Access to Information Act - CRTC Annual Report 2023-2024

Introduction

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is pleased to present its Annual Report to Parliament, in accordance with section 94(1) of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) (the Act) and section 20 of the Service Fees Act. The report describes the activities that support compliance with the Act for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2023, and ending March 31, 2024.

The purpose of the Access to Information Act

Section 2(a) of the Act provides Canadians with a right of access to federal government records under the control of a government institution. The Act further states in Section 3 that it is intended to complement and not replace existing procedures for access to government information and is not intended to limit in any way access to the type of government information that is normally available to the general public.

CRTC mandate and responsibilities

The CRTC is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal that regulates Canada’s communications system in the public interest.

The CRTC operates under several legislative authorities and Acts of Parliament. These include the following: the CRTC Act, the Bell Canada Act, the Broadcasting Act, the Telecommunications Act, Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, the Accessible Canada Act, the Online News Act and the Canada Elections Act, which includes provisions that established the Voter Contact Registry.

The CRTC’s role includes consulting Canadians on communication issues of importance to them, making decisions and rules, responding to enquiries and complaints, as well as reporting to Canadians on the progress and outcomes of our work. The CRTC promotes and enforces compliance with its regulatory policies and decisions. It encourages and facilitates industry co-regulation and self-regulation through consultations, committees and working groups with various industry stakeholders. The CRTC also plays a key role in resolving industry disputes. Finally, in the current dynamic and evolving communication environment, the CRTC collaborates with various domestic and international stakeholders to leverage capacity and intelligence on a host of interrelated policy issues and questions.

The CRTC delivers its mandate from offices in the National Capital Region and regional offices throughout Canada.

Organizational structure

The CRTC’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office is located within the Information Management section of the Information Management and Information Technologies Directorate. When fully staffed, the CRTC ATIP Office has six indeterminate employees.

The activities of the ATIP Office include:

• publishing all proactive disclosure;
• receiving and processing requests in accordance with the Act;
• promoting awareness of the Act within the CRTC;
• preparing the annual reports to Parliament, the annual statistical report and maintaining the Department’s Info Source chapter;
• monitoring Commission compliance with the Act; and
• providing professional advice and guidance to senior management and all CRTC staff on the Act.

The CRTC ATIP Office uses the AccessPro Case Management system and an imaging and electronic redaction software solution, AccessPro Redaction. The CRTC ATIP Office works closely with 14 departmental ATIP liaison officers who are appointed by the sectors. The liaison officers are responsible for ensuring that requests tasked to their groups are handled promptly and that relevant records are forwarded to the ATIP Office on time.

In 2023–2024, the CRTC has not entered into any service agreements pursuant to section 96 of the Act.

Delegation order

Decision-making responsibility for the application of the various provisions of the Act has been formally established and is outlined in the Delegation Order approved by the Chairperson and CEO of the CRTC on July 25, 2023. A copy of the Delegation order is in Appendix A of this Report.

Performance 2023-2024

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

In 2023–2024, the CRTC ATIP Office carried forward 50 requests from 2022–2023 and received 58 new requests in fiscal year 2023–2024 for a total of 108 requests. Out of the 50 requests carried forward, 20 were within the legislated timeline, while 30 were past the legislated timeline.

In 2022–2023, the CRTC ATIP Office carried forward 46 requests from 2021–2022 and received 101 new requests in fiscal year 2022–2023 for a total of 147 requests.

The numbers represent a decrease of 43% of new requests and a decrease of 27% of total requests.

1.2 Source of requests

The three most significant categories of requesters by number of requests received were public with (29); media and decline to identify with (8 each), and academia with (7). There was a decrease of 28% in the number of requests from the public compared to the previous fiscal year.

1.3 Informal requests

The number of informal requests received decreased by 50% from the previous fiscal year, with a total of 98 informal requests processed in 2023–2024, compared to 194 requests in 2022–2023. Informal requests are made on the basis of the posted summaries of the completed requests, which are available on Canada’s Open Government website.

Section 2: Reasons for declining to act on requests

During the reporting period, the CRTC made no requests to the Office of Information Commissioner (OIC) to decline to act on requests that were vexatious, made in bad faith or an abuse of the right to make a request for access to records.

Section 3: Requests closed during the reporting period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

Of the 57 requests completed in the reporting period, 30 were closed within 30 days (53%), compared to the previous reporting year when 40 were closed within 30 days (41%).

With respect to disposition, of the 57 closed requests, 4 of the CRTC’s releases were fully disclosed (7% of total requests closed), and 24 were disclosed in part (42% of the total requests closed). No records existed in response to 22 requests, and 6 requests (11% of the total requests closed) were abandoned. There were no CRTC releases which contained records that were either all exempt or all excluded.

3.2 Exemptions

Sections 13 through 24 of the Act set out the specific and limited exemptions that may be applied to refuse disclosure of information pertaining to a particular public or private interest. Section 26 of the Act is an administrative exemption relating to the publication of information.

The CRTC makes every effort to disclose as much information as possible and uphold both the spirit of the Act and the severability provision of section 25. The majority of the exemptions invoked by the CRTC fell under three sections of the Act: subsection 19(1) (mandatory exemption), which protects personal information, was used in 16 different files, paragraph 21(1)(a) and paragraph 21(1)(b) (discretionary exemptions), which relate to the operations of government, were both used in 12 different files, and section 23 (solicitor-client privilege) was used in 13 different files.

3.3 Exclusions

No exclusions were invoked in any closed files for the 2023–2024 fiscal year.

3.4 Format of information released

Of the 57 files completed in 2023–2024, 28 were released in electronic format. For 28 requests, no records were provided as the requests were either abandoned, generated no results or all records were exempted or excluded. There was 1 request transferred to another government institution.

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

In 2023–2024, the CRTC’s ATIP Office processed 8,009 pages compared to 4,881 pages in the previous reporting period, representing an increase of 64%.

In 2023–2024, the CRTC disclosed 35% of pages processed compared to 2022–2023, where 68% of processed pages were disclosed in the closed files.

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

Of the 57 requests completed during the reporting period, records were disclosed to the requester in 28 files. 20 of the responses contained fewer than 100 pages.

The average page count for the 28 closed requests with disclosure was 102. In 2022–2023, the average page count for the closed requests with disclosure was 64, highlighting an increase of 37% of pages per file with disclosure.

3.5.3 Other complexities

For the purposes of the report, CRTC’s ATIP Office used the “Other” designation to track the number of requests where a consultation was required; a legal opinion was sought; an assessment of fees was undertaken; or a notice pursuant to subsection 28(1) of the Act was sent to a third party.

Analyzing the table above, we can see a decrease in consultations required and a slight increase of legal advice sought, whereas notice to third parties saw a decrease as compared to the previous fiscal year. In 2022–2023, 34 files presented other complexities compared to 15 this fiscal year.

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

During the reporting period, of the 57 requests closed, 38 were closed within their legislative timelines.

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislative timelines

During the reporting period, 4 requests were closed past the legislative timelines due to heavy workload, 1 was closed past the legislative timeline due to an internal consultation and 14 were closed past the legislative timelines due to other reasons which do not include heavy workload or consultations.

3.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislative timelines

For the 19 files completed past the legislated timeframe, 17 included files where one or multiple extensions were taken. Out of the 17 files, the CRTC ATIP Office took an extension for an additional 1 to 30 days for 7 files, 31 to 60 days for 11 files, and 61 to120 days for 7 files. No extensions were taken between 121 to180 days or 181 to 365 days. The remaining two files that were closed past the legislated time frame did not have any extensions taken.

3.8 Requests for translation

There were no requests for translation made during the reporting period.

Section 4: Extensions

4.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Subsection 9(1) of the Act allows the head of a government institution to extend the initial period under the following three circumstances:

• 9(1)(a): a large number of records or requires a search through a large number of records and meeting the original time limit would interfere unreasonably with the institution’s operations.
• 9(1)(b): consultation is necessary, and it cannot be completed within the 30-day statutory deadline.
• 9(1)(c): notice is given to a third party under subsection 27(1) of the Act.

4.2 Length of extensions

A total of 25 extensions were taken on requests closed during the reporting period, which represents a decrease from 59 extensions during the previous reporting period. Of those 25, 17 file extensions were pursuant to 9(1)(a), four file extensions were pursuant to 9(1)(b), and four file extensions were pursuant to 9(1)(c).

The CRTC ATIP Office notifies requesters of any extensions taken, and when requesting an extension beyond 30 days, the OIC is also notified.

Section 5: Fees

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 Act, the information below is reported in accordance with the requirements of section 20 of the Service Fee’s Act.

Enabling authority: Access to Information Act

Fee amount: $5

Total revenue: $280

Fees waived: 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 Act that came into force on June 21, 2019, the CRTC 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. The CRTC waived two application fees during the reporting period.

The total cost of administering the Act was $213,668 as detailed in Part 10 below.

Section 6: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

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

The CRTC received five new consultations within the reporting period and seven were closed. A total of 82 pages were received and reviewed. One consultation request was carried over to the next reporting period. This represents a decrease of 45% in the number of requests and a 4% decrease in the number of pages reviewed compared to the previous reporting period.

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

For two of the consultations, the CRTC ATIP Office was able to provide a response within 15 days; two responses were provided within 120 days, two responses were provided within 365 days, and one response was provided beyond 365 days.

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

No consultation was received from other organizations.

Section 7: Consultations on cabinet confidences

One file required consultation on Cabinet Confidences on three pages during the reporting period.

Section 8: Complaints and investigations

During the reporting period, five new complaints were received from the OIC and eight complaints from previous years were carried forward. During the reporting period, seven complaints were closed and at the end of the reporting period, three complaints remained open. The CRTC ATIP Office is committed to resolving these complaints.

Section 9: Court action

The CRTC was not involved in Federal Court cases regarding ATIP during this reporting period.

Section 10: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

When fully staffed, the CRTC ATIP Office has six indeterminate employees, five of whom are devoted full-time to the administration of the Act, and one on a part-time basis. For the 2023–2024 fiscal year, the positions staffed equalled 3 FTEs, including one part-time/casual employee.

In 2023–2024, the CRTC ATIP Office incurred an estimated $213,668 in salary costs for the processing of requests received pursuant to the Act. These costs do not include the resources expended by the program areas of the CRTC to meet the requirements of the Act.

Training

Over the course of the 2023–2024 fiscal year, the CRTC ATIP Office offered two training sessions to all CRTC employees and management. Additionally, the CRTC ATIP Office provided training to employees in individual sectors. The CRTC ATIP Office continues to promote the roles and responsibilities of all CRTC staff with respect to the Act and is continuously meeting with individuals to provide one-on-one support.

The CRTC intranet, which is accessible to all employees, includes a section that describes the ATIP Office’s roles and responsibilities and provides information on the Act and related CRTC’s policies and procedures. The CRTC ATIP Office is constantly looking for new methods to increase awareness throughout the Commission and is working on an initiative to include items in the CRTC Weekly News to all employees.

Policies, guidelines and procedures and initiatives

Info Source is a series of publications containing information on the Government of Canada and on the government’s data collection activities. Info Source is intended to help the public access government information and to exercise their rights under the Privacy Act and Access to Information Act.

Info Source for the CRTC is published on the CRTC’s website.

The CRTC’s website provides information on the CRTC’s policies, its organizational structure and the means to contact CRTC officials. In accordance with the federal government’s policy on proactive disclosure, the CRTC’s website also provides access to travel and hospitality expenses, contracts, job reclassifications, summaries of completed access to information requests and titles of briefing materials addressed to the Deputy Head.

The CRTC ATIP Office has its own internal administrative manual to ensure consistency among team members and to be able to assist new ATIP analysts.

Proactive publication under part 2 of the Access to Information Act (ATIA)

Please find below the links to where the CRTC published proactive publication requirements which were due during the reporting period.

Travel Expenses:

• https://search.open.canada.ca/travel/?owner_org=crtc&page=1&sort=start_date+desc

Hospitality Expenses:

• https://open.canada.ca/en/search/hospitalityqf%5B0%5D=hospitalityq_organization_en%3ACana dian%20Radio-television%20and%20Telecommunications%20Commission

Reports tabled in Parliament

• https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/publications/index.htm
• https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/disclosure-divulgation.htm

Contracts over $10,000:

• https://search.open.canada.ca/contracts/?owner_org=crtc&page=1&sort=contract_date+desc

Packages of briefing materials prepared for new or incoming deputy heads or equivalent:

• https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/acrtc/transition/eatrides.htm

Titles and reference numbers of memoranda prepared for a deputy head or equivalent, that is received by their office:

• https://search.open.canada.ca/briefingt/?sort=score+desc&page=1&search_text=&bn-search-orgs=Canadian+Radio-television+and+Telecommunications+Commission&owner_org=crtc  

Parliamentary appearances:

• https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/prlmntappr/

Position Reclassifications:

• https://open.canada.ca/en/search/reclassification?f%5B0%5D=reclassification_organization_en %3ACanadian%20Radio-television%20and%20Telecommunications%20Commission

During the reporting period, the CRTC published 15% of its proactive publication requirements within the legislated timelines. This includes counting monthly or quarterly reports as a single publication. The CRTC ATIP office was operating at a fraction of the team’s full capacity, which led to publishing outside the legislated timelines. The CRTC ATIP office has worked with other sectors to effectively develop and implement proper procedures to ensure we meet our compliance responsibility. To better meet these requirements, the CRTC will implement a new digital tracking system and a dedicated compliance resource responsible for monitoring deadlines and ensuring adherence to publication schedules. Additionally, the CRTC will review past challenges to streamline the publication process and introduce new review procedures to enhance efficiency. These measures will help improve the timeliness of our publications and better manage our reporting obligations.

Initiatives and projects to improve access to information

The CRTC will implement several initiatives and projects aimed at improving access to information. These efforts will include the introduction of automated systems for streamlining requests processing in addition to the transition to the acquisition of a new ATIP Request Processing Software Solution.

Moreover, the CRTC is committed to remove barriers that Indigenous people face when they request access to information or those acting on their behalf by promoting the waiver of the $5 Application Fee for Indigenous requesters on its website. To ensure that this process is implemented respectfully and fosters a relationship of trust, we will make it clear on our website that Indigenous requesters or their representatives will not be required to provide proof of Indigenous identity to be eligible for the fee waiver and that all requests for this waiver will be treated in good faith.

Lastly, the CRTC will work on enhancing procedures to make information readily available to the public, reducing the need for formal access to information requests, and improving processes for responding to requests for copies of previously released ATI materials. These initiatives reflect our commitment to modernizing our processes and ensuring equitable access for all Canadians.

Summary of key issues and actions taken on complaints or audits

In the course of the 2023–2024 reporting period, the CRTC ATIP Office successfully closed 7 of the 13 active complaints for the reporting period, leaving only 6 outstanding complaints.

Monitoring compliance

The CRTC is committed to responding to every ATI request completely and in a timely matter. Therefore, the CRTC ATIP Office holds weekly team meetings to review priorities and any potential issues. In addition, the ATIP Coordinator holds weekly meetings with analysts to review on-time performance, and weekly meetings with the Legal and other sectors to receive status updates on outstanding files and retrievals. In turn, the Office of the Secretary General raises any concerns with the Senior Management committee. This committee includes the Chairperson and CEO of the CRTC and all the sector heads that report directly to the CEO.

Appendix A: Delegation order

Delegation order for the administration of the Access to Information Act

I, the undersigned, Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), pursuant to section 95 (1) of the Access to Information Act*, hereby delegate the person or persons holding the position or positions set out in the schedule hereto to exercise and perform the powers, duties and functions of the Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, as the head of the government institution, under the sections of the Act set out in the attached schedule for each position.

This Delegation Order supersedes all previous Delegation Orders with respect to the CRTC, or any portion thereof.

*R.S.C. 1985, Ch. A-1

Appendix C: Supplemental Statistical Report

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

Name of institution: Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Section 1: Open requests and complaints under the Access to Information Act

Row 11, Col. 3 of Section 1.1 must equal Row 7, Col. 1 of Section 1.1 of the 2023-24 Statistical Report on the Access to Information Act

Section 2: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

Row 11, Col. 3 of Section 2.1 must equal Row 7, Col. 1 of Section 1.1 of the 2023-24 Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Section 3: Social Insurance Number (SIN)

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act