2020-2021 Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act

Document Properties

• Type of Publication: Annual Report
• Date: August 2021

1. Introduction

The purpose of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions in order to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions. In furtherance of that purpose, Part 1 of the ATIA extends the present laws of Canada to provide 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. Part 2 of the ATIA sets out requirements for the proactive publication of information.

This annual report was prepared and submitted in accordance with sections 94(1) and 94(2) of the ATIA as well as Section 20 of the Service Fees Act and covers the period from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.

2. Mandate of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI)

Under its legislation, OSFI’s mandate is:

Fostering sound risk management and governance practices

OSFI advances a regulatory framework designed to control and manage risk.

Supervision and early intervention

OSFI supervises federally regulated financial institutions and pension plans to determine whether they are in sound financial condition and meeting regulatory and supervisory requirements.

OSFI promptly advises financial institutions and pension plans if there are material deficiencies and takes corrective measures or requires that they be taken to expeditiously address the situation.

Environmental scanning linked to safety and soundness of financial institutions

OSFI monitors and evaluates system-wide or sectoral developments that may have a negative impact on the financial condition of federally regulated financial institutions.

Taking a balanced approach

OSFI acts to protect the rights and interests of depositors, policyholders, financial institution creditors and pension plan beneficiaries while having due regard for the need to allow financial institutions to compete effectively and take reasonable risks.

OSFI recognizes that management, boards of directors and pension plan administrators are ultimately responsible for risk decisions, that financial institutions can fail, and pension plans can experience financial difficulties resulting in the loss of benefits.

In fulfilling its mandate, OSFI supports the government’s objective of contributing to public confidence in the Canadian financial system.

The Office of the Chief Actuary is an independent unit within OSFI that provides a range of actuarial valuation and advisory services to the Government of Canada. In conducting its work, the OCA plays a vital and independent role towards a financially sound and sustainable Canadian public retirement income system.

3. Strategic Outcomes

Primary to OSFI’s mandate and central to its contribution to Canada’s financial system are two strategic outcomes:

1. A safe and sound Canadian financial system
2. A financially sound and sustainable Canadian public retirement income system.

For the purposes of the Access to Information Act, the head of OSFI is the Superintendent and the responsible minister is the Minister of Finance.

4. Administration of the Access to Information Act

4.1 Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Unit

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Unit is part of the Enterprise Information Management (EIM) Directorate within the Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) Division. The unit is responsible for administering the Act for the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). As such, the ATIP unit coordinates the timely processing of requests under the legislation, handles complaints lodged with the Information Commissioner, and responds to informal inquiries. The ATIP unit also provides advice and guidance to Office staff on matters involving the Act.

The Manager, Privacy and Access to Information reports to the Director, EIM and is supported by a senior ATIP Officer, an ATIP Officer and a Junior ATIP Officer. The ATIP unit also relied upon the support of contract and student resources.

4.2 Institutional changes to the administration of the Access to Information Act

There were no significant institutional changes to the administration of the Access to Information Act to report during this reporting period. Effective FY 2021-2022, the ATIP unit will report to the Director, Strategic Governance, ATIP and Privacy Offices.

4.3 Education and Training

Training efforts in 2020-2021 have been focused on ensuring OSFI staff understand their roles and responsibilities in the effective management and protection of OSFI’s information resources as an enabler in the delivery of the ATI program through a combination of presentations, information sessions and information bulletins. Training efforts focused on ATIP awareness for new OSFI staff as part of an Information Management and ATIP awareness program (5 sessions, 54 participants) as well as tailored sessions for participants in the processes stemming from proactive disclosure requirements as set out in the Act (2 sessions, 2 participants). In addition, project-specific ATIP training sessions were held to reinforce core ATIA principles and responsibilities with key stakeholders (4 sessions, 96 users).

4.4 Processing of access to information requests

All formal Access to Information requests are submitted to the Manager, Privacy and Access to Information, who reviews and assigns them to an ATIP Officer. The Officer requests the information from the appointed sectoral ATIP Liaison Officer(s) concerned. In gathering the material and subsequently reviewing it, the ATIP Office provides advice and direction to ensure that the provisions of the Act are respected.

Assembled material is reviewed by the ATIP Officer and the Manager, Privacy and Access to Information. The material and the recommendations pertaining to each request are then submitted to the program area for validation. Once agreed to, the release package is submitted to the Assistant Superintendent, Corporate Services for review and approval.

4.5 Delegation of authority

Delegation orders set out which powers, duties and functions relating to the administration of the Access to Information Act, have been delegated by the head of the institution, and to whom. Administration of the Access to Information Act at OSFI is the responsibility of the Superintendent. The authority to claim exemptions and to issue various statutory notices has been delegated to the Assistant Superintendent, Corporate Services. The authority to issue various statutory notices has also been delegated to the Director, Enterprise Information Management and the Manager, Privacy and Access to Information. A copy of the delegation order may be found in Appendix B.

4.6 Monitoring compliance

The time taken to process access to information requests is tracked in the ATIP tracking system. The ATIP caseload is reviewed monthly with the Director, EIM and the proposed final responses to ATI requests are ultimately reviewed and approved by the Assistant Superintendent, Corporate Services. Concerns are raised as appropriate throughout the lifecycle of the request and priority is given to fulfilling OSFI’s statutory obligations.

4.7 Summary of significant changes to programs, operations, policies or procedures

There were no significant changes to ATIP programs, operations policies, or procedures in 2020-2021. OSFI’s existing Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) polices and infrastructure allowed the organization to avoid any significant disruptions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and have had little effect on OSFI’s ability to fulfill its Access to Information responsibilities. With the closure of OSFI’s offices on March 13th, 2020, employees were no longer able to access paper files. Requests received by OSFI through the mail are retrieved by the Manager, Access to Information and Privacy on a weekly basis. Another change of note is that effective April 1st, 2021, the ATIP team will report to the Director, Strategic Governance Office in the Communications and Corporate Affairs division. This organizational change will be addressed in greater detail in the 2021-2022 annual report.

4.8 Reading room

In accordance with the Access to Information Act, a public reading room is available in Ottawa. It is located at 255 Albert Street, on the 16th floor. The reading room was not available to the public as of March 13th, 2020 due to necessary restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

5. Interpretation of the Statistical Report

Due to the nature of OSFI’s work regulating financial institutions and private pension plans under federal jurisdiction, much of the information in its possession is third-party information about these supervised institutions and pension plans.

Part 1 – Requests under the Access to Information Act

OSFI saw a 35.9% increase in ATI requests received in 2020-2021 - 53 requests were received compared to the 39 requests received the year prior. 44 requests were closed in 2020-2021. 8 requests were outstanding from the previous reporting period and 17 requests were carried over to the next year. Since the inception of the Act to March 31, 2020, OSFI has received 1,331 Access to Information requests.

The profile of requesters has also changed in 2020-2021, with an increase from requestors identifying themselves as businesses (16 in 2020-2021, up 60% compared to 10 in 2019-2020). Request from the media remained constant at 15.

The number of informal requests completed in 2020-2021 was 42% lower than the previous year (10 in 2020-2021 compared to 17 in 2019-2020).

Part 2 - Requests closed during the reporting period

The following table summarizes the actions taken with respect to the completed requests:

2.1 Disposition and Completion Time

For the 2020-2021 reporting period, 2.27% of completed requests were “all disclosed” and 61.36% of completed requests were “disclosed in part”.

Parts of the records were subject to exemptions. In every case, where applicable, the applicant was given access to the remaining portion of the records relevant to the request.

There was a marked decrease in both the number of pages processed (1827 in 2020-2021 compared to 66,366 in 2019-2020) and the number of pages disclosed (776 in 2020-2021 compared to 3,660 in 2019-2020). These figures do not include the pages processed and reviewed (approximately 25.000) for requests carried over to the next reporting period.

2.2 Exemptions

In the 2020-2021 reporting year, for the 44 requests completed, OSFI applied exemptions to withhold information under subsections 13(1)(a)(b), 14(a), 15(1), 16(1)(c), 16(2), 16(2)(c), 18(a)(b) and (d), 19(1), 20(1)(b), (c) and (d), 21(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d) and 23 of the Act, as applicable.

2.3 Exclusions

Subsections 69(1)(g) re (a) and (e) were each applied once.

2.4 Format of Information Released

Responses for 28 requests were provided in electronic format.

2.5 Relevant Pages Processed and Disclosed

1,827 pages were processed, and 776 pages were disclosed during the reporting period. In 2020-2021, the majority of requests (27) resulted in partial disclosure. 1 request was all disclosed, 1 request was abandoned, 1 request resulted in a response of neither confirm nor deny and 1 request resulted in a response of all excluded. The remaining 10 requests were not counted in this section as OSFI held no responsive records.

2.6 Deemed Refusal

97.7% of all requests closed in 2020-2021 were closed within legislated timelines. There was 1 request for which a response was provided past the statutory deadline due to a delay related to an internal consultation. The rate of deemed refusals has decreased this year over last reporting period – 1 of 44 (2.3%) compared to 3 of 42 (7.1%) in the previous year.

2.7 Requests for Translation

No translations were requested in 2020-2021.

Part 3 – Extensions

1 request required extensions of 30 days or less for:

• consultation with third parties pursuant to section 9(1)(c).

4 request required extensions of 31 days to 60 days for:

• interference with operations pursuant to section 9(1)(a) and/or
• consultation with another government department pursuant to section 9(1)(b).

3 requests required an extension of 61 to 120 days for:

• interference with operations pursuant to section 9(1)(a) and/or
• consultation with another government department pursuant to section 9(1)(b)

11 requests required an extension of 121 to 180 days for:

• interference with operations pursuant to section 9(1)(a) and/or
• consultation with another government department pursuant to section 9(1)(b) and/or
• consultation with third parties pursuant to section 9(1)(c)

1 request required an extension of 181 to 365 days for:

• consultation with another government department pursuant to section 9(1)(b).

3 requests required extensions of 365 days or more for:

• interference with operations pursuant to section 9(1)(a)

Part 4 – 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.

Application fees of $225.00 were collected for 45 of the 53 requests received over this period. The total amount of fees waived was $40.00.

In accordance with the Interim Directive on the Administration of the Access to Information Act, issued on May 5, 2016, and the changes to the Access to Information Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, OSFI 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.

Part 5 - Consultations Received from Other Government Institutions and Organizations

In 2020-2021, OSFI saw a 28.5% decrease in the number of consultations received, 37, compared to 49 the previous year. This may have been due to disruptions to ATIP departments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 32 consultations were processed during this reporting period, compared to 49 in the previous year. In total, 726 pages were reviewed, a decrease of 50.1% from 2019-2020.

Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other government Institutions

23 consultations were processed within 1 to 15 days, 7 were processed within 16 to 30 days and 2 were processed within 31-60 days. 5 consultations were carried over to the next reporting period. OSFI recommended that the records contained in 22 consultations be disclosed in their entirety, 8 be disclosed in part and 2 requests be exempted entirely.

In the last 7 years, OSFI has responded to 232 of the requests within 1 to 15 days, 55 within 16 to 30 days, 12 within 31 to 60 days and 1 within 61 to 120 days.

Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other institutions

In 2020-2021, OSFI did not receive any consultations from organization outside the government of Canada.

Part 6 – Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

OSFI did not consult on Cabinet Confidences during the reporting period.

Part 7 – Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

The cost to administer the Act during the reporting period was $508,525. Due to the volume and increasing complexity of the requests received in 2020-2021, OSFI employed multiple agency-supplied consultants to supplement its small ATIP team and ensure the delivery of Access to Information requests within statutory timelines. Employee salaries accounted for 69.6% of total costs incurred, and represent 69.6% of the 4.37 person/years required to administer the Act. OSFI’s reliance on agency-supplied consultants is diminishing as a result of hiring employees, representing only 25.7% of the total cost.

6. Complaints and Investigations

There were 6 new complaints received during the reporting period. 4 complaints under investigation were closed during the same period and the Information Commissioner provided OSFI with their findings. At the end of the reporting period, there were 4 complaints still under investigation by the Office of the Information Commissioner.

7. Appeals to the Federal Court of Canada

7.1 – Major changes implemented as a result of concerns or issues raised by the Information Commissioner of Canada in her annual report to Parliament

The Information Commissioner of Canada did not raise any concerns or issues related to OSFI, therefore no major changes were implemented.

7.2 – Major changes implemented as a result of concerns or issues raised by other agents of Parliament

No major changes were implemented by OSFI, as other agents of Parliament did not raise any concerns or issues.

7.3 – Number of applications or appeal the Federal Court of the Federal Court of Appeal during the fiscal year

There were no access to information related applications or appeals to the Federal Court or the Federal Court of Appeal during this fiscal year related to OSFI.

Appendix A - Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions

Reporting period: 4/1/2020 to 3/31/2021

Section 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Informal requests

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

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

Section 3: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

3.2 Exemptions

3.3 Exclusions

3.4 Format of information released

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

3.5.3 Other complexities

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

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

3.8 Requests for translation

Section 4: Extension

4.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

4.2 Length of extensions

Section 5: Fees

Section 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

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

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Section 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

7.1 Requests with Legal Services

7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 8: Complaints and Investigations

Section 9: Court Action

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

9.2 Court actions on complaints received after June 21, 2019

Section 10: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

10.1 Costs

10.2 Human Resources

Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

Name of institution: Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions

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

Section 1: Capacity to Receive Requests

Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to receive ATIP requests through the different channels.

Section 2: Capacity to Process Records

2.1 Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to process paper records in different classification levels.

2.2 Enter the number of weeks your institution was able to process electronic records in different classification levels.

Appendix B - Designation Order: Access to Information Act

DESIGNATION / DÉLÉGATION

SCHEDULE 1

Designation Order - Access to Information Act

Access to Information Regulations