, TC may only charge an application fee of $5, as set out in paragraph 7(1)(a) of the Regulations. Pursuant to the TBS Directive on Access to Information Requests, issued on July 13, 2022, institutions can waive this application fee as deemed appropriate.

In 2023–2024, application fees were collected for 616 requests for a total revenue of $3,080 and application fees were waived or refunded for 79 requests, representing a total of $395.

Costs

The cost of administering the Act during fiscal year 2023–2024 amounted to $3,054,772, or 83% of the ATIP Office’s budget. This excludes costs incurred throughout the department for the search, retrieval and preparation of recommendations to enable and inform the processing of requests in accordance with the Act, as well as legal costs related to consultation or advice.

Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives

Policies and procedures

The following process was modified during the reporting period:

Better management of informal disclosure requests

A more robust process was put in place for managing requests made informally to TC groups, who then seek advice on disclosure from the ATIP Office. The process ensures that:

  • TC groups provide the correct information with the request and are aware of the ATIP Office’s service standards;
  • Records potentially containing personal information are triaged by the Privacy Policy Unit; and that
  • Requesters are redirected to formal channels where consent from an individual is first required.

Initiatives

Implementing new ATIP software

The ATIP Office’s Modernization team continued installing and configuring new request processing software. TC had engaged in a TBS-led contract in January 2023 as part of a small group of departments who were early-adopters. Although TC had aimed to launch the new software in April 2024, by early 2024 insufficiencies in the software meant no department would be able to complete implementation. The Modernization team has helped organize meetings with the other departments concerned, engaging with TBS and the vendor to ensure all issues are addressed in accordance with contractual obligations.

Other modernization activities

Despite the setback, the Modernization team was able to achieve significant progress with other work, including:

  • Preparing the ATIP Office’s SharePoint site—TC’s new electronic document management system—which has the capability to more effectively ways to manage and retain records provided by offices of primary interest; and
  • Improved tracking of complaints data, and working with both the Offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners, resulting in easier complaint processing.

Improving secret network utilization

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office continued work to improve the capacity for the processing of documentation at the Protected C level or higher and progress was made to address logistical issues within the office environment, including by allocating new space.

Training and awareness

The goal of training and awareness is to educate and engage TC employees on the principles of access to information, to relay the responsibilities and expectations regarding the retrieval and review of records, and to introduce new measures for better handling requests and managing proactive disclosures.

Training

Training for TC staff members

Training is delivered by experienced ATIP practitioners through several different channels:

  • Regular virtual training sessions are delivered to TC staff members (311 registered participants in 2023–2024)
  • Ad-hoc training is provided to various programs on specific areas that regularly affect subject matter experts and record holders
  • Transport Canada, as a member of the TBS Access and Privacy Communities Development Office (APCDO), was the department with the highest participation at APCDO-led training sessions, with 301 registered participants throughout the reporting period

Training for ATIP Office analysts

ATIP Office analysts benefited from both extensive in-house and external training, including training provided by the APCDO.

Awareness and engagement

The ATIP Office continued to engage TC staff on access to information issues throughout the reporting period:

  • Meetings between ATIP Office management and liaison officers are held to share details of latest initiatives and gain a better understanding of each party’s challenges
  • ATIP training sessions provided by the APCDO were communicated throughout the Department, and as a result, Transport Canada was the largest departmental attendee throughout the reporting period
  • Access to information and privacy matters were regularly discussed with TC’s Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, and other members of TC’s senior leadership
  • Promotion of news and events such as Right to Know Week and Data Privacy Week

Annex A: Statistical Report

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Transport Canada

Reporting period: April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

  Number of Requests
Received during reporting period 701
Outstanding from previous reporting periods 583
  • Outstanding from previous reporting period
 204  
  • Outstanding from more than one reporting period
 379
Total 1,284
Closed during reporting period 751
Carried over to next reporting period 533
  • Carried over within legislated timeline

139

  
  • Carried over beyond legislated timeline

394

1.2 Sources of requests

Source Number of Requests
Media 77
Academia 26
Business (private sector) 215
Organization 17
Public 276
Decline to Identify 90
Total 701

1.3 Channels of requests

Channel Number of Requests
Online 655
E-mail 20
Mail 26
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 701

Section 2: Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

  Number of Requests
Received during reporting period 233
Outstanding from previous reporting periods 11
  • Outstanding from previous reporting period
 0  
  • Outstanding from more than one reporting period
 11
Total 244
Closed during reporting period 219
Carried over to next reporting period 25

2.2 Channels of informal requests

Channel Number of Requests
Online 215
E-mail 18
Mail 0
In person 0
Phone 0
Fax 0
Total 233

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

Completion time
0 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
37 77 77 17 0 1 10 219

2.4 Pages released informally

Less than 100
Pages Released		 100-500
Pages Released		 501-1,000
Pages Released		 1,001-5,000
Pages Released		 More than 5,000
Pages Released
Number of Requests Pages Released Number of Requests Pages Released Number of Requests Pages Released Number of Requests Pages Released Number of Requests Pages Released
1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2.5 Pages re-released informally

Less than 100
Pages Re-released		 100-500
Pages Re-released		 501-1,000
Pages Re-released		 1,001-5,000
Pages Re-released		 More than 5,000
Pages Re-released
Number of Requests Pages Re-released Number of Requests Pages Re-released Number of Requests Pages Re-released Number of Requests Pages Re-released Number of Requests Pages Re-released
144 3,487 61 12,309 7 4,072 5 7,003 1 31,955

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to act on 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
Withdrawn during reporting period 0
Carried over to next reporting period 0

Section 4: Requests closed during the reporting period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of requests Completion Time (calendar days)
0 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 15 30 16 7 3 1 3 75
Disclosed in part 11 55 37 57 34 71 145 410
All exempted 0 0 2 2 1 0 1 6
All excluded 0 1 2 6 2 4 2 17
No records exist 90 77 12 7 1 0 0 187
Request transferred 4 0 0 1 0 0 0 5
Request abandoned 22 17 1 5 0 2 4 51
Neither confirmed nor denied 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
Total 142 180 70 85 41 78 155 751

4.2 Exemptions

Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests Section Number of Requests
13(1)(a) 22 16(2) 5 18(a) 6 20.1 0
13(1)(b) 7 16(2)(a) 0 18(b) 10 20.2 0
13(1)(c) 13 16(2)(b) 0 18(c) 1 20.4 0
13(1)(d) 9 16(2)(c) 55 18(d) 3 21(1)(a) 69
13(1)(e) 0 16(3) 0 18.1(1)(a) 0 21(1)(b) 109
14 1 16.1(1)(a) 0 18.1(1)(b) 0 21(1)(c) 23
14(a) 10 16.1(1)(b) 0 18.1(1)(c) 0 21(1)(d) 2
14(b) 8 16.1(1)(c) 0 18.1(1)(d) 4 22 5
15(1) 8 16.1(1)(d) 0 19(1) 344 22.1(1) 0
15(1) - I.A.* 18 16.2(1) 0 20(1)(a) 1 23 65
15(1) - Def.* 1 16.3 0 20(1)(b) 168 23.1 0
15(1) - S.A.* 2 16.4(1)(a) 0 20(1)(b.1) 0 24(1) 9
16(1)(a)(i) 0 16.4(1)(b) 0 20(1)(c) 75 26 1
16(1)(a)(ii) 0 16.5 0 20(1)(d) 16
16(1)(a)(iii) 0 16.6 0
16(1)(b) 1 17 1
16(1)(c) 10
16(1)(d) 0

*I.A.: International Affairs
Def.: Defense of Canada
S.A.: Subversive Activities

4.3 Exclusions

Section Number of requests Section Number of requests Section Number of requests
68(a) 2 69(1) 2 69(1)(g) re (a) 35
68(b) 0 69(1)(a) 13 69(1)(g) re (b) 0
68(c) 0 69(1)(b) 0 69(1)(g) re (c) 22
68.1 0 69(1)(c) 1 69(1)(g) re (d) 8
68.2(a) 0 69(1)(d) 7 69(1)(g) re (e) 10
68.2(b) 0 69(1)(e) 14 69(1)(g) re (f) 18
    69(1)(f) 5 69.1(1) 0

4.4 Format of information released

Paper Electronic Other
E-record Dataset Video Audio
3 477 9 6 1 0

4.5 Complexity

4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper, e-record and dataset formats
Number of Pages Processed Number of Pages Disclosed Number of Requests
169,776 108,979 559
4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper, e-record and dataset formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 100
pages processed		 100-500
pages processed		 501-1,000
pages processed		 1,001-5,000
pages processed		 More than 5,000
pages processed
Number of Requests Pages Processed Number of Requests Pages Processed Number of Requests Pages Processed Number of Requests Pages Processed Number of Requests Pages Processed
All disclosed 59 1,387 12 2,710 0 0 4 5,087 0 0
Disclosed in part 200 6,833 127 30,016 43 30,042 38 69,687 2 21,338
All exempted 4 162 2 651 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 16 407 1 253 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 47 117 3 478 1 608 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 326 8,906 145 34,108 44 30,650 42 74,774 2 21,338
4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats
Number of Minutes Processed Number of Minutes Disclosed Number of Requests
111 0 1
4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 60 Minutes Processed 60 - 120 Minutes Processed More than 120 Minutes Processed
Number of Requests Minutes Processed Number of Requests Minutes Processed Number of Requests Minutes Processed
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 0 0 1 111 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 1 111 0 0
4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats
Number of Minutes Processed Number of Minutes Disclosed Number of Requests
13 8 6
4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests
Disposition Less than 60 Minutes Processed 60 - 120 Minutes Processed More than 120 Minutes Processed
Number of Requests Minutes Processed Number of Requests Minutes Processed Number of Requests Minutes Processed
All disclosed 1 1 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 5 12 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6 13 0 0 0 0
4.5.7 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation required Legal advice sought Other Total
All disclosed 16 0 1 17
Disclosed in part 242 1 2 245
All exempted 3 0 0 3
All excluded 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 6 0 0 6
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 267 1 3 271

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines
  Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines 446
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%) 59.39

4.7 Deemed refusals

4.7.1 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
305 224 29 24 28
4.7.2 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 4 16 20
16 to 30 days 6 8 14
31 to 60 days 8 15 23
61 to 120 days 26 14 40
121 to 180 days 14 6 20
181 to 365 days 40 29 69
More than 365 days 94 25 119
Total 192 113 305

4.8 Requests for translation

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

Section 5: Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken 9(1)(a)
Interference With Operations/ Workload		 9(1)(b)
Consultation		 9(1)(c)
Third-Party Notice
Section 69 Other
All disclosed 2 1 9 7
Disclosed in part 90 23 129 143
All exempted 1 0 1 1
All excluded 0 10 4 0
Request abandoned 1 1 6 1
No records exist 0 0 0 1
Declined to act with the approval of the Information Commissioner 0 0 0 0
Total 94 35 149 153

5.2 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 37 1 26 8
31 to 60 days 16 2 46 77
61 to 120 days 19 29 53 51
121 to 180 days 14 1 17 4
181 to 365 days 6 2 6 10
365 days or more 2 0 1 3
Total 94 35 149 153

Section 6: Fees

Fee Type Fee Collected Fee Waived Fee Refunded
Number of
Requests		 Amount Number of
Requests		 Amount Number of
Requests		 Amount
Application 616 $3,080.00 79 $395.00 2 $10.00
Other fees 0 $0.00 0 $0.00 0 $0.00
Total 616 $3,080.00 79 $395.00 2 $10.00

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

7.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

Consultations Other Government of Canada Institutions Number of Pages to Review Other Organizations Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period 110 6,801 12 338
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 17 1,181 1 776
Total 127 7,982 13 1,114
Closed during the reporting period 117 6,775 11 1,068
Carried over within negotiated timelines 7 996 1 20
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines 3 211 1 26

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

Recommendation Number of days required to complete consultation requests
0 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 18 36 16 6 2 0 0 78
Disclose in part 1 9 11 10 3 1 0 35
Exempt entirely 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Exclude entirely 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2
Consult other institution 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Other 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Total 21 46 28 16 5 1 0 117

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada

Recommendations Number of days required to complete consultation requests
0 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 5 4 1 0 0 0 0 10
Disclose in part 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
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 5 4 2 0 0 0 0 11

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on Cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days Fewer than 100
Pages Processed		 100‒500
Pages Processed		 501‒1,000
Pages Processed		 1,001‒5,000
Pages Processed		 More than 5,000
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 11 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
16 to 30 2 0 2 50 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 to 60 11 109 1 93 0 0 0 0 0 0
61 to 120 20 281 4 827 0 0 0 0 0 0
121 to 180 4 131 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
181 to 365 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More than 365 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 49 590 7 970 0 0 0 0 0 0

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days Fewer than 100
Pages Processed		 100‒500
Pages Processed		 501‒1,000
Pages Processed		 1,001‒5,000
Pages Processed		 More than 5,000
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

Section 9: Investigations and reports of finding

9.1 Investigations

Section 32
Notice of intention to investigate

Subsection 30(5)
Ceased to investigate

Section 35
Formal representations
67 36 39

9.2 Investigations and reports of finding

Section 37(1) Initial Reports Section 37(2) Final Reports
Received Containing recommendations issued by the Information Commissioner Containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner Received Containing recommendations issued by the Information Commissioner Containing orders issued by the Information Commissioner
23 3 20 53 3 17

Section 10: Court action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

Section 41
Complainant (1) Institution (2) Third Party (3) Privacy Commissioner (4) Total
0 1 0 0 1

10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)

Section 44 - under paragraph 28(1)(b)
0

Section 11: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated costs

Expenditures   Amount
Salaries   $2,080,186
Overtime   $8,543
Goods and Services   $966,043
  • Professional services contracts
 $773,023  
  • Other
 $193,020
Total $3,054,772

11.2 Human resources

Resources Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees 23.504
Part-time and casual employees 1.243
Regional staff 0.000
Consultants and agency personnel 5.000
Students 0.000
Total 29.747

Annex B: Supplemental statistical report

Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

Name of institution: Transport Canada

Reporting period: April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024

Section 1: Open requests and complaints under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Requests Were Received Open Requests that are Within Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2024 Open Requests that are Beyond Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2024 Total
Received in 2023-2024 133 100 233
Received in 2022-2023 3 35 38
Received in 2021-2022 1 66 67
Received in 2020-2021 0 49 49
Received in 2019-2020 0 88 88
Received in 2018-2019 2 23 25
Received in 2017-2018 0 20 20
Received in 2016-2017 0 10 10
Received in 2015-2016 0 3 3
Received in 2014-2015 or earlier 0 0 0
Total 139 394 533

1.2 Number of open complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Complaints Were Received by Institution Number of Open Complaints
Received in 2023-2024 36
Received in 2022-2023 8
Received in 2021-2022 3
Received in 2020-2021 9
Received in 2019-2020 0
Received in 2018-2019 1
Received in 2017-2018 0
Received in 2016-2017 0
Received in 2015-2016 0
Received in 2014-2015 or earlier 0
Total 57

Section 2: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

2.1 Number of open personal information requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Requests Were Received Open Requests that are Within Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2024 Open Requests that are Beyond Legislated Timelines as of March 31, 2024 Total
Received in 2023-2024 22 6 28
Received in 2022-2023 0 2 2
Received in 2021-2022 0 0 0
Received in 2020-2021 0 1 1
Received in 2019-2020 0 0 0
Received in 2018-2019 0 0 0
Received in 2017-2018 0 0 0
Received in 2016-2017 0 0 0
Received in 2015-2016 0 0 0
Received in 2014-2015 or earlier 0 0 0
Total 22 9 31

2.2 Number of open complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Fiscal Year Open Complaints Were Received by Institution Number of Open Complaints
Received in 2023-2024 3
Received in 2022-2023 0
Received in 2021-2022 0
Received in 2020-2021 0
Received in 2019-2020 0
Received in 2018-2019 0
Received in 2017-2018 0
Received in 2016-2017 0
Received in 2015-2016 0
Received in 2014-2015 or earlier 0
Total 3

Section 3: Social insurance number

Has your institution begun a new collection or new consistent use of the SIN in 2023–2024? No

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act

How many requests were received from confirmed foreign nationals outside of Canada in 2023–2024? 2

Annex C: Delegation order

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation

The Minister of Transport, pursuant to subsection 95(1) of the Access to Information Act and subsection 73(1) of the Privacy Act, delegates the persons holding the positions set out in the attached schedule, including persons designated to act in their absence, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Transport as the head of the Department of Transport, under the provisions of these Acts and related RegulationsFootnote 1, set out in the attached schedule opposite each position.

This delegation replaces all previous designations.

Dated at the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, this 30th day of March, 2021.

Omar Alghabra
Minister of Transport

Delegation schedule
Position Access to Information Act and Regulations Privacy Act and Regulations
Deputy Minister Full authority Full authority
Associate Deputy Minister Full authority Full authority
Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services, and Chief Financial Officer Full authority Full authority
Director, ATIP Full authority

Full authority except:

PA: 8(2)(m)
Chiefs, ATIP

Full authority except:

ATIA: 6.1(1)

Full authority except:

PA: 8(2)(j) and 8(2)(m)
Senior ATIP Advisors (PM-05)

ATIA: 7(a), 8(1), 9, 19, 27(1), 33, and 43(1)

 PA: 14(a), 15, and 26

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