Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Privacy Act – 2017-2018

From: Transport Canada

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Purpose of the Privacy Act

The Privacy Act (Act) provides Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada a right of access to information about themselves held by the federal government subject to certain specific and limited exceptions. The Actprotects an individual’s privacy by setting out provisions related to the collection, use, disclosure, retention and disposal of personal information.

Section 72 of the Actrequires the Minister of Transport to submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act following the close of each fiscal year.

This report is prepared in accordance with section 72 of the Actand describes how Transport Canada (TC) fulfilled its privacy responsibilities and obligations during the 2017-2018 fiscal year.  

About Transport Canada

At Transport Canada, we are responsible for developing and overseeing the Government of Canada’s transportation policies and programs so that Canadians can have access to a transportation system that is:

  • Safe and secure;
  • Green and innovative; and
  • Efficient.

Approximately 5,000 part-time and full-time people work for TC at the headquarters in Ottawa and in dozens of locations across the country.  There are five regional offices situated in Vancouver (Pacific), Winnipeg (Prairie and Northern), Toronto (Ontario), Montreal (Quebec), and Moncton (Atlantic).

For more information about TC, visit the website at: https://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/menu.htm

Organizational Structure

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Branch is part of the Corporate Services Group, which reports to the office of the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). 

The Director of the ATIP Branch is the ATIP Coordinator for TC. Consistent with best practices identified by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)Footnote 1, TC’s ATIP Coordinator is positioned within three levels of the Minister. The Coordinator reports to the ADM, Corporate Services and CFO, who in turn reports to the Deputy Minister.

The ATIP Coordinator has full delegated authority, with the exception of Privacy disclosures in the public interest, pursuant to section 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act. This delegation is given to the Deputy Minister, the Associate Deputy Minister and the ADM, Corporate Services and CFO. 

The ATIP Branch works closely with departmental and regional ATIP liaison officers who are appointed by group or regional heads. The liaison officers are the main point of contact between the ATIP Branch and OPIs from each group or region. They are responsible for ensuring that requests tasked to their groups or regions are handled promptly and that relevant records are forwarded to the ATIP office within provided timelines.

The ATIP Branch is comprised of an Operations Unit, and a Policy and Privacy Unit. Each unit is headed by a Chief. Overall, 7.69 person years were dedicated to privacy activities in the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

The Policy and Privacy Unit provides guidance and expertise in support of TC programs that collect, use, disclose, retain and dispose of personal information. The Unit’s primary focus includes the following:

  • Responding to privacy requests within the statutory timeline and meeting the duty to assist requesters;
  • Consulting with other institutions and third parties in relation to the processing of privacy requests;
  • Responding to complaints received by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC);
  • Developing corporate privacy policies, guidelines and practices that encourage, promote and strengthen privacy awareness, and champion the protection of personal information department-wide;
  • Providing advice and support for programs and internal clients such as reviewing documents prior to proactive publication and providing advice to enable them to complete, monitor and report on privacy impact assessments (PIAs) and privacy breaches;
  • Reviewing Treasury Board submissions, Memoranda to Cabinet (MCs) and internal administrative and audit reports to ensure privacy requirements are met;
  • Coordinating TC’s annual input into Information about programs and information holdings and developing personal information banks (PIBs);
  • Liaising with the OPC on policies, PIAs, privacy breaches and complaints; and
  • Liaising with other federal government departments on related issues and working groups.

Delegation Order

The responsibilities associated with the administration of the Privacy Act are delegated to departmental officials through a delegation order signed by the Minister of Transport (see Annex A for the signed Delegation Order).

Highlights of the 2017-2018 Statistical Report

This section covers TC’s statistical report on the Privacy Act. See Annex B for further details.

I. Requests under the Privacy Act

In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, TC received 462 privacy requests which is a slight decrease from the 505 received the previous year. Of the 462 requests received, 140 were requests for disclosure of personal information made pursuant to subsection 8(2) of the Act and the remaining 322 were for personal information. In addition to the 462 requests received this reporting period, 43 were carried over from the previous year for a total of 505 requests on hand during 2017-2018.

Of the 505 requests on hand, 438 were closed during the reporting period, which resulted in 67 requests being carried over to the 2018-2019 fiscal year. In addition to these, the Branch also received many requests from internal clients. For example, 36 internal administrative reports were received for review, many of which were complex. This contributed to a marked increase in the workload of the Branch.

II. Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

With respect to disposition of requests closed during the reporting period:

  • 297 requests (68%) were either fully disclosed or disclosed in part;
  • 81 requests (19%) were abandoned;
  • No records existed in response to 60 requests (14%);
  • No requests were all exempted (none of the records were disclosed);
  • No files were all excluded (the Act did not apply); and
  • There were no requests that were involved with the existence of documents could neither be confirmed nor denied.

Of the 438 requests closed in the reporting period:

  • 339 requests (77%) were closed within 30 days; and
  • 412 requests (94%) were closed within the first 60 days. 

All but 37 requests (9%) were completed within the statutory timelines.

III. Exemptions

Sections 18 through 28 of the Act set out the exemptions that can be applied in order to protect information pertaining to a particular public or private interest. The majority of the exemptions (230) invoked by TC fell under three sections of the Act:

  • Section 26, which protects personal information about another individual, was used in 215 (94%) of the 230 cases;
  • Section 22, which protects the disclosure of materials that could reasonably be expected to be injurious to enforcement or investigations, was used in 6 cases (3%); and
  • Section 19, which protects personal information obtained in confidence, was used in 6 cases (3%).

Sections 23 and 27 were used in a few cases. Section 23, which involves security clearances, was used in 2 cases (1%). Section 27, which is solicitor client privilege, was used in 1 request (0%).

IV. Exclusions

There were no exclusions applied under section 69 (personal information available to the public) or section 70 (records considered to be confidences of the Queen’s Privy Council of Canada).

V. Format of Information Released

Of the 438 requests closed in the reporting period, 297 requests resulted in records being released. Of those 297 requests:

  • 227 requests (76%) were released in paper format; and
  • 70 requests (24%) were released electronically.

The percentages of information released in paper versus electronic format are similar to those of the previous reporting year.

VI. Complexities

The requests closed comprised 11,959 pages processed, of which 10,687 pages (89%) were disclosed. 

The majority of requests (347) required the processing of less than 100 pages. Twenty-eight requests contained between 101 and 500 pages, and 3 requests contained between 501 and 5,000 pages.

Of the 438 requests completed, 278 (64%) were deemed complex, a slight increase from the previous reporting period. Of these 278 requests, 215 involved interwoven information (for example, information that pertained to other individuals); 1 required legal advice; 14 required consultation and 48 requests required other complexities including retrievals from the regions.

VII. Deemed Refusals

Of the 438 requests completed, 37 requests were closed past the statutory deadline. Fully 92% of requests were closed on time. This result reflects TC’s commitment to ensuring that every reasonable effort is made to complete requests in a timely manner, and to meet its obligations to requesters.  The number of requests closed past the statutory deadline decreased slightly to 8% compared to 10% the previous year.

Workload was cited as the primary reason for files closing late (29 of the 37 files). Other reasons include staff turnover and challenges in obtaining relevant records in a timely manner.

VIII. Requests for Translation

There were no requests for translation made by individuals submitting privacy requests during the reporting period.

IX. Disclosures under Subsections 8(2)

In the 2017-2018 reporting period, 40 disclosures were made under 8(2)(e) - investigative bodies. One disclosure was made under 8(2)(m) - public interest. As required under 8(5), TC notified the Privacy Commissioner that would be disclosing personal information in the public interest.

X. Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notation

There were no requests for correction of personal information or notation in the reporting period.

XI. Extensions

The Privacy Act allows departments to extend the legislated deadline by 30 days if the request cannot be completed within the legislated 30 day time limit. Section 15 of the Privacy Act permits extensions if:

  • Meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the government institution;
  • Consultations cannot reasonably be completed within the original time limit; or
  • Additional time is necessary for translation purposes or converting the personal information into an alternative format.

In total, 66 extensions were taken in the reporting year, which is a slight decrease from the 77 taken during the previous reporting period. Of the 66 extensions, 58 (88%) were taken because of interference with operations and 8 (12%) were taken for consultations. 

XII. Consultations Received from Other Government Institutions and Organizations

There were 6 consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions. Of these, 4 were completed within the reporting period.

There were no consultations received from organizations, other than Government of Canada institutions, during the reporting period.

XIII. Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

No requests related to Cabinet Confidences were sent to Legal Services or to the Privy Council Office during the reporting period.

XIV. Complaints and Investigations

Requesters can submit a complaint to the OPC on the processing of their request. TC received 15 privacy complaints pursuant to section 31 of the Act.

Ten reports of findings were received under section 35.

XV. Resources Related to the Privacy Act

Due to the limited pool of ATIP professionals, recruitment and retention remains an ongoing challenge. In an effort to increase the pool of professionals, targeted staffing processes were undertaken to recruit from outside the ATIP community at the entry level positions (CR-04 and PM-01).  These initiatives included:

  • Hiring of qualified candidates from PM-01 pools;
  • Recruiting at the PM-01 level from the Public  Service Post-Secondary Recruitment Program; and
  • Hiring of two CO-OP students each term. This resulted in the bridging of 2 students with the potential of bridging others.

Other staffing initiatives undertaken this reporting period included:

  • Entry into, and promotion within, ATIP’s Recruitment and Development Program; and
  • the creation of an ATIP inventory ranging from CR-04 to PM-06 level positions.   This inventory was for future vacancies and was open to employees in the Public Service who were interested in a deployment, assignment or secondment. Over 200 applications were received. To date, this inventory was used for one staffing action in the reporting year.

Training and Awareness

Throughout the 2017-2018 fiscal year efforts continued to strengthen the ATIP training program in order to reach a broad TC audience, both in headquarters and in the regions. Fourteen training sessions were delivered, either in person or by video conference, to approximately 400 employees. These sessions provided Transport Canada employees with information on ATIP and the expectations for the retrieval and reviewing of records.

Recognizing that ATIP and information management are closely connected, a combined ATIP/information management training program was also developed. This training was delivered on site at the Ontario, Prairie and Northern and Pacific regional offices.

When requested, standalone ATIP training was delivered to the department in venues such as all-staff meetings.

For one day during the TC Information Management Week, the Privacy Unit set up a kiosk to promote privacy awareness across the department.

The ATIP Branch continuously strives to develop and refine its training tools through feedback from employees participating in the various training sessions delivered.

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

An institution-specific ATIP Procedures Manual is maintained and updated by the Branch in order to ensure consistent and efficient practices by all ATIP employees. This manual is an “evergreen” electronic document which is updated whenever new policies are implemented or existing ones are revised. 

A Privacy Management Framework has been developed and outlines the responsibilities, processes and governance in place to protect the personal information that is collected and used to deliver TC programs. The Framework provides a point of reference for all employees and is available online.

Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken on Complaints

During the reporting period, the Department received 15 complaints related to privacy requests. The major issues identified for complaints within the 2017-2018 fiscal year included missing records, disagreements on exemptions, and time delays. The Department takes the issue of complaints seriously.  In order to address these, specific actions were conducted within the ATIP Branch. This involved collaboration with the OPC to ensure that the resolution occurred within a timely manner. As well, the training and awareness sessions that the ATIP Branch provided throughout the Department (headquarters and regions) were aimed at improving employee knowledge of their roles and responsibilities vis-a-vis the Privacy Act and related policies and guidelines.

Monitoring Compliance

The ATIP Branch engages TC officials at various levels in order to ensure the timely processing of ATIP requests.  The Director meets regularly with management to review on-time performance. Analysts are trained to review Access Pro Case Management, the specialist software used to track and process requests, on a daily basis in order to track the timeframes for requests under their responsibility.

The following reports are prepared to assist in tracking the status of requests:

  • Weekly Team Leader Statistical Reports are provided to the ATIP Chiefs and Team Leaders in order to monitor their respective team’s workload and progress; and
  • ATIP 2 Week Look Ahead Reports are provided to Branch staff to remind them of requests coming due within 2 weeks in order to assure that deadlines are being met.

Material Privacy Breaches

During the reporting period, TC did not experience any material privacy breaches.

Privacy Impact Assessments

There were no Privacy Impact Assessments completed during the reporting period.

Public Interest Disclosures

Paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act allows the head of the institution to disclose personal information without the consent of the affected individual in cases where, in the opinion of the head, the public interest outweighs any invasion of privacy that could result from the disclosure or when it is clearly in the best interest of the individual to disclose. During the reporting period, TC made one disclosure of personal information under this provision. The disclosure concerned an ongoing investigation with the Transportation Safety Board and the Office of Privacy Commission was notified prior to the disclosure.

Annex A: Delegation Order

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act designation

The Minister of Transport, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act ("ATIA") and section 73 of the Privacy Act ("PA"), hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the attached schedule, or the persons occupying those positions on an acting basis, 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 2, set out in the attached schedule opposite each position.

This designation replaces all previous designations.

Dated at the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, this 10 day of March, 2016.

Marc Garneau
Minister of Transport

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act designation

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 Full authority except:
PA: 8(2)(j) and 8(2)(m)
Senior ATIP Analysts (Team Leaders) ATIA: 7(a), 8(1), 11(2), 11(3), 11(4), 11(5), 27(1), 33, and 43(1) PA: 14(a)
ATIP Analysts ATIA: 7(a) PA: 14(a)

Annex B: Transport Canada’s Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution:

Transport Canada

 

Reporting period:

2017-04-01 to 2018-03-31

 

Part 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

  Number of Requests
Received during reporting period 462
Outstanding from previous reporting period 43
Total 505
Closed during reporting period 438
Carried over to next reporting period 67

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.1 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 25 31 18 0 1 1 0 76
Disclosed in part 53 104 43 10 6 3 2 221
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
No records exist 28 24 8 0 0 0 0 60
Request abandoned 54 20 4 1 1 0 1 81
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 160 179 73 11 8 4 3 438

2.2 Exemptions

Section Number of Requests
18(2) 0
19(1)(a) 1
19(1)(b) 0
19(1)(c) 2
19(1)(d) 3
19(1)(e) 0
19(1)(f) 0
20 0
21 0
22(1)(a)(i) 2
22(1)(a)(ii) 0
22(1)(a)(iii) 0
22(1)(b) 4
22(1)(c) 0
22(2) 0
22.1 0
22.2 0
22.3 0
23(a) 2
23(b) 0
24(a) 0
24(b) 0
25 0
26 215
27 1
28 0

2.3 Exclusions

Section Number of Requests
69(1)(a) 0
69(1)(b) 0
69.1 0
70(1) 0
70(1)(a) 0
70(1)(b) 0
70(1)(c) 0
70(1)(d) 0
70(1)(e) 0
70(1)(f) 0
70.1 0

2.4 Format of information released

Disposition Paper Electronic Other Formats
All disclosed 58 18 0
Disclosed in part 169 52 0
Total 227 70 0

2.5 Complexity

2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed
Disposition of Requests Number of Pages Processed Number of Pages Disclosed Number of Requests
All disclosed 2344 2169 76
Disclosed in part 9488 8518 221
All exempted 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0
Request abandoned 127 0 81
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0
Total 11959 10687 378
2.5.2 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 69 835 6 822 1 512 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 197 2257 22 4208 1 553 1 1500 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 81 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 347 3092 28 5030 2 1065 1 1500 0 0
2.5.3 Other complexities
Disposition Consultation Required Legal Advice Sought Interwoven Information Other Total
All disclosed 2 0 0 7 9
Disclosed in part 12 1 212 32 257
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0 0
Request abandoned 0 0 3 9 12
Neither confirmed nor denied 0 0 0 0 0
Total 14 1 215 48 278

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline
Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline Principal Reason
Workload External Consultation Internal Consultation Other
37 29 3 0 5
2.6.2 Number of days past deadline
Number of Days Past Deadline Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken Number of Requests Past Deadline Where An Extension Was Taken Total
1 to 15 days 10 3 13
16 to 30 days 5 0 5
31 to 60 days 1 2 3
61 to 120 days 2 6 8
121 to 180 days 1 1 2
181 to 365 days 1 2 3
More than 365 days 2 1 3
Total 22 15 37

2.7 Requests for translation

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

Part 3: Disclosures Under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Paragraph 8(2)(e) Paragraph 8(2)(m) Subsection 8(5) Total
40 1 1 42

Part 4: Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

Disposition for Correction Requests Received Number
Notations attached 0
Requests for correction accepted 0
Total 0

Part 5: Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken 15(a)(i)
Interference With Operations		 15(a)(ii)
Consultation		 15(b)
Translation or Conversion
Section 70 Other
All disclosed 13 0 1 0
Disclosed in part 42 0 7 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0
All excluded 0 0 0 0
No records exist 1 0 0 0
Request abandoned 2 0 0 0
Total 58 0 8 0

5.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions 15(a)(i)
Interference with operations		 15(a)(ii)
Consultation		 15(b)
Translation purposes
Section 70 Other
1 to 15 days 1 0 0 0
16 to 30 days 57 0 8 0
All exempted 58 0 8 0

Part 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1 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 the reporting period 6 50 0 0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period 0 0 0 0
Total 6 50 0 0
Closed during the reporting period 4 25 0 0
Pending at the end of the reporting period 2 25 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
All disclosed 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 4
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 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 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 4

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
All disclosed 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Disclosed in part 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All exempted 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
All excluded 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

Part 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 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
37 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

Part 8: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received

Section 31 Section 33 Section 35 Court action Total
15 0 10 0 25

Part 9: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)

Number of PIA(s) completed

0

 

Part 10: Resources Related to the Privacy Act

10.1 Costs

Expenditures Amount
Salaries $456,462
Overtime $8,947
Goods and Services
  • Professional services contracts $64,373
  • Other $30,750
 $95,123
Total $560,532

10.2 Human Resources

Resources Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees 5.94
Part-time and casual employees 0.31
Regional staff 0.00
Consultants and agency personnel 0.83
Students 0.61
Total 7.69

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

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