Description
The Government of Canada will move forward on a first round of concrete proposals to improve the Access to Information Act, informed by the views of Parliament, the Information Commissioner, and consultations with Canadians, and will then undertake a full review of the Act by no later than 2018.
- Lead department:
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Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, working with Justice Canada and the Privy Council Office
- Email address for enquiries:
- Other involved actors:
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n/a
- Overall status:
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Most deliverables on schedule
Planned result
You’ll have timely access to government information. This will make government more accountable to Canadians and enhance democratic participation.
Key indicator
| Indicator | Target | Latest actual data (and data collection date) |
|---|---|---|
| Percentage of access to information requests responded to within established timelines (30 days or within an extension period provided for in the Act) | Increase in percentage of access to information requests responded to within established timelines from 85.9% in 2015-16 to 90% in 2019-20 | 80.7% of requests were responded to within timelines in 2016-17 |
| User-rated ease of access to make access to information requests | 60% of users who respond to the survey will rate ease of access positively | This data will be gathered through the new central website. The launch of the central website is planned for 2018. |
Status
Status of Open Government Plan milestones (complete, substantial, limited, not started)
Completed:
- 1.1 Seek input from Parliament, the Information Commissioner, stakeholders and with Canadians on how to revitalize access to information.
- Feedback from consultations on the Government of Canada’s proposals to revitalize access to information was summarized in a What We Heard report published online on .
- On , the Government tabled its response to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics’ report.
- 1.2 Introduce legislation to move forward on improvements to the Access to Information Act.
- On , the Government introduced Bill C-58 in the House of Commons to modernize the Access to Information Act, expand the scope of the law and make more government information open by default (see the news release).
- In , a number of amendments to Bill C-58 were made in the House of Commons, including:
- Requiring that an institution obtain the Information Commissioner’s prior approval to decline to act on a vexatious or bad faith request. This change provides greater assurance to Canadians that legitimate requests will not be declined.
- Preventing institutions from declining to act on a request on the sole basis that it did not meet the requirements to provide a specific subject matter, type of record, and period or date of the records sought.
- Clarifying that Canadians will be able to request the original versions of documents that are proactively released under Part 2, in order to validate the information that has been published. The Information Commissioner would have oversight of the documents released in response the request.
- Giving the Information Commissioner clear authority to publish reports of findings, including any orders made.
- Requiring that mandate letters must be disclosed within 30 days of being issued. Bill C-58, as introduced, did not set a timeframe for the release of mandate letters.
- On , the House of Commons adopted Bill C-58 as amended at third reading. As of , the bill is before the Senate.
Not started:
- 1.3 Once this first round of improvements has been implemented, undertake a full review of the Access to Information Act (ATIA). Bill C-58 provides that the full review would begin within one year of Royal Assent of the Bill.
- Amendments to the ATIA (Bill C-58) are currently with the Senate for consideration. Thus a full review of the Act will not occur by the end .
Challenge
- Bill C-58 represents the first phase of legislative changes and delivers on the Government’s commitments to modernize the Act. These proposed changes will be followed by a full review of the Access to Information Act which will begin within one year of Bill C-58 receiving Royal Assent.
- Changes to the Act need to be carefully crafted to balance open government with other important democratic values, such as the privacy of citizens, the impartiality and objectivity of our public servants, and the independence of the judiciary.
- Given that we will be conducting a full review of the Act following Royal Assent of Bill C-58, who do you think should be involved in this review?