2008-2009 Annual Report to Parliament - The Administration of the Access to Information Act

Foreword

This Annual Report to Parliament is prepared under the direction of the Minister of National Revenue and the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). It describes how the CRA administered the Access to Information Act (ATIA) for the 2008–2009 fiscal year.

Section 72 of the ATIA requires that the head of every government institution prepare and submit a report to Parliament each year, on the administration of the ATIA.

This report details how the CRA carried out and fulfilled its obligations under the ATIA during the period April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009. It also includes information on changes to the access to information program within the CRA, the delivery of the program, and emerging issues that will require particular focus during the year ahead.

Access to Information Act

The ATIA was proclaimed on July 1, 1983. The ATIA gives Canadian citizens, as well as those persons and corporations present in Canada, the right to access federal government records that are not of a personal nature. The ATIA is just one channel through which information can be obtained and does not replace other existing procedures for obtaining government information. In accordance with this principle, the CRA encourages individuals to address informal requests for information directly to the appropriate branch or regional office, or to the general enquiries line at 1-800-959-8281.

The main principles behind the ATIA are that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exemptions/exclusions to the release of information should be limited and specific, and that decisions on disclosure should be reviewed independent of government.

Table of contents

• Access to Information Act
• Overview of the Canada Revenue Agency
• Access to Information and Privacy Directorate
• Delegation of responsibilities under the Access to Information Act
• Statistical report – Interpretation and explanation
• Education and training
• Program development
• Complaints, investigations, and federal court cases
• Conclusion
• Appendix A – Statistical report
• Appendix B – Supplemental reporting requirements

Overview of the Canada Revenue Agency

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is responsible for the administration of tax programs, as well as the delivery of economic and social benefits. It also administers certain provincial and territorial tax programs. In addition, the CRA has the authority to enter into new partnerships with the provinces, territories, and other government bodies to administer non-harmonized taxes and other services, at their request and on a cost-recovery basis. The CRA promotes compliance with Canada's tax legislation and regulations and plays an important role in the economic and social well-being of Canadians.

The Minister of National Revenue is accountable to Parliament for all the CRA's activities, including the administration and enforcement of the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act.

One of the key features of the CRA's innovative structure is a Board of Management, which is accountable to Parliament through the Minister of National Revenue. The Board consists of 15 members appointed by the Governor in Council, eleven of which have been nominated by the provinces and territories. The Board has the responsibility of overseeing the organization and management of the CRA, including the development of the Corporate Business Plan, and the management of policies related to resources, services, property, and personnel.

As the CRA's chief executive officer, the Commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day administration and enforcement of the program legislation that falls under the Minister's delegated authority. The Commissioner is accountable to the Board for the daily management of the CRA.

The CRA has a presence across the country. It is comprised of twelve Headquarters branches and five regional offices.

Headquarters branches

• Appeals
• Compliance Programs
• Corporate Strategies and Business Development
• Human Resources
• Legislative Policy and Regulatory Affairs
• Taxpayer Services and Debt Management
• Assessment and Benefit Services
• Corporate Audit and Evaluation
• Finance and Administration
• Information Technology
• Legal Services
• Public Affairs

Regional offices

• Atlantic
• Ontario
• Pacific
• Prairie
• Quebec

Access to Information and Privacy Directorate

The primary responsibility of the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Directorate is to fulfill all legislative requirements of the Access to Information Act (ATIA) and the Privacy Act (PA) for the CRA. In addition, the Directorate provides policy advice and training to CRA employees with respect to their responsibilities and obligations under the ATIA and the PA.

Reporting to the Assistant Commissioner of the Public Affairs Branch, the Director of the ATIP Directorate, Marie-Claude Juneau, is the ATIP coordinator for the CRA. The Directorate has a total of 74 employees and consists of three main units—two responsible for production and quality assurance and the other a Program Support and Training Group providing strategic planning and corporate support. Each production unit has a satellite office in its reporting structure—one in Vancouver, the other in Montréal.

The responsibilities of the ATIP Directorate include, but are not limited to, providing services to the public, CRA officials, and other federal institutions and liaising with the Treasury Board Secretariat and the offices of the Information and Privacy Commissioners of Canada. Additionally, CRA ATIP officials provide guidance, policy advice, and training to CRA employees with respect to their obligations and duties under the ATIA and the PA.

In particular, the ATIP Directorate:

• provides guidance on filing a formal request and explains the ATIP process;
• delivers a timely and complete response to each request;
• gives notice of the right of complaint regarding any matter related to the processing of a request;
• exercises leadership and direction in the execution and application of the ATIA and the PA;
• promotes awareness and provides training regarding the ATIA and the PA;
• gives advice regarding the release of records for an informal request;
• provides policy advice on ATIP-related CRA initiatives;
• develops corporate-wide ATIP-related policies and practices to guide access to information and records held by the CRA; and
• prepares the annual reports to Parliament on the CRA's administration of the ATIA and the PA.

Delegation of responsibilities under the Access to Information Act

The President of the Treasury Board is a member of the Ministry responsible for the government-wide administration of the ATIA. The Minister of National Revenue, as the head of the CRA, is responsible for the administration of the ATIA. The Minister is allowed, pursuant to section 73 of the ATIA, to use a Designation Order to delegate responsibilities under the ATIA to other officials of the CRA.

The Minister must sign the Designation Order, which authorizes certain officials to exercise the powers, duties, and functions on the Minister's behalf. The current Designation Order gives signing authority for all relevant sections of the ATIA and its Regulations to the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioners, Deputy Assistant Commissioners, Chief Audit Executive and Director General Program Evaluation, and the Director and Assistant Directors of the ATIP Directorate. The managers within the ATIP Directorate also have signing authority for the release of all documents to which access has been requested, except those on which discretionary exemptions of the ATIA have been applied. It should be noted that the current practice within the CRA is to have the ATIP Director, Assistant Directors, and the managers of the Production Quality Assurance Units in Ottawa sign off on the majority of ATIA and PA requests processed in Headquarters. However, in the Montréal and Vancouver satellite offices, the managers of the Production Assurance Units and their respective Assistant Commissioners will sign off based on their delegated authority.

Statistical report – Interpretation and explanation

Appendix A provides a summarized statistical report on the ATIA for the 2008–2009 reporting period. The following is an explanation and interpretation of the statistical information.

Requests under the Access to Information Act

During the reporting period April 1, 2008, to March 31, 2009, the CRA received a total of 1,770 new access to information requests. This represents a decrease of 133 requests from last year, when we received 1,903 requests. Altogether 690 requests were carried forward from the 2007–2008 fiscal year, giving us a total of 2,460 active requests, which represents a significant caseload with respect to numbers, scope, complexity, and volume. A total of 920 files are being carried forward to the next fiscal year. The following shows the number of requests received and completed by the CRA for the past five fiscal years:

In addition to the ATIA requests completed, the CRA received 125 ATIA consultation requests, of which it completed 114.

Further, the Program Support and Training Group within the ATIP Directorate responded to approximately 700 email enquiries and 600 telephone enquiries from its various stakeholders, both internal and external to the CRA, concerning the ATIA and the PA. The group provides advice and guidance on ATIP processes and procedures as well as on the provision of appropriate alternate contact information.

Sources of requests

The largest number of requests (1,107) was received from members of the public. The percentages follow:

Disposition of requests

Of the total inventory, the Directorate completed 1,540 ATIA requests during the reporting period, with 568,090 pages of documents reviewed, a 33% increase from the previous reporting period. Disposition of the completed requests was as follows:

Exemptions invoked

The ATIP Directorate invoked exemptions under the ATIA a total of 1,338 times, as follows:

Exclusions cited

Exclusions were invoked a total of 11 times under section 69 for confidences of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Completion time and extensions

The 1,540 requests completed in 2008–2009 were completed in the following time frames:

Of the 1,540 requests, 85.7% were completed within allowable time limits, which is approximately the same percentage as last year.

The Directorate sought an extension to the prescribed time limit in 286 instances in order to consult with other government institutions or if meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the CRA.

Translation

No translations were required to respond to access to information requests during this reporting period.

Method of access

Statistics compiled for this section are based solely on those 916 requests for which information was fully or partially disclosed. In nine cases, applicants obtained access through examination of records and, in four instances, applicants obtained access through a combination of copies and examination. In 903 cases, applicants received copies of the records they had requested.

Fees

During the reporting period, the total fees collected were $52,230. For more details, please refer to Appendix A.

Costs

During 2008-2009 the ATIP Directorate's estimated total cost to administer the ATIA was $2,739,045. For more details, please refer to Appendix A.

Education and training

During the 2008–2009 fiscal year, the ATIP Directorate continued to conduct training and awareness sessions for ATIP staff, CRA personnel, and representatives from other government departments. There were 20 training sessions delivered by the satellite offices in Montréal and Vancouver, with 400 participants. Headquarters staff conducted seven in-house ATIP training sessions for new and existing analysts and continued to deliver training to participants of the CRA Management Group Learning Program, providing 10 sessions to 200 participants. Informal ATIP-related training was also given throughout the year.

Program development

The ATIP Directorate continuously strives to adjust and re-align its structure to ensure the provision of an efficient and effective service to its stakeholders. One of the initiatives of the Directorate underway in the 2008–2009 reporting period was the planning of an Intake Unit. The Intake Unit will help streamline the intake process and reduce the time spent on the initial preparation stage. Implementation of this unit will begin in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

The Directorate also undertook an extensive review of its priorities, with a focus on an enhanced delivery of ATIP Awareness Training within the CRA. It has also made progress on improving the information-sharing protocol between the Security, Risk Management, and Internal Affairs Directorate and the ATIP Directorate.

Overview

As experienced by many other members of the ATIP community, the Directorate is constantly faced with the challenge of retaining experienced employees with significant corporate knowledge. The 2008–2009 fiscal year saw a significant turnover of key members of the ATIP Directorate. Following a successful hiring process, 10 new analysts (13.5% of the total ATIP staff) joined the Directorate and were provided with in-house training and courses offered by the Treasury Board Secretariat. Formal training was followed by a period of mentoring by experienced Directorate staff. An additional selection process for junior analyst positions was launched to address the Directorate's staff shortage.

Complaints, investigations, and federal court cases

During the reporting period, the Office of the Information Commissioner received 302 complaints concerning requests for information received and/or responded to by the CRA; 60 of those complaints were received after the close of the 2008–2009 fiscal year, making the total complaints received by the CRA 242. During 2008–2009, 123 of the complaints were resolved: 83 were justified and 40 were not justified. Two frequent requestors generated 75.3% of these complaints.

No cases advanced to Federal Court.

Conclusion

The CRA's goal for fiscal year 2009–2010 is to continue to improve upon its processes and procedures in order to meet its obligations and responsibilities under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

To achieve this goal, we will further expand on our ATIP training function so that an increased number of CRA personnel can enhance their understanding of their responsibilities inherent under these acts. In addition, procedural and structural changes will be implemented in the ATIP Directorate to ensure that the CRA is positioned to maximize its opportunities to meet existing demands and to effectively manage future challenges.

Appendix A – Statistical report

Appendix B – Supplemental reporting requirements

Supplemental reporting requirements Access to Information Act

In addition to the reporting requirements addressed on Form TBS/SCT 350-62, Report on the Access to Information Act, institutions are required to report on the following:

Part III – Exemptions invoked

Section 13
Subsection 13(e) ____0____

Section 14
Subsections 14(a) ____8____ and 14(b) ____0____

Part IV – Exclusions cited

Subsection 69.1(1) ____0____

Date modified:

2009-09-15