Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2021–2022

Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2020–2021 [PDF 1981 KB]

ISSN 2563-3090

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

About the Canada Energy Regulator

The Canada Energy Regulator regulates infrastructure to ensure safe and efficient delivery of energy to Canada and the world, protecting the environment, recognizing, and respecting the rights of the Indigenous peoples of Canada, providing timely and relevant energy information and analysis. The Minister of Natural Resources is responsible for this organization.

The CER ensures that energy adjudication processes are fair, timely, transparent, and accessible. We prevent harm to people and the environment throughout the lifecycle of energy-related activities. Canadians have access to relevant energy and pipeline information for knowledge, research or decision-making. Feedback provided by stakeholders and Indigenous peoples informs our decisions and our work. The right governance, resources, management systems, programs and services are in place to deliver our program results.

For more information about the CER please visit our website.

The Access to Information Act

The Access to Information Act (the Act) gives the Canadian public a right to access information contained in federal government records, subject to certain specific and limited exceptions.

In accordance with section 94 of the Act, the head of every federal institution is required to submit an Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the Act following the close of each fiscal year. The Annual Reports are then tabled in Parliament pursuant to section 94 of the Act. This report describes how the Canada Energy Regulator (CER) fulfilled its access to information responsibilities during the fiscal year 2021–22.

Organizational Structure

Access to information requests at the CER are processed by the ATIP Office, as part of the Open Government team, which reports to the Vice President (VP), Data and Information Management, as the ATIP Coordinator.

Access to information requests are received primarily through two channels; through the mail or the ATIP Online Request Service (AORS), which was established in late 2018. Requests received through the mail are logged into the CER’s records management system by the Data & Information Management department and then forwarded to the ATIP Office.

As of the end of 2021–22, the CER has four full- time employees who allocated a portion of their time to activities related to the Act. This includes the Group Leader ATIP, two ATIP Officers, and one ATIP Administrator.

Delegation Order

The CER Act designates the CER CEO with the authority to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Act. The CEO has historically delegated this authority.

The ATIP Office reports to the VP, Data and Information Management to who the CER CEO’s authority under the Act has been delegated.

The delegation order remained the same as the previous reporting year. Under the current order, there are three Vice President positions that have been delegated full authority under the Act. They are: the VP, Data and Information Management (primary ATIP Coordinator), the VP, Regulatory Strategy and Coordination and the VP, Performance and Results (alternate ATIP Coordinators). From an operational standpoint, granting this authority to three individuals ensures that files can be reviewed and signed-off without undue delay.

See annex B for a copy of the delegation order.

Performance 2021–2022

In 2021–22, the CER received 31 requests under the Act. This is 50% more than the number of requests received in the previous reporting period.

The CER achieved a compliance rating of 86.7% for completed Access to Information requests closed within the legislated timeframe in 2021–22, which is a reduction over the previous year. The CER’s ATIP Office will continue to strive for both improved compliance rates and quality of information released.

Section 9 of the Act permits an extension of statutory time limits under certain circumstances. In 2021–22, the CER invoked extensions on 12 occasions, or on about 40% of files, a slight increase compared to 36% in the previous year. In six of these cases, an extension was required to conduct third-party notifications. In five cases, an extension was required to conduct consultation. The last extension was invoked since the large volume of records made it impossible to meet the original timelines without interfering with CER operations. All of the 12 extensions were for 120 days or less.

The CER also received 65 new informal requests, completing 64 during the reporting period. A total of 60 informal requests were previously released packages under the Act identified on the “Completed Access to Information Requests” posted on Canada’s Open Government site.

For requests closed during the reporting period, the CER processed a total of 9,966 pages and disclosed 6,910 pages to requesters. This represents an increase from the number of pages processed last fiscal year. The increased workload meant the ATIP Office focused on managing outstanding files.

Other federal government agencies and departments also consulted the CER on 14 occasions on which the records under their control related to CER activities. The CER processed 385 pages for these consultations.

The CER observed that the most frequent types of requesters in 2021–22 were the public (52%), followed by the media (26%), organization and decline to identify (10% each) and business (2%).

In 2021–22, the CER closed 30 requests. Of the requests closed during the reporting period, records for 23% were fully disclosed and 67% were disclosed in part. There were no requests for which relevant records were exempted in their entirety. Of the remaining requests, 3% were abandoned by the applicant and 7% had no records associated with them.

Most of the exemptions invoked by the CER in 2021–22 fell under four sections of the Act: subsection 19(1), which protects personal information; paragraph 21(1)(b), which protects the deliberation process of public servants; paragraph 21(1)(a), which protects advice and recommendations; and section 23, which protects solicitor-client privileged information.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, all work was conducted remotely, with minimal disruption and a slight increase in processing time.

See annex A for further statistical information.

Reporting on Access to Information fees for the purposes of the Service Fees Act

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.

• Authority: Access to Information Act
• Fee amount: $5 fee per ATI request
• Total revenue: $150 in 2021–2022
• Fees waived: $5 in 2021–2022

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, the Canada Energy Regulator 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.

During 2021–2022, the CER Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office incurred $348,284 in salary costs and $7,634 in goods and services costs to administer the Act.

Training and Awareness

Training continues to be an area of focus for the CER ATIP Office. In 2021–22, the ATIP Office delivered more direct outreach training. The COVID work from home environment and new technologies presented unique concerns related to meeting recordings. Specific guidance was drafted and communicated widely including the principle of meaningful consent.

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

Documentation and training materials on the CER ATIP program were updated and made available through the corporate intranet, along with links to other materials, such as the Acts, Treasury Board Secretariat policies and guidance documents, and a range of information management and guidance tools.

The CER continued to examine its ATIP procedures in an effort to enable continuous improvement and to identify opportunities for efficiencies in processing access to information and privacy requests.

As an organization that values openness and transparency, the CER strives to ensure that information is made publicly available without recourse to the Act. Exceptions to public access to information are limited and specific, as required by the legislation.

Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken on Complaints

During 2021–22, there were no new complaints registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner. Of the 32 outstanding complaints, 18 were closed. The CER will continue to work closely with the Office of the Information Commissioner to resolve the remaining 14 complaints in a timely and efficient manner.

No appeals were made to the Federal Court of Canada during 2021–22.

Training on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act was offered by the ATIP Office which delivers both specialized training to respond to the needs of officers and clients, and general training to raise employees’ awareness of their responsibilities under these Acts. In this regard, the CER reviewed its ATIP training materials (i.e. tasking email, PowerPoint presentation, etc.) towards improving its training and communications with CER leadership and staff.

In addition to its online training, the ATIP Office also delivered a number of well-received presentations on obtaining meaningful consent prior to meeting recordings as part of its training program.

During 2021–22, the CER continued to require that all CER staff and contractors successfully pass the Access to Information and Privacy Fundamentals – I015 course offered by the Canada School of Public Service (CSPS). During this reporting period, 45 CER employees and 30 contractors registered for the course with 66 completing it successfully.

The ATIP Office anticipates that increased awareness of the Act amongst employees will improve their ability to collect records, help them better identify information for potential redaction, and enable them to better support the ATIP Office’s processing of requests. The ultimate goal being release packages that are responsive to requesters.

The CER’s ATIP Officers received training by attending webinars offered by the Treasury Board‘s Information and Privacy Policy Department. The ATIP Office also participated in this year’s Right to Know week.

Monitoring Compliance

With regard to the timeliness of processing requests, the ATIP Office regularly communicates progress updates to the ATIP Coordinator through the ATIP Group Leader. The ATIP Group Leader receives weekly updates from the ATIP Office regarding the status of all active requests, and has access to a central tracker that is updated on a regular basis to establish action items or flag upcoming due dates.

Annex A – Statistical Information

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Canada Energy Regulator

Reporting period: 4/1/2021 to 3/31/2022

Section 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Channels of requests

Section 2: Informal Requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

2.2 Channels of informal requests

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

2.4 Pages released informally

2.5 Pages re-released informally

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on Declining to Act on Requests

Section 4: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

4.1 Disposition and completion time

4.2 Exemptions

4.3 Exclusions

4.4 Format of information released

4.5 Complexity

4.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e-record formats

4.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e-record formats by size of requests

4.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

4.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests

4.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

4.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests

4.5.7 Other complexities

4.6 Closed requests

4.6.1 Requests closed within legislated timelines

4.7 Deemed refusals

4.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

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

4.8 Requests for translation

Section 5: Extensions

5.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

5.2 Length of extensions

Section 6: Fees

Section 7: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

7.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

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

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada

Section 8: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 9: Investigations and Reports of finding

9.1 Investigations

9.2 Investigations and Reports of finding

Section 10: Court Action

10.1 Court actions on complaints

10.2 Court actions on third party notifications under paragraph 28(1)(b)

Section 11: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

11.1 Allocated Costs

11.2 Human Resources

Note: Enter values to three decimal places.

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

Name of institution: Canada Energy Regulator

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31

Section 1: Capacity to Receive Requests under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

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

Section 2: Capacity to Process Records under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

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.

Section 3: Open Requests and Complaints Under the Access to Information Act

3.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods.

3.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods.

Section 4: Open Requests and Complaints Under the Privacy Act

4.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods.

4.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods.

Section 5: Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Annex B – Delegation Order

Delegation of Authority pursuant to
the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

I, the Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Energy Regulator, pursuant to section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act^Footnote 1 and section 73(1) of the Privacy Act^Footnote 2, hereby designate the persons holding the positions set out in the Delegation of Authority Schedule attached hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Energy Regulator under the provisions of the Acts and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation supersedes all previous delegation orders.

Dated at the City of Calgary, in the Province of Alberta, this 16^th day of February 2021.

______________________________
Gitane De Silva
Chief Executive Officer

Delegation of Authority Schedule

Date modified:

2022-11-17