Annual Report on the Access to Information Act 2017–18

General

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) regulates the use of nuclear energy and materials to protect health, safety, security and the environment; to implement Canada’s international commitments on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The CNSC disseminates objective scientific, technical and regulatory information to the public.

The CNSC’s mandate, derived from the Nuclear Safety and Control Act, involves four major areas:

• regulation of the development, production and use of nuclear energy in Canada to protect health, safety and the environment
• regulation of the production, possession, use and transport of nuclear substances, and the production, possession and use of prescribed equipment and prescribed information
• implementation of measures respecting international control of the development, production, transport and use of nuclear energy and substances, including measures respecting the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices
• dissemination of scientific, technical and regulatory information concerning the CNSC’s activities, and the effects on the environment and the health and safety of persons, of the development, production, possession, transport and use of nuclear substances

The CNSC also administers the Nuclear Liability Act, conducts environmental assessments under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012, and implements Canada’s bilateral agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on nuclear safeguards verification.

Purpose of the Access to Information Act

The purpose of the Access to Information Act (AIA) is to extend the laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution, in accordance with the principles stating that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific, and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government.

Tabling of the annual report

This annual report is prepared and tabled in Parliament in accordance with section 72 of the AIA.

1. Statistical report

I. Requests received under the Access to Information Act

In 2017–18, the CNSC received 289 requests under the Access to Information Act (two requests more than in the previous reporting period).

The CNSC also processed 37 informal requests during the reporting period. Seven of these were internal requests for a review before documents were released informally on the external website or by other means. A total of 30 informal requests were for previously released AIA packages identified on the "Proactive disclosure" page of the CNSC website.

For requests closed during the reporting period, the CNSC processed a total of 38,507 pages and disclosed 14,121 pages to requesters. This represents a 28-percent decrease in the number of pages processed in fiscal year 2016–17.

Other federal government agencies and departments responsible for records related to CNSC activities also consulted with the CNSC on 33 occasions. The CNSC processed 601 pages for these consultations.

II. Source of requests

The organizations continue to submit an increasing number of requests to the CNSC. In 2017–18, requests were made most frequently by organizations (85 percent), followed by members of the public (8 percent) businesses (5 percent), media (2 percent) and academia (0 percent).

III. Disposition of closed reports

In 2017–18, the CNSC closed 267 requests. This represents a slight decrease compared to the 283 requests closed in 2016–17. Of the 267 requests closed during the reporting period, records for 42 were disclosed fully, while records for 43 were disclosed in part. There were only 21 requests for which relevant records were exempted in their entirety. The remaining 161 requests were either abandoned by the requester, transferred to another government institution or had no records associated with them.

IV. Exemptions or exclusions invoked

Most of the exemptions invoked by the CNSC in 2017–18 came under three sections of the AIA: subsection 19(1), which protects personal information; paragraphs 20(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d), which protect confidential information supplied by a third party; and paragraphs 21(1)(a), (b), (c) and (d), which protect advice, recommendations and the deliberation process of public servants.

V. Completion time

VI. Extensions

Section 9 of the AIA permits an extension of statutory time limits under certain circumstances. In 2017–18, the CNSC requested extensions on 48 occasions. In five of these cases, an extension was required to provide third-party notifications. In 18 of these cases, an extension was required for consultation within a government institution, other government institutions or other levels of government. Because of the increase in the volume of records processed at the CNSC, a further 25 extensions were needed (since searches through large volumes of records made it impossible to meet the original timelines without interfering with CNSC operations). Most of the extensions were for 31 to 120 days.

VII. Costs

During 2017–18, the CNSC’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office incurred $210,510 in salary costs and $94,635 in goods and services costs to administer the AIA.

See Annex A for further statistical information.

2. Practices and procedures

At the CNSC, the Information Management Division (IMD), within the Information Management and Technology Directorate, administers the Access to Information Act.

Access to information requests are received by the Records Office and forwarded to the ATIP Office, IMD. Staff members in the ATIP Office process requests in consultation with the appropriate CNSC directorates and with external parties, where necessary.

The CNSC has three full-time employees, and one part-time consultant dedicated to access-to-information activities.

During 2017–18, the CNSC continued to concentrate on providing formal training on information management, the Access to Information Act, the Privacy Act and information security to its employees. This training was provided over seven sessions during the reporting period to 210 employees and focused on informing them of their responsibilities in those areas. IMD offers an integrated training approach, emphasizing the connections between sound information management practices and an effective ATIP program. The ATIP Office also provides advice and support as required.

Documentation and training materials on the CNSC’s ATIP program are available through its corporate intranet, along with links to other materials, such as legislation, Treasury Board Secretariat policies and guidance documents, and a range of information management and guidance tools. The CNSC did not implement any new policies, guidelines or procedures during the reporting period.

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

The CNSC frequently makes copies of the following documents available to members of the public for their examination:

• current licences and approvals
• revocation or suspension notices
• reports concerning occurrences
• applications for approval of licences
• information on hazards to individuals, the public or the environment
• orders for corrective measures to be taken as a result of significant occurrences
• notices of intent to establish nuclear facilities
• Commission hearing minutes and supporting documentation
• requests for temporary help
• proactive disclosure of senior management travel and hospitality expenses
• proactive disclosure of contract information
• Auditor General of Canada reports (pertaining to the CNSC)
• internal audits

The CNSC also posts, via the Open Government portal, summaries of completed access to information requests processed by the ATIP Office.

3. Delegation of athority

The Governor in Council has delegated to the President of the CNSC the authority to exercise the powers, duties and functions in the Access to Information Act. In turn, the President has designated the Vice-President of the Corporate Services Branch, the Director General of the Information Management and Technology Directorate, the Director of the Information Management Division, and the Senior ATIP Advisor to exercise his powers, duties and functions with respect to the Access to Information Act.

See Annex C for a copy of the instrument of delegation.

4. Compliance

The CNSC achieved a compliance rating of approximately 91% for completed access- to-information requests closed within the legislated timeframe in 2017–18. Many factors led to this rate of compliance, including an electronic retrieval system in use since 2009. This electronic system has reduced the time needed for the ATIP Office to receive the required documents and prepare the files for review and approval. The ATIP Office has established a five-day service standard for subject matter experts to retrieve relevant records and obtain director general sign-off. In addition, through training and awareness sessions, CNSC staff members were generally receptive to their obligations under the Access to Information Act and delays were reduced.

5. Complaints and appeals to the Federal Court

In 2017–18, one new complaint about deemed refusal applied to a request was registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

There were no complaint investigations carried over from the previous year.

As always, the CNSC will continue to work closely with the Office of the Information Commissioner to resolve the remaining ongoing complaints in a timely and efficient manner.

No appeals were made to the Federal Court of Canada during 2017–18.

Annex A: Statistical Information

Name of institution: Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Reporting period: 2017-04-01 to 2018-03-31

Part 1: Requests Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of requests

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	289
Outstanding from previous reporting period	14
Total	303
Closed during reporting period	267
Carried over to next reporting period	36

1.2 Sources of Requests

Source	Number of requests
Media	7
Academia	0
Business (private sector)	13
Organization	245
Public	24
Decline to Identify	0
Total	289

1.3 Informal requests

Completion Time
1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
27	2	0	1	0	0	0	30

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

TBS/SCT 350-63 (Rev. 2011/03)

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of Requests	Completion Time
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More Than 365 Days	Total
All disclosed	9	20	6	6	1	0	0	42
Disclosed in part	3	15	9	8	6	2	0	43
All exempted	5	4	3	4	5	0	0	21
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	100	31	3	13	0	0	0	147
Request transferred	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Request abandoned	8	2	1	1	0	0	0	12
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	127	72	22	32	12	2	0	267

2.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of Requests
13(1)(a)	3
13(1)(b)	1
13(1)(c)	5
13(1)(d)	0
13(1)(e)	0
14	0
14(a)	0
14(b)	5
15(1)	1
15(1) - I.A.*	5
15(1) – Def.*	5
15(1) – S.A.*	5
16(1)(a)(i)	0
16(1)(a)(ii)	0
16(1)(a)(iii)	0
16(1)(b)	0
16(1)(c)	0
16(1)(d)	0
16(2)	0
16(2)(a)	0
16(2)(b)	0
16(2)(c)	5
16(3)	0
16.1(1)(a)	0
16.1(1)(b)	0
16.1(1)(c)	0
16.1(1)(d)	0
16.2(1)	3
16.3	0
16.4(1)(a)	0
16.4(1)(b)	0
16.5	0
17	0
18(a)	0
18(b)	1
18(c)	0
18(d)	0
18.1(1)(a)	0
18.1(1)(b)	0
18.1(1)(c)	0
18.1(1)(d)	0
19(1)	26
20(1)(a)	0
20(1)(b)	15
20(1)(b.1)	15
20(1)(c)	4
20(1)(d)	0
20.1	0
20.2	0
20.4	0
21(1)(a)	36
21(1)(b)	37
21(1)(c)	1
21(1)(d)	0
22	0
22.1(1)	0
23	5
24(1)	0
26	0

* I.A.: International Affairs
Def.:  Defence of Canada
S.A.:  Subversive Activities

2.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of Requests
68(a)	0
68(b)	0
68(c)	0
68.1	0
68.2(a)	0
68.2(b)	0
69(1)	0
69(1)(a)	0
69(1)(b)	0
69(1)(c)	0
69(1)(d)	0
69(1)(e)	0
69(1)(f)	0
69(1)(g) re (a)	0
69(1)(g) re (b)	0
69(1)(g) re (c)	0
69(1)(g) re (d)	0
69(1)(g) re (e)	0
69(1)(g) re (f)	0
69.1(1)	0

2.4 Format of information released

Disposition	Paper	Electronic	Other formats
All disclosed	40	2	0
Disclosed in part	33	10	0
Total	73	12	0

2.5 Complexity

2.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

Disposition of Requests	Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
All disclosed	1384	566	42
Disclosed in part	25368	13555	43
All exempted	11755	0	21
All excluded	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	12
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0

2.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

Disposition	Less Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
All disclosed	38	468	4	98	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	21	481	14	1972	2	353	5	7894	1	2855
All exempted	8	0	6	0	2	0	5	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	79	949	24	2070	4	353	10	7894	1	2855

2.5.3 Other complexities

Disposition	Consultation Required	Assessment of Fees	Legal Advice Sought	Other	Total
All disclosed	6	0	0	1	7
Disclosed in part	16	0	1	5	22
All exempted	4	0	0	1	5
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0

2.6 Deemed refusals

2.6.1 Reasons for not meeting statutory deadline

Number of Requests Closed Past the Statutory Deadline	Principal Reason
	Workload	External Consultation	Internal Consultation	Other
23	5	1	17	0

2.6.2 Number of days past deadline

Number of Days Past Deadline	Number of Requests Past Deadline Where No Extension Was Taken	Number of Requests Past Deadline where an Extension Was Taken	Total
1 to 15 days	10	1	11
16 to 30 days	1	0	1
31 to 60 days	8	0	8
61 to 120 days	1	1	2
121 to 180 days	0	1	1
181 to 365 days	0	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0	0
Total	20	3	23

2.7 Requests for translation

Translation Requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

Part 3: Extensions

3.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was Taken	9(1)(a) Interference with Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
All disclosed	6	0	3	1
Disclosed in part	5	0	14	3
All exempted	7	0	1	1
All excluded	0	0	0	0
No records exist	6	0	0	0
Request abandoned	1	0	0	0
Total	25	0	18	5

3.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions	9(1)(a) Interference with Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
30 days or less	2	0	0	0
31 to 60 days	0	0	6	0
61 to 120 days	22	0	10	5
121 to 180 days	1	0	2	0
181 to 365 days	0	0	0	0
365 days or more	0	0	0	0
Total	25	0	18	5

Part 4: Fees

Fee Type	Fee Collected		Fee Waived or Refunded
	Number of Requests	Amount	Number of Requests	Amount
Application	264	$1,320	0	$0
Search	0	$0	0	$0
Production	0	$0	0	$0
Programming	0	$0	0	$0
Preparation	0	$0	0	$0
Alternative format	0	$0	0	$0
Reproduction	0	$0	0	$0
Total	264	$1,320	0	$0

Part 5: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

5.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review	Other Organizations	Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period	33	582	13	1078
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	1	19	0	0
Total	34	601	13	1078
Closed during the reporting period	32	601	13	1078
Pending at the end of the reporting period	2	0	0	0

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

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More than 365 Days	Total
Disclose entirely	17	7	1	0	0	0<	0	25
Disclose in part	2	3	4	0	0	0	0	7
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	19	10	3	0	0	0	0	32

5.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

Recommendation	Number of Days Required to Complete Consultation Requests
	1 to 15 Days	16 to 30 Days	31 to 60 Days	61 to 120 Days	121 to 180 Days	181 to 365 Days	More than 365 Days	Total
Disclose entirely	5	6	1	0	0	0<	0	12
Disclose in part	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	5	7	1	0	0	0	0	13

Part 6: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

6.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

6.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Number of Days	Fewer Than 100 Pages Processed		101‒500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Part 7: Complaints and Investigations

Section 32	Section 35	Section 37	Total
1	0	0	1

Part 8: Court Action

Section 41	Section 42	Section 44	Total
0	0	0	0

Part 9: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

9.1 Costs

Expenditures		Amount
Salaries		$210,510
Overtime		$0
Goods and Services		$96,089
• Professional services contracts	$94,635
• Other	$1,454
Total		$306,699

9.2 Human resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	3.00
Part-time and casual employees	0.00
Regional staff	0.00
Consultants and agency personnel	0.71
Students	0.00
Total	3.71

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.