Access to Information and Privacy

2022-23 Annual Report on the Access to Information Act

April 1, 2022 — March 31, 2023

On this page

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Organizational Structure
• 3. Delegation Order
• 4. Statistical Report
• 5. Interpretation of the Statistical Report for the Access to Information Act
• 6. Services and Related Activities
• 7. Complaints and Audits
• Appendix A — Delegation Order
• Appendix B — 2022-23 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act
• Appendix C — 2022-23 Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

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1. Introduction

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is pleased to present to Parliament its annual report on the administration of the Access to Information Act for 2022-23 (April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023).

This report is prepared and tabled in accordance with the following:

• section 94 of the Access to Information Act, which requires that the head of every federal institution prepare and submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act within the institution during the fiscal year.
• section 20 of the Service Fees Act, which requires that a responsible authority report annually to Parliament on the fees collected by institutions.

1.1 Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The purpose of the Access to Information Act is to enhance the accountability and transparency of federal institutions to promote an open and democratic society and to enable public debate on the conduct of those institutions. To further that purpose:

• Part 1 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 principle 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 sets out requirements for the proactive publication of information.

For more information:

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
125, privé Zaida-Eddy, 2e étage
Ottawa (Ontario)  K1R 0E3

Email: atip-aiprp@nserc-crsng.gc.ca

Telephone: 343-571-9689

1.2 Mandate of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council

NSERC is a separate agency of the Government of Canada created in 1978. It is funded directly by Parliament and reports to it through the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

The functions of NSERC, based on the authority and responsibility assigned to it under the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Act (1976-1977, c.24), are to:

• promote and assist research in the natural sciences and engineering, other than the health sciences; and
• advise the Minister in respect of such matters relating to such research as the Minister may refer to the Council for its consideration.

NSERC’s Council is composed of a President and up to 18 other distinguished members selected from the private and public sectors. NSERC’s President is the Chief Executive Officer. The elected Vice-President is the Chair of the Council and of its Executive Committee. NSERC’s Council is advised on policy matters by various standing committees. Funding decisions are made by the President, or designate, on the basis of recommendations made by peer review committees.

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2. Organizational Structure

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) office resides in NSERC’s Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Division under the Strategic, Corporate and Public Affairs (SCPA) Directorate.

The ATIP office is responsible for:

• implementing and managing programs and services to Canadians relating to NSERC’s administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act
• providing interpretation, advice and recommendations to NSERC employees as they fulfill their obligations under both Acts
• delivering training to NSERC employees on both Acts to ensure compliance

The ATIP office is led by the ATIP Manager (who is also the ATIP Coordinator) who reports to the Executive Director, Governance, Risk and Compliance. The Manager is supported by an ATIP Analyst and two ATIP & Secretariat Officers. The ATIP office staff work together closely to process ATIP requests and to support NSERC employees on privacy-related matters. In total, four full-time employees at various levels administered the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act in 2022–23.

This year’s focus was on developing capacity and building ATIP expertise within the ATIP office, eliminating the need for ATIP consultants. NSERC’s ATIP office addressed the backlog of access to information and privacy requests. Several were dated, large and complex requests requiring cross reference of files and external consultations.

NSERC was not party to any service agreements under section 96 of the Access to Information Act during this reporting period.

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3. Delegation Order

Pursuant to subsection 95(1) of the Access to Information Act, the President of NSERC has delegated the powers, duties, and functions for the administration of the Access to Information Act to the following NSERC officials:

• Vice-President, Strategic, Corporate and Public Affairs
• Executive Director, Governance, Risk and Compliance
• Manager, ATIP & Governance

This Delegation of Authority was signed on August 15, 2022, and can be found in Appendix A.

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4. Statistical Report

Statistical reports prepared by government institutions provide aggregate data on the application of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. This information is made public annually in a statistical report that is included with the annual reports on access to information and privacy tabled in Parliament by each institution. NSERC's statistical report on the Access to Information Act for 2022-23 is provided in Appendix B.

This year, institutions were required to report on the following additional criteria outlined below:

• their capacity to receive requests and process records
• open requests from previous reporting periods
• open complaints from previous reporting periods
• the impact of COVID-19-related measures on their ability to fulfill Access to Information Act and Privacy Act responsibilities, and any mitigation measures that were implemented.
• new authorities to collect or use Social Insurance Numbers and Universal Access

This information is included in the 2022-23 Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act and can be found in Appendix C.

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5. Interpretation of the Statistical Report for the Access to Information Act

This section provides an overview of key data on NSERC’s performance for the year, as reflected in the Statistical Report for 2022-23. (“Requests” here refers to formal requests under the Access to Information Act.)

5.1 Requests Received and Carried Forward

In 2022-23, NSERC received a total of twenty (20) requests under the Access to Information Act which represents a 54% increase compared to the total of 13 requests in 2021-22. This trend is anticipated to continue in future years due to increased interest in the National Security Guidelines for Research Partnerships which involve a high volume of records.

The number of active requests carried forward increased from eight in 2021-22 to ten in 2022-23. This increase is partially attributed to the ATIP office’s capacity and covid related issues from previous years, which consumed a portion of the ATIP office resources.

5.2 Requests Completed

A total of nine active requests were carried forward to 2023-24; eight are within legislated timelines and one is beyond the legislated timeline.

Twenty-one (21) Access to Information requests were completed during the 2022-23 reporting period. This is ten more than in the previous fiscal year (11 in 2021-22). In total, NSERC processed 4752 pages of which 2386 were disclosed in the 2022-23 reporting period. This is a significant increase compared to the previous year as in 2021-22, NSERC processed 353 pages of which 352 were disclosed.

Of the Access to Information requests completed in 2022-23, one was disclosed in full and 12 were disclosed in part. For six requests no records existed, and two requests were abandoned by the requestors.

The percentage of completed requests for which records were “all disclosed” is 5%, for which records were “disclosed in part” is 57%, for which “no records existed” is 29% and for which the “requests were abandoned” is 9%.

Figure 1 shows the number of Access to Information requests that NSERC received each year, as well as the number of requests carried forward and closed for 2018-19 to 2022-23. Figure 2 shows the number of pages NSERC processed and disclosed for 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Figure 1: Access to Information requests received, carried over and closed annually, 2018-19 to 2022-23

Figure 2 shows the number of pages NSERC processed and disclosed, 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Figure 3 shows the disposition of Access to Information requests completed in 2022-23.

5.3 Nature of Requests

Access to Information requests can target multiple programs and activities. The 20 new requests received during this reporting period were distributed across Offices of Primary Interest (OPIs) within NSERC. In total, the ATIP office initiated 19 taskings across the different divisions and directorates of NSERC. The distribution of tasking to OPIs can be found in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Access to Information requests assigned to Office of Primary Interest, 2022-23.

5.4 Sources of Requests

Of the 20 Access to Information requests received in 2022-23, 80% were submitted by applicants who self-identified as members of the media (9) and individuals who declined to identify themselves (7). The remaining requests were submitted by applicants who self-identified as belonging to the following categories: business (2), academia (1) and public (1). Figure 5 shows the number of Access to Information requests by source for 2022-23.

Figure 5: Number of Access to Information requests by source, 2022-23

5.5. Compliance Rate, Completion Times and Extensions

Of the 21 Access to Information requests completed in 2022-23; three were closed within the initial 30-day period, ten with extensions taken were closed within the legislated timelines and eight with extensions taken were closed beyond the legislated timelines. NSERC processed two requests within 15 days, one request in 16 to 30 days, five requests in 61 to 120 days, four requests in 121 to 180 days, two requests in 181 to 365 days and seven requests in more than 365 days. In 2022-23, NSERC closed 14% of requests within the first 30 calendar days and 62% of requests within their legislated timelines with or without extensions.

Of these requests, NSERC invoked legislative extensions for 18 requests for the following reasons:

• 9(1)(a) interference with operations, the requirement to conduct a large search and based on the high volume of records (16 applications)
• 9(1)(b), consultations (10 applications)

In 2022-23, NSERC closed eight requests that exceeded the legislated deadline and were in deemed refusal. This represents a 167% increase compared to the three requests that were in deemed refusal and that were closed in 2021-22. When extensions are factored in, NSERC responded to 62% of closed requests within the legislative timeline. This figure compares to 73% in 2021-22 and 31% in 2020-21.

Sustained focus on closing older requests and requests under complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) had an impact on the overall compliance rate in 2022-23. These efforts, however, have resulted in a significant reduction in the number of requests that have been carried forward, and in resolving complaints filed with the OIC.

In addition to processing older requests, both the elevated average number of pages for requests and the high frequency of complex records are factors that had an impact on the overall compliance rate. Figure 6 shows the completion times for the access to information requests processed in 2022-23.

Figure 6: Access to Information requests completion times, 2022-23

5.6 Exemptions

The Access to Information Act exempts certain information from being disclosed. In 2022-23, twelve requests contained information that was subject to exemptions under the Act and this information was not disclosed.As the same request can be the subject of several exceptions, the number of times exceptions were applied is greater than the number of requests. Most requests were subject to exemptions because the records requested contained the following information:

5.7 Exclusions

The Access to Information Act does not apply to or exclude Cabinet confidences. In 2022-23, NSERC had zero exclusions invoked under section 69 of the Act (Cabinet confidences).

5.8 Consultations from other Government Institutions and Organizations

NSERC received 20 consultation requests from other government institutions in 2022-23. This represents a slight decrease in the number of consultation requests received compared to the 21 received in 2021-22, and a significant increase from the 10 received in 2020-21 as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Consultation requests received annually, 2018-19 to 2022-23

5.9 Consultation Requests Completed and Pages Processed

NSERC completed 20 consultation requests in 2022-23 and processed 386 pages for these requests. The number of pages represents a decrease compared to the 723 pages processed in 2021-22. Figure 8 shows, for 2018-19 to 2022-23, the number of consultation requests NSERC completed each year and the number of pages processed.

Figure 8: Consultation requests completed, and pages processed annually, 2018-19 to 2022-23

5.10 Impact of COVID-19-related Measures

In response to the public health measures implemented to minimize the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, NSERC primarily operated remotely since 2021-22. From April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, NSERC’s ATIP office was at full operational capacity.

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6. Services and Related Activities

Throughout the year, the ATIP office provided advice and recommendations to NSERC employees by reviewing various documents such as answers to Parliamentary Questions, ATI Protocols, ATI Attestations, Memoranda of Understanding, audits, evaluations, and security reports. The ATIP office provided training on an as needed basis on the provisions of the Access to Information Act and its implications on NSERC programs and initiatives. The ATIP office distributed a weekly status report on access to information requests to NSERC senior management.

6.1 Proactive Publication of Information

Info Source: Sources of Federal Government and Employee Information provides information about the functions, programs, activities and related information holdings of government institutions subject to the Access to Information Act 

NSERC’s funding policies, program descriptions, organizational structure and contact information can be found on its website. In accordance with the federal government’s policy on proactive disclosure, evaluation, audit reports are also posted on NSERC’s website. The NSERC website’s ATIP page provides background information on the Access to Information Act, and useful information about services provided.

NSERC also proactively discloses information on the federal government’s Open Government website, such as: ATIP monthly summaries, information on awarded grants, contracts as well as travel, hospitality, and conference expenses.

6.2 Initiatives and Projects (completed or ongoing)

This year’s ATIP office focus was on developing capacity and building ATIP expertise to eliminate the need for ATIP consultants. NSERC’s ATIP office addressed a backlog of access to information and privacy requests, several of which were dated, large and complex requests requiring cross reference of files and external consultations.

Focus was also on ensuring that the posting of proactively disclosed documents conformed with accessibility standards.

6.3 Fees and Expenditures

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.The department collects $5 for each formal ATI request: total revenue collected in 2022-23 was $95.The $5 application fee is the only fee charged for an ATI request.In 2022-23, NSERC waived $5.00 in application fees.

In this year’s reporting period, the total salary, goods, and professional services cost for the ATI program was $195,344. This figure represents a decrease of over 17% compared to 2021-22 cost of $236,714 and is lower than the $219,448 in costs for 2020-21.

6.4 Challenges

NSERC started 2022-23 with a carry-over of ten ATI files from previous fiscal years. This situation, in addition to twenty (20) new ATI requests to process, added pressure on NSERC’s ATIP office in thefirst half of the year. This required the ATIP team to establish operational priorities and to claim appropriate extensions of time. NSERC remained committed to assisting requestors in refining their requests and focused on prioritizing the processing of requests based on legislative timeline and analysis required.

The ATI human resources utilized for this reporting period were estimated at 2.100 FTE, which 7.69% less than 2.275 FTE reported for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

For 2022-23, NSERC committed to build its internal ATIP team and expertise to increase stability and improve ATIP service delivery.

6.5 Education and Training

Throughout the year, staff and management are reminded and encouraged to consult the ATIP office on any issues that might affect the implementation of the Act when and where appropriate, and in the initial stages of developing new initiatives and programs.

The ATIP team provides training to agency staff on the principles of the access to information legislation, key concepts, and definitions, NSERC’s procedures for processing both formal and informal access to information requests, and employee’s responsibilities with respect to the Act.

6.6 NSERC’s New or Revised Policies, Guidelines and Procedures Related to Access to Information

No new or revised access to information policies or guidelines were formally implemented during 2022-23. ATIP processing and procedures are entirely digital. Previously, processes such as document submissions by offices of primary interest and communications and document releases to requesters were often paper based.

NSERC’s ATIP office continued to work with staff in the Programs directorates to develop text about access to information in several memorandums of understanding, especially in relation to joint-funding initiatives.

6.7 Proactive Publication under Part 2 of the Access to Information Act

NSERC is a government institution listed in Schedule II of the Financial Administration Act for the purposes of Part 2 of the Access to Information Act.

As such, NSERC is subject to the following proactive publication requirements under the Access to Information Act:

• section 82 travel expenses
• section 83 hospitality expenses
• section 84 reports tabled in parliament
• section 86 contracts over $10,000
• section 87 grants and contributions over $25,000
• section 88(a) packages of briefing materials prepared for new or in-coming deputy heads or equivalent
• section 88(b) titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared for a deputy head or equivalent that is received by their office, and
• section 88(c) packages of briefing materials prepared for a deputy head or equivalent’s appearance before a committee of Parliament.

NSERC publishes information as required for proactive publication requirements on open.canada.ca and NSERC’s website under Transparency. The responsible divisions within NSERC have established processes to ensure timely publishing, including monthlyupdating of reports and quarterly reminders.

NSERC published 100% of proactive publication requirements due during the reporting period within the legislative timelines.

6.8 Monitoring

The ATIP office produces a variety of regular and ad hoc reports to monitor NSERC’s compliance with the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. In 2022-23 the ATIP office increased its emphasis on creating and updating procedural guides to meet compliance with ATIP obligations. Reporting also occurs through weekly ATIP reports and through the ATIP software.

The Executive Director, Governance, Risk & Compliance, was kept apprised by the Manager, ATIP and Governance, of all matters and developments pertaining to the requests, including processing times, consultations undertaken and any necessary extensions.

Prior to posting documents for proactive disclosure, they are reviewed for accuracy, completeness and approved for publishing on NSERC and Open Government websites.

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7. Complaints and Audits

7.1 Complaints

Requesters have the right to register a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC) regarding the processing of a request.

A supplementary release was provided for a complaint that was carried over from the 2017-18 reporting period which resulted in this complaint being resolved and closed during the current reporting period.

A complaint carried over from the 2019-20 reporting period remained outstanding at the end of the reporting period.

NSERC further received notice that two complaints pertaining to NSERC requests were filed with the OIC during 2022-23.One of those complaints relating to an incomplete search was considered resolved and closed in the current reporting period. The other complaint relating to exemptions remains outstanding at the end of the reporting period.

NSERC experienced no court challenges related to access to information during the reporting period.

7.2 Audits

NSERC experienced no audits relating to the administration of ATIP legislation during the reporting period.

• Appendix A — Delegation Order
• Appendix B — 2022-23 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act
• Appendix C — 2022-23 Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act