Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2019–2020

Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2019–2020 [PDF 2582 KB]

ISSN 2563-3090

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

About the Canada Energy Regulator

The Canada Energy Regulator is the country’s new federal energy regulator established in the summer of 2019. It regulates pipelines, energy development and trade in the public interest with safety as its primary concern. The Minister of Natural Resources is responsible for this organization.

The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) was established by Parliament to regulate, among other things, the construction, operation and abandonment of pipelines that cross provincial or international borders; international power lines and designated interprovincial power lines; imports of natural gas and exports of crude oil, natural gas liquids, natural gas, refined petroleum products, and electricity; and oil and gas exploration and production activities in certain areas. The CER is also charged with providing timely, accurate and objective information and advice on energy matters.

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 fulfilled its access to information responsibilities during the fiscal year 2019–2020.

Tabling of the annual report

This annual report is prepared and is tabled in Parliament in accordance with section 94 of the Act.

1. Statistical Report and Interpretation

I. Requests received under the Access to Information Act

In 2019–2020, the CER received 40 requests under the Act. This is double the number of requests received in the previous reporting period.

The CER also received 55 informal requests, completing 49 during the reporting period. A total of 47 informal requests were for 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 5,463 pages and disclosed 3,244 pages to requesters. This represents a significant decrease from the number of pages processed last fiscal year. Despite the drastic reduction in the number of pages processed, the ATIP Office’s workload remained relatively constant as the number of requests and informal requests doubled from fiscal year 2018-19.

Other federal government agencies and departments also consulted the CER on 34 occasions on which the records under their control related to CER activities. The CER processed 676 pages for these consultations.

II. Source of requests

The CER observed an increase in the number of requests received. The most frequent types of requesters in 2019–20 were organization (32.5 percent), followed by media (22.5 percent) and business, public and academia (15 percent each).

III. Disposition of closed requests

In 2019–20, the CER closed 38 requests. This represents an increase from the 22 requests closed in 2018-19. Of the 38 requests closed during the reporting period, records for 3 were fully disclosed, while records for 18 were disclosed in part. There were no requests for which relevant records were exempted in their entirety. Of the remaining 17 requests, 1 was abandoned by the applicant, 11 were transferred and 5 had no records associated with them.

IV. Exemptions or exclusions invoked

Most of the exemptions invoked by the CER in 2019–20 fell under three sections of the Act: subsection 19(1), which protects personal information; paragraphs 21(1)(a), and (b), which protect advice, recommendations and the deliberation process of public servants; and section 23, which protects solicitor-client privileged information.

V. Extensions

Section 9 of the Act permits an extension of statutory time limits under certain circumstances. In 2019–20, the CER invoked extensions on 11 occasions, or on about 29% of files, compared to 55% in the previous year. In 2 of the cases, an extension was required to conduct third-party notifications. In 7 of these cases, an extension was required for consultation within a government institution, with other government institutions or with other levels of government. A further 2 extensions were invoked since searches through large volumes of records made it impossible to meet the original timelines without interfering with CER operations. All of the 11 extensions, were for 120 days or less.

VI. Costs

During 2019–2020, the CER Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office incurred $284,682 in salary costs and $0 in goods and services costs to administer the Act.

During the COVID-19 pandemic work continued from home with minimal disruption and a slight increase in processing time.

See annex A for further statistical information.

2. Practices and procedures

I. CER Structure

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

Access to information requests are now 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 Information Management department and then forwarded to the ATIP Office.

The CER was among the first departments to onboard to the AORS. Two of the three privacy requests submitted in 2019–2020 were received via this new service.

As of the end of 2019–2020, the CER has 5 full-time employees, who allocate a portion of their time to activities related to the Act. This includes one Senior ATIP Officer, two ATIP Officers, an Administrative Assistant and a Director.

II. CER ATIP Training

Training continues to be an area of focus for the CER ATIP Office.

In addition to promoting access to information awareness through in-person meetings, and online training, the ATIP Office also delivered a number of well-received internal presentations on ATIP as part of its training program.

During 2019–2020, 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 Canadian School of Public Service (CSPS).

Training on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act was also 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, ATIP Tip Sheets, etc.) towards improving its training and communications with leadership and staff.

Specifically, new materials were developed, which aimed to better connect the legislation with the day-to-day work of employees. This was achieved by providing practical examples of typical CER documents to staff, and showing them how the Act applies in different circumstances. Extended Q&A sessions with staff helped reinforce the information conveyed, and demonstrated the level of interest in understanding this information.

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.

Training also focused heavily on employees’ obligations under the Privacy Act with respect to protection of personal information. This was a considerable focus area for the ATIP Office this year, in light of an uptick in privacy breaches. In this regard, the CER also reviewed its internal privacy breach procedures and practices to ensure staff are aware of their obligations in the event of a privacy breach. The CER has adopted TBS’ privacy breach management procedures, and utilizes the available suite of tools to assist in managing breaches.

For 2020-21, the ATIP Office is planning additional activities to raise awareness around ATIP and best practices, all towards improving the CER’s processing of requests. These activities will build on the previous “ATIP Tip of the Week” campaign, which started in 2016-17, where each week a new ATIP tip was posted on the screensavers of all CER staff. New screensaver tips have been developed and will be rolled out later this year. The CER looks forward to reporting on these activities in next year’s report.

The CER’s ATIP Officers received training by attending conferences/webinars offered by the Treasury Board‘s Information and Privacy Policy Department, as well as attending the Canadian Access and Privacy Association yearly conference held in Ottawa in November 2019. The ATIP Office also participated in this year’s Right to Know week.

III. NEB Policies & Tools

Documentation and training materials on the CER ATIP program are being updated and will be 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 adopted Treasury Board’s privacy breach management guidelines and is actively exploring opportunities to further integrate this approach into the processes. Other potential policy and process improvements are actively being explored that will support the ATIP Office in carrying out its mandate, and it is anticipated that several policies will be finalized over the next fiscal year.

The CER continued to examine its ATIP procedures this year. This was 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.

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office also continued to support enhanced proactive disclosure of information to the public. The goal is to provide all relevant information related to CER activities in a manner that is clear and transparent.

3. Delegation of authority

The Governor in Council has designated the NEB Chair and CEO with the authority to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Act. The Chair and CEO had historically delegated this authority. With the change to the CER Act the delegated authority is now the CER CEO.

The ATIP Office is under the VP, Data and Information Management and authority has been permanently delegated.

This year, the Chair and CEO took steps to increase operational efficiency, improve the CER’s ability to respond to ATIP requests in a timely manner, and minimize disruption to the exercising of this authority. Under the current set of orders, there are three individuals that have been delegated full authority under the Act, instead of the previous one. They are: the VP, Data and Information Management (primary ATIP Coordinator), and the VP, Projects and Director, Access to Information and Privacy (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 orders.

4. Compliance

The CER achieved a compliance rating of 89.5% for completed Access to Information requests closed within the legislated timeframe in 2019–20, this is a substantial improvement over the previous year. The CER’s ATIP Office will continue to strive for both improved compliance rates and quality of information released.

With regards to timeliness, the ATIP Office regularly communicates progress updates to the ATIP Coordinator through the ATIP Director. The ATIP Director receives the status of all active requests weekly.

5. Complaints and appeals to the Federal Court

During 2019–20, there was one complaint registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner. As always, the CER will continue to work closely with the Office of the Information Commissioner to resolve complaints in a timely and efficient manner.

No appeals were made to the Federal Court of Canada during 2019–20.

6. Reporting on 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: $165 in 2019–2020
• Fees waived: $25 in 2019–2020

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 2019–2020, the CER Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office incurred $284,682 in salary costs and $0 in goods and services costs to administer the Act.

Annex A – Statistical information

Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Name of institution: Canada Energy Regulator

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-31

Section 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

1.2 Sources of requests

1.3 Informal requests

Note: All requests previously recorded as “treated informally” will now be accounted for in this section only.

Section 2: Decline to act on vexatious, made in bad faith or abuse of right requests

Section 3: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

3.2 Exemptions

3.3 Exclusions

3.4 Format of information released

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

3.5.3 Other complexities

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

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

3.8 Requests for translation

Section 4: Extensions

4.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

4.2 Length of extensions

Section 5: Fees

Section 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

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

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Section 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

7.1 Requests with Legal Services

7.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 8: Complaints and investigations

Section 9: Court Action

9.1 Court actions on complaints received before June 21, 2019 and on-going

9.2 Court actions on complaints received after June 21, 2019

Section 10: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

10.1 Costs

10.2 Human Resources

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.

2019–2020 Supplemental Statistical Report – Requests affected by COVID-19 measures

In addition to completing the forms for the Statistical Reports on the ATIA and Privacy Act for 2019–20, institutions are asked to complete this Supplemental Report to help identify the impact of COVID-19 measures on institutional performance for 2019–20 and going forward. The data requirements are set out in the tables below.

Supplemental Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

The following table reports the total number of formal requests received during two periods; 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31.

Table 1 – Requests Received

The following table reports the total number of requests closed within the legislated timelines and the number of closed requests that were deemed refusals during two periods 2019-04-01 to 2020-03- 13 and 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31.

Table 2 – Requests Closed

The following table reports the total number of requests carried over during two periods; 2019-04-01 to 2020-03-13 and 2020-03-14 to 2020-03-31.

Table 3 – Requests Carried Over

Annex B – Delegation Order

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

I, the Chair and CEO of the National Energy Board, pursuant to Section 73 of the Access to Information Act^{Note 1} and section 73 of the Privacy Act^{Note 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 Chair and CEO of the National Energy Board 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 17^th day of December 2018.

______________________________
C. Peter Watson, P. Eng., FCAE
Chair and CE

Delegation of Authority Schedule

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 73 of the Access to Information Act^{Note 3} and section 73 of the Privacy Act^{Note 4}, 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 28^th day of August 2019.

______________________________
C.  Peter Watson, P. Eng., FCAE
Chief Executive Officer

Date modified:

2023-11-27