2008-09 Annual Report on the Privacy Act

---

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Overview of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
• Administration of the Act
• Resources
• Staff Training and Awareness
• Requests under the Act
• Consultations
• Completion and Time Extensions
• Disposition of Completed Requests
• Exemptions
• Complaints and Investigations
• Court Cases
• Privacy Impact Assessments
• Disclosures Under Section 8(2) of the Act
• Data Matching and Sharing Activities
• Exempt Banks
• Appendix A: Statistical Report
• Appendix B: Delegation Order

---

Introduction

The Privacy Act gives Canadian citizens as well as individuals present in Canada the right to access personal information about themselves held by the Government. The Act also protects the privacy of individuals by setting out parameters in relation to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information held by federal government institutions.

Section 72 of the Act requires the head of every federal government institution to submit a report to Parliament on the administration of the Act for their institution each fiscal year. This report describes how the Canadian Food Inspection Agency administered the Privacy Act for the fiscal year 2008-09. The report was prepared in accordance with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Implementation Report No. 113 which outlines all of the mandatory reporting requirements for annual reports on the Privacy Act.

Overview of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the largest science-based regulatory agency in Canada responsible for the delivery of all federally mandated food inspection, plant protection and animal health programs, and consumer protection as it relates to food. Nearly 7,000 dedicated and highly trained professionals work across Canada serving Canadians by protecting public health, contributing to economic growth, and protecting Canada's environment.

Created in 1997 by The Canadian Food Inspection Act, the CFIA is mandated to safeguard Canada's food supply and the plants and animals upon which safe and high-quality food depends. In carrying out this mandate, the CFIA is committed to serving Canadians by providing protection from preventable health risks; protecting consumers through a fair and effective food, animal and plant regulatory regime that supports competitive domestic and international markets; sustaining the plant and animal resource base; contributing to the security of Canada's food supply and agricultural resource base; and providing sound agency management.

The CFIA is headed by a President who reports directly to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri- Food and is accountable for policy development and program delivery to support the Agency's role as the key science-based regulator for food safety, animal health and plant protection. To assist in the management of immediate, short- and long-term CFIA initiatives, the President is supported by a highly qualified and knowledgeable senior management team.

Administration of the Act

The administration of the Privacy Act is the primary responsibility of the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office of the Corporate Secretariat Branch. The ATIP Office processes all requests for information and coordinates all activities related to the Act, associated regulations, directives and guidelines. The ATIP Office was headed by a Coordinator who reported to the Director of Executive Support and Coordination Directorate. There were 6 full time employees in the ATIP Office during the reporting period.

ATIP contacts were established in each CFIA branch during the fiscal year in order to streamline the process for the search and retrieval of records. The Agency will continue to refine its ATIP process in order to improve on the timely delivery of information under the Act.

Resources

An estimated $31,001.40 in salary costs and $654.90 in administrative costs were incurred by the Agency to administer the Privacy Act for the reporting period. These costs only include a small amount of the resources expended by the program areas of the Agency to meet the requirements of the Act.

Staff Training and Awareness

The ATIP Office provided 3 training sessions to employees in the National Capital Region and the Branch ATIP contact in the Western Area provided one session to employees in the Saskatchewan Region during the reporting period. Approximately 75 employees received ATIP training during the 2008-09 fiscal year. ATIP training activities were scaled back because of limited resources and a significant increase in the volume and complexity of requests received under the Act.

Requests under the Act

The CFIA received a total of 32 new requests under the Privacy Act between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. There was 2 outstanding request from the previous year, bringing the total to 34 requests that required processing. Of this total, 27 were completed during the reporting period and 7 were carried forward to 2009-10. This represents a decrease of 1 request (- 4%) processed over last year in which 28 requests were completed. A total of 11,441 pages were reviewed and 4,092 pages were released pursuant to Act.

The following chart depicts the cycle of privacy requests at the Agency for the last 5 years:

Privacy Requests 2004-05 to 2008-09

The ATIP Office also processed 79 informal requests for personal informal during 2008-09. This is an increase of 18 requests (+ 30%) over last year in which 61 informal requests were completed.

Consultations

There were no consultations received under the Act for this reporting period.

Completion Times and Extensions

The 27 requests completed in 2008-09 were processed in the following time frames:

• 17 within 30 days or less (63%);
• 2 within 31 to 60 days (7%);
• 6 within 61 to 120 days (23%); and
• 2 within 121 days or over (7%).

Disposition of Completed Requests

The following represents the disposition of completed requests:

• 2 were fully disclosed (7%);
• 14 were disclosed in part (52%);
• 2 was unable to be processed (7%); and
• 9 were abandoned (34%).

All requesters received copies of the requested information as opposed to reviewing the information on site.

Exemptions

The CFIA invoked exemptions 14 times pursuant to section 26 of the Act for personal information and 1 time pursuant to section 27 of the Act for solicitor-client privilege.

Complaints and Investigations

There were 3 new complaints filed with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada during the reporting period concerning delays in responding to the requests within statutory time frames.

Court Cases

There were no applications filed with the Federal Court of Canada for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Privacy Impact Assessments

One Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) was initiated and one was completed during the reporting period. The PIA that was completed was a collaborative venture for the advancement of the Public Service Renewal project to implement and develop the Fast Track Staffing self service web-enhanced information portal. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Environment Canada, in collaboration with DFO, implemented the Fast Track Staffing application on March 31, 2008. Additional information on the Fast Track staffing PIA can be found on the Department of Fisheries and Oceans web site at http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pia-efvp/fts-lda-eng.htm.

Disclosures Under Section 8(2) of the Act

There were no disclosures made by the CFIA pursuant to section 8(2)(e), 8(2)(f), 8(2)(g) or 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act during the reporting period.

Data Matching and Sharing Activities

There were no data matching or sharing activities undertaken by the Agency for 2008-09.

Exempt Banks

The CFIA has no exempt personal information banks.

Appendix A: Statistical Report

Click in image for larger view

Supplemental Reporting Requirements

Privacy Act

Treasury Board Secretariat is monitoring compliance with the Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) Policy (which came into effect on May 2, 2002) through a variety of means. Institutions are therefore required to report the following information for this reporting period.

Indicate the number of:

Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments initiated: 0

Preliminary Privacy Impact Assessments completed: 0

Privacy Impact Assessments initiated: 1

Privacy Impact Assessments completed: 1

Privacy Impact Assessments forwarded to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC): 0

If your institution did not undertake any of the activities noted above during the reporting period, this must be stated explicitly.

Appendix B: Delegation Order

Privacy Act Delegation Order

The President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Pursuant to section 73 of the Privacy Act (Act), hereby delegates the persons holding the positions set out in the Schedule annexed hereto to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the President as the head of a government institution under the sections of the Act as set out in the Schedule.

Nov 07 2008

Date

President, Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Delegation Schedule

Delegation of powers, duties and functions pursuant to section 73 of the Privacy Act

Sections	Powers, Duties and Functions	Positions/Titles
		EVP and VPs HR	ED CS	DIR ECS	ATIP Coord. and Team  Leaders	Senior ATIP Analysts
8(2)(j)	To disclose personal information for research or statistical purposes	X	-	-	-	-
8(2)(m)	To disclose personal information in the public interest or if disclosure would benefit an individual	X	-	-	-	-
8(4)	To retain a copy of every request made by investigative bodies and a record of any information disclosed and, on request, make them available to the Privacy Commissioner	-	-	-	X	X
8(5)	To notify the Privacy Commissioner of any disclosure of personal information made in the public interest	X	X	X	X	-
9(1)	To retain a record of use of personal information contained in a personal information bank or any use or purpose for which that information is disclosed where the use or purpose is not included in the statements of uses and purposes and to attach the record to the personal information	-	-	-	X	X
9(4)	To notify the Privacy Commissioner of consistent use of personal information and to update the index	X	X	X	X	-
10	To include personal information in personal information banks	X	X	X	X	X
14	To give notice to the applicant of a request and provide access to the personal information	X	X	X	X	-
15	To extend the time limit and to give notice to the applicant	-	-	-	X	X
17(2)(b)	To determine the necessity for translation or interpretation of record	X	X	X	X	-
17(3)(b)	To determine the necessity for giving access to the record in an alternative format and to cause the personal information to be converted	X	X	X	X	-
18(2)	To refuse to disclose any personal information contained in a personal information bank designated as an exempt bank	X	X	X	X	-
19(1)	To refuse disclosure of personal information that includes information obtained in confidence from another government, an organization or an institution	X	-	-	-	-
19(2)	To disclose personal information if the government, organization or institution from which the information was obtained either consent to its disclosure or makes it public	X	X	X	X	-
20	To refuse disclosure of personal information re: federal-provincial affairs.	X	-	-	-	-
21	To refuse disclosure of personal information re: international affairs and defence.	X	-	-	-	-
22	To refuse disclosure of the personal information re: law enforcement, investigations, security and policing services	X	-	-	-	-
22.3	To refuse disclosure of the personal information re:  Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act	X	-	-	-	-
23	To refuse disclosure of personal information re: security clearances.	X	-	-	-	-
24	To refuse disclosure disclosure of personal information re: individuals sentenced for an offence	X	-	-	-	-
25	To refuse to disclose personal information re: safety of individuals	X	-	-	-	-
26	To refuse disclosure of personal information about another individual and prohibited under section 8 of the Act	X	X	X	X	-
27	To refuse disclosure of personal information subject to solicitor-client privilege	X	-	-	-	-
28	To refuse disclosure of personal information re: medical records	X	-	-	-	-
31	To receive notice of intention to investigate from the Privacy Commissioner	X	X	X	X	-
33(2)	To make representations to the Privacy Commissioner during an investigation of a complaint	X	X	X	X	X
35(1)	To receive a report from the Privacy Commissioner and to respond to his/her recommendations	X	X	X	X	-
35(4)	To provide a complainant access to personal information pursuant to the Privacy Commissioner’s recommendations	X	X	X	X	-
36(3)	To receive from the Privacy Commissioner a report containing findings of investigation and recommendations and to respond to his/her recommendations	X	X	X	X	-
37(3)	To receive from the Privacy Commissioner a report containing findings of an investigation and recommendations	X	X	X	X	-
51(2)(b)	To request that section 51 hearing be held in the National Capital Region	X	X	X	X	-
51(3)	To Request and be given the opportunity to make representation in s.51 hearings	X	X	X	X	-
72(1)	To prepare an annual report to Parliament	X	X	X	X	X

Legend:

ATIP Analyst

Analyst, Access to Information and Privacy
 

ATIP Coord.

Coordinator, Access to Information and Privacy
 

DIR ESC

Director Director, Corporate Secretariat
 

EVP

Executive Vice-President
 

Team Leaders

Team Leaders, Access to Information and Privacy
 

VP HR

Vice-President, Human Resources
 

X

Authority has been delegated
 

-

Authority has not been delegate