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PRIVACY ACT,
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT
ANNUAL REPORT
2004–2005
INTRODUCTION
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is pleased to submit to Parliament
its 11th annual report on the administration of the Privacy Act
and the Access to Information Act for the fiscal year commencing
April 1, 2004, and ending March 31, 2005.
In 2004–2005, the programs administered by the Department derived authority
from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Act, the Citizenship
Act and its regulations, and the Immigration and Refugee Protection
Act and its regulations.
The work of CIC encompasses a broad range of activities: the selection
of immigrants and refugees and the issuance of temporary resident permits
abroad; the examination of people seeking entry to Canada at ports of
entry; the facilitation of immigrants and foreign visitors in Canada;
the settlement and integration of immigrants and refugees; and the processing
of applications for Canadian citizenship and proof of citizenship. On
December 12, 2003, responsibility for most intelligence and enforcement
functions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and its
regulations, including investigations, detentions, hearings, removals
from Canada, interdiction activities abroad, forensic document analysis,
screening for security, organized crime and modern war crimes, was transferred
to the new Canada Border Services Agency.
The administration of the Privacy Act and the Access to Information
Act is the responsibility of the Public Rights Administration Division
(PRAD) of the Executive Services Branch, under the direction of the Access
to Information and Privacy Coordinator. The Coordinator is responsible
for planning, developing and updating policies and procedures related
to the two acts and ensuring departmental compliance with legislative
obligations. PRAD plays a key role in the processing of requests for information
and coordinates all activities related to the legislation and the associated
regulations, directives and guidelines.
Requests for personal information made under the Privacy Act are
processed on a decentralized basis, the responsibility for disclosure
resting primarily with the local offices and points of service that control
the records. Conversely, requests made under the Access to Information
Act are processed at national headquarters only. Officials at national
headquarters who are designated by the Minister authorize all exemptions.
This report is presented in accordance with section 72 of each Act. Part
one deals with the Privacy Act and part two with the Access
to Information Act.
New Developments
Highlights
In 2004–2005, CIC undertook the following initiatives to gain efficiencies and/or improve client service under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act (ATIP):
- Development of an internet site to assist the public to obtain forms
and information about ATIP at CIC.
- Creation of an internal website to assist CIC employees in the processing
of ATIP requests.
- Changes to the delegation of authority to gain efficiencies and reduce
bottlenecks in the Public Rights Administration Division (PRAD).
- Distribution of promotional messages, giving of workshops, training
courses and awareness sessions to increase the awareness and understanding
of ATIP across the department. PRAD delivered seven training sessions
in the regions and at National Headquarters. Two branch-specific information
sessions were also given. In addition, PRAD presented the basics of
ATIP at all "Welcome to CIC" courses given by the department.
- Changes to processes and procedures to gain efficiencies in processing
(particularly with respect to use of technology).
- Development of a partnership with Information Management Branch to
increase awareness of information management across the department and
its relation to ATIP.
Consultations
In addition to processing requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, CIC was also consulted by other government institutions in 128 cases where the records sought from these institutions related to CIC activities. The statistics for these 128 cases are not included in this report.
Privacy Impact Assessments(PIAs)
/Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments (PPIAs)
Total No. of PIAs initiated: 2
BIOMETRICS (DRAFT)
Admissibility Branch completed and submitted to the Office of the Privacy
Commissioner (OPC), a draft PIA for the Biometrics Planning Project's
Field Trial.
The scope of the PIA dealt with how biometric technology will affect both
CIC's current processes and its clients. The following areas were addressed
within the PIA: structure of the field trial, legislative authority, risk
management, communications, the creation and storage of templates within
the context of a field trial and the measurement of client satisfaction.
E-MEDICAL PROJECT
A PIA was completed covering Medical Services Branch's IM/IT projects
currently being developed and for future phases which will build a government
on line application allowing the Radiology Centres and Designated Medical
Practitioners to submit medical information on CIC's clients.
Total No. of PPIAs initiated: 1
GOING TO CANADA IMMIGRATION PORTAL
Integration Branch and Business Solutions Branch initiated a PPIA for
the 'Going to Canada' Immigration Portal initiative. This initiative is
designed to provide seamless online information and services from a variety
of government and non-government sources to help prospective and new immigrants
make informed decisions about living and working in Canada. The portal
is located on the Government of Canada's website at www.directioncanada.gc.ca.
No. of PPIAs/PIAs forwarded to the OPC: 2
GOING TO CANADA IMMIGRATION PORTAL (PPIA) - see above
INTERNATIONAL REGION: TEMPORARY RESIDENT VISA APPLICATIONS (PIA)
CIC submitted a PIA studying the use of contractors which would offer
a voluntary option for clients to submit their visa applications at a
local private company for onward delivery to Canadian missions for visa
processing. The protection of clients' personal information and the quality
of service would be regulated by a detailed contract between the Canadian
government and the service providers.
PIA Summaries:
No PIA summaries were published on CIC's Internet site in 2004–2005.
However, work is currently being undertaken to publish 6 summaries on
the site.
PART ONE:
PRIVACY ACT
1. Statistical summary of actions taken by CIC in response to requests for information under the Privacy Act
The following statistics summarize the activities undertaken by CIC under the Privacy Act in the year under review.
(a) Requests under the Privacy Act
| Received during the reporting period | 4,485 |
| Outstanding from previous period (received in previous years and
still in process at beginning of 2004–2005) |
1,302 |
| Total: | 5,787 |
| Completed during reporting period | 4,628 |
| Carried forward to 2005-2006 (received in previous years and still in process at beginning of 2005-2006) |
1,159 |
In this reporting period, CIC received a total of 4,485 formal requests under the Privacy Act.
(b) Disposition of completed requests
| All disclosed | 2,350 |
| Disclosed in part | 1,205 |
| Nothing disclosed (excluded in total) | 0 |
| Nothing disclosed (exempted in total) | 12 |
| Unable to process | 499 |
| Abandoned by applicant | 402 |
| Transferred | 160 |
| Total: | 4,628 |
A total of 4,628 requests were completed during the fiscal year. Of these, the information requested was disclosed in its entirety in 2,350 cases, or 50.8% of all requests. Information for an additional 1,205 requests (or 26.0%) was partially released. Twelve of the completed requests (or 0.3%) resulted in the complete exemption of the information. The remaining 1,061 completed requests (or 22.9%) fell into the categories of unable to process, abandoned by applicant, or transferred to another department.
(c) Exemptions invoked
| Subsection 18(2) | 0 |
| Paragraph 19(1)(a) | 26 |
| Paragraph 19(1)(b) | 1 |
| Paragraph 19(1)(c) | 10 |
| Paragraph 19(1)(d) | 14 |
| Section 20 | 0 |
| Section 21 | 105 |
| Paragraph 22(1)(a) | 6 |
| Paragraph 22(1)(b) | 76 |
| Paragraph 22(1)(c) | 0 |
| Subsection 22(2) | 0 |
| Subsection 23(a) | 0 |
| Subsection 23(b) | 0 |
| Section 24 | 0 |
| Section 25 | 1 |
| Section 26 | 238 |
| Section 27 | 18 |
| Section 28 | 0 |
| Total: | 495 |
The majority of exemptions invoked under the Privacy Act fell under section 26, designed to protect the personal information of an individual other than the requester; section 19, which covers personal information obtained in confidence; and section 22, dealing with law enforcement and investigations. Section 26 was invoked in 238 cases, or approximately 48.1% of all exemptions applied in 2004–2005. Section 19 was invoked in 51 cases, or 10.3% of the exemptions. Section 22 was applied in 82 cases, or 16.6% of the total exemptions.
(d) Exclusions invoked
| Paragraph 69(1)(a) | 0 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(b) | 0 |
| Paragraph 70(1)(a) | 0 |
| Paragraph 70(1)(b) | 0 |
| Paragraph 70(1)(c) | 0 |
| Paragraph 70(1)(d) | 0 |
| Paragraph 70(1)(e) | 0 |
| Paragraph 70(1)(f) | 0 |
| Total: | 0 |
(e) Completion time
| 30 days or under | 2,801 |
| 31 to 60 days | 487 |
| 61 to 120 days | 478 |
| 121 days or over | 862 |
| Total: | 4,628 |
(f) Extensions for 30 days or under
| Interference with operations | 4 |
| Consultations | 671 |
| Translation | 2 |
| Total: | 677 |
(g) Translations
| Translations requested | 11 |
| English to French | 2 |
| French to English | 9 |
(h) Method of access
| Copies given | 3,519 |
| Examinations | 10 |
| Copies and examinations | 26 |
| Total: | 3,555 |
(i) Corrections and notation
| Corrections requested | 21 |
| Corrections made | 9 |
| Notations attached | 12 |
(j) Costs
| Full-time equivalent utilization | 35.54 |
| Salaries | $1,405,004 |
| Administration | 495,873 |
| Total: | 1,900,877 |
2. Complaints and appeals
(a) Complaints to the Privacy Commissioner
| Received during reporting period | 93 |
| Outstanding from previous period | 63 |
| Total: | 156 |
| Completed during reporting period | 99 |
| Carried forward to 2005–2006 | 57 |
3. Disclosure of personal information under
paragraph 8(2) (e)
The Department processes formal requests when an investigative body designated in the Regulations submits a request in accordance with the requirements specified in the Treasury Board manual on privacy and data protection.
Requests for information concerning 692 of CIC's clients were received from investigative bodies under paragraph 8(2)(e) during the period under review. Most requests for this fiscal year were from the following agencies:
- The Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- The Canada Revenue Agency
- The Canadian Security Intelligence Service
PART TWO:
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT
1. Statistical summary of actions taken by CIC in response to requests for information under the Access to Information Act
This section summarizes the activities undertaken by CIC under the Access to Information Act in the year under review.
(a) Requests under the Access to Information Act
| Received during the reporting period | 9,034 |
| Outstanding from previous period (received in previous years and still in process at beginning of 2004–2005) |
1,350 |
| Total: | 10,384 |
| Completed during reporting period | 8,646 |
| Carried forward to 2005–2006 (received in 2004–2005 and still in process at beginning of 2005–2006) |
1,738 |
(b) Source of requests
| Media | 89 |
| Business | 7,000 |
| Organizations | 106 |
| Public | 1,753 |
| Academia | 86 |
| Total: | 9,034 |
(c) Disposition of completed requests
| All disclosed | 3,103 |
| Disclosed in part | 4,427 |
| Nothing disclosed (excluded in total) | 10 |
| Nothing disclosed (exempted in total) | 17 |
| Transferred | 13 |
| Unable to process | 338 |
| Abandoned by applicant | 727 |
| Treated informally | 11 |
| Total: | 8,646 |
(d) Exemptions invoked
| Paragraph 13(1)(a) | 176 |
| Paragraph 13(1)(b) | 15 |
| Paragraph 13(1)(c) | 233 |
| Paragraph 13(1)(d) | 58 |
| Section 14 | 71 |
| Subsection 15(1) international relations | 1,368 [note1] |
| Subsection 15(1) defence | 0 |
| Subsection 15(1) subversive activities | 1 |
| Paragraph 16(1)(a) | 94 |
| Paragraph 16(1)(b) | 35 |
| Paragraph 16(1)(c) | 1,060 |
| Paragraph 16(1)(d) | 0 |
| Subsection 16(2) | 219 |
| Subsection 16(3) | 0 |
| Section 17 | 19 |
| Subsection 18(a) | 7 |
| Subsection 18(b) | 2 |
| Subsection 18(c) | 0 |
| Subsection 18(d) | 2 |
| Subsection 19(1) | 3,693 |
| Paragraph 20(1)(a) | 30 |
| Paragraph 20(1)(b) | 29 |
| Paragraph 20(1)(c) | 38 |
| Paragraph 20(1)(d) | 19 |
| Paragraph 21(1)(a) | 145 |
| Paragraph 21(1)(b) | 145 |
| Paragraph 21(1)(c) | 38 |
| Paragraph 21(1)(d) | 38 |
| Section 22 | 17 |
| Section 23 | 146 |
| Section 24 | 4 |
| Section 26 | 2 |
| Total: | 7,704 |
[1] You will note a discrepancy between the attached TBS statistical report and the CIC annual report in the manner in which subsection 15(1)of the Access to Information Act is reported. This subsection deals with information regarding international relations and defence. This discrepancy results from a computer program error in ATIPFLOW and will be corrected in the next version of ATIPFLOW. The CIC Annual Report indicates that subsection 15(1) relating to international relations was invoked in 1,368 cases and in 0 cases for defence. Those figures represent an accurate reflection of the number of exemptions invoked under subsection 15(1) of the Act.
The majority of exemptions invoked under the Access to Information Act fell under three sections: subsection 19(1), designed to protect the personal information of an individual other than the requester; Section 15(1), which covers international relations, defence and subversive activities; and Section 16, which deals with law enforcement and investigations. Subsection 19(1) was invoked in 3,693 cases, or 47.9% of all exemptions that applied in 2004–2005. In addition, 1,369 cases, or 17.8% of the total exemptions, were exempted under Section 15(1). Another 1,408 cases, or 18.3%, were exempted pursuant to Section 16 of the Act.
(e) Exclusions cited
| Subsection 68(a) | 36 |
| Subsection 68(b) | 1 |
| Subsection 68(c) | 0 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(a) | 33 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(b) | 1 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(c) | 4 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(d) | 6 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(e) | 19 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(f) | 6 |
| Paragraph 69(1)(g) | 110 |
| Total: | 216 |
(f) Completion time
| 30 days or under | 5,834 |
| 31 to 60 days | 1,908 |
| 61 to 120 days | 398 |
| 121 days or over | 506 |
| Total: | 8,646 |
(g) Extensions for 30 days or under
| Searches | 8 |
| Consultations | 1,235 |
| Third-party consultations | 5 |
| Total: | 1,248 |
(h) Extensions for 31 days or over
| Searches | 288 |
| Consultations | 31 |
| Third-party consultations | 15 |
| Total: | 334 |
(i) Method of access
| Copies given | 7,458 |
| Examinations | 37 |
| Copies and examinations | 35 |
| Total: | 7,530 |
(j) Costs
| Full-time equivalent utilization | 24.15 |
| Salaries | $1,223,722.50 |
| Administration | 889,700.00 |
| Total: | $2,113,422.50 |
(k) Net fees collected
| Application fees | $43,820.00 |
| Reproduction | 22,993.48 |
| Searches | 0.00 |
| Preparation | 0.00 |
| Computer processing | 75.00 |
| Total: | $66,888.48 |
(l) Fees waived
| $25 or under | $25,304.15 |
| Over $25 | 2,651.00 |
| Total: | $27,955.15 |
2. Complaints and appeals
(a) Complaints to the Information Commissioner
| Received during reporting period | 49 |
| Outstanding from previous period | 32 |
| Total: | 81 |
| Completed during reporting period | 58 |
| Carried forward to 2005–2006 | 23 |
© Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2005
Cat. no. Ci1-4/2005
0-662-69112-1