Privacy Act - Annual report 2021-22

Table of contents

• Introduction
  • The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying
  • Responsibility for Information Rights and Delegation of Authority
• Administration of the Privacy Act
  • Statistical Report
  • Fees
  • Information Holdings
  • OCL Website
  • Reading Room
  • Education and Training Activities
  • Privacy Impact Assessments
  • Disclosure of Personal Information
  • New/Revised Policies, Guidelines and Procedures Implemented
  • Complaints
  • Application to the Federal Court
  • Data Matching and Sharing Activities
  • Time to Process Access to Information Request Monitoring
  • Material Privacy Breaches
• Annex A — Delegation Order
• Annex B — 2021-22 Statistical Report

This publication is available upon request in accessible formats.

Introduction

The Privacy Act (Revised Statute of Canada 1985, Chapter P-21) was proclaimed on July 1, 1983. The Privacy Act extends to individual Canadian citizens and permanent residents, the right of access to information about themselves held by the government, subject to specific and limited exceptions. The Privacy Act also protects the individual's right to privacy by preventing others from having access to personal information and gives individuals substantial control over its collection and use.

Section 72 of the Privacy Act requires that the head of every government institution prepare an annual report on the administration of the Privacy Act within the institution during each financial year for submission to Parliament.

This annual report is submitted by the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying (OCL) in accordance with the Privacy Act. It describes how the OCL fulfilled its responsibilities under this Act during the reporting period from April 1st, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

The Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying

The Commissioner of Lobbying’s mandate, derived from the Lobbying Act (the Act), is to ensure transparency of the lobbying of federal public office holders. This contributes to increasing the confidence Canadians have in the integrity of government decision making.

The mandate of the Commissioner is threefold:

• maintaining the Registry of Lobbyists, which contains and makes public the registration information disclosed by lobbyists;
• developing and implementing educational programs to foster public awareness of the requirements of the Act; and
• conducting investigations to ensure compliance with the Act and the Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct (the Code).

Under the Act, the Commissioner of Lobbying also has the authority to grant exemptions to former designated public office holders who are subject to a five-year prohibition on lobbying activities.

The Commissioner reports annually to Parliament on the administration of the Act and the Code. The Commissioner is also required to table to Parliament reports on investigations, which include her findings, conclusions and the reasons for her conclusions.

Responsibility for Information Rights and Delegation of Authority

The Privacy Act provides the authority to the Commissioner of Lobbying to exercise full powers granted under the Act. The OCL’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Coordinator is delegated the authority via a Delegation Order, of which a copy is attached in Annex A. The OCL has two positions responsible for the administration of the Privacy Act, an ATIP Coordinator and an Administrative Services Officer.

The Director of Corporate Services was the ATIP Coordinator from April 1st, 2021 to March 31, 2022. The ATIP Coordinator is responsible for the development, coordination and implementation of effective policies, guidelines and procedures to manage the OCL’s compliance with the Privacy Act. The coordinator makes decisions on the disposition of requests under the Privacy Act, promotes awareness of the legislation to ensure organizational responsiveness to its obligations, as well as monitors and advises on compliance with the Privacy Act, regulations, procedures and policies. Further, the Coordinator acts as spokesperson for the OCL in dealings with the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Privacy Commissioner, and other government departments and agencies. The coordinator is also responsible for conducting consultations with other governments within Canada and other federal organizations, as required. Finally, the Coordinator is the point of contact on issues involving the collection of personal information and privacy.

An Administrative Services Officer also provides support to the ATIP Coordinator on the process of any requests received under the Privacy Act.

Due to the limited number of requests received, the OCL did not dispose of any service agreements under section 73.1 of the Privacy Act during the reporting period from April 1st, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

Under the Act, the OCL collects information from registrants and lobbyists and the disclosures filed by registrants are accessible on the Registry of Lobbyists at the following address: lobbycanada.gc.ca.

The OCL’s Annual Report and Reports on Investigations must be tabled in both Houses of Parliament. They are also posted on the OCL’s website and on the Open Government Portal under the AIA requesting that all reports tabled in Parliament be proactively disclosed.

Administration of the Privacy Act

Statistical Report

Annex B provides a statistical summary of requests under the Privacy Act. In 2021-22, the OCL received one request under the Act. Since this request was received at the end of the reporting period, the legislated timeline was carried over to the next reporting period.

Over the past five years, the OCL has received only one requests under the Privacy Act and no consultation from other institutions.

Requests outstanding from previous reporting periods

At the beginning of 2021-22, the OCL had no active request that were outstanding from previous reporting periods.

Since the OCL received its only request at the end of 2021-22, the request was not closed during this reporting period and was carried over to the next reporting period.

COVID-19 impacts

As the employees of the OCL could already telework before the pandemic and because the Office receives limited Privacy requests, the COVID-19 pandemic did not have a major impact on the processing of privacy requests for the year 2021-22. Therefore, the OCL did not have to put in place mitigation measures.

Fees

No fees are applicable under the Privacy Act.

Information Holdings

The OCL is responsible for providing a full accounting of information holdings to the Treasury Board Secretariat and ensuring that updates are provided for inclusion in the Canada.ca publication. This publication contains a description of the classes of institutional records held by the OCL, and can be obtained through public or academic libraries or it may be viewed online on the Treasury Board Secretariat’s website at Canada.ca. The OCL does not have any exempt banks.

OCL Website

The OCL’s website available at lobbycanada.gc.ca, allows the user to access and search the Registry of Lobbyists, as well as to obtain copies of reports, including the OCL’s annual reports on Access to Information and Privacy. Summaries of completed requests are available on the OCL website.

Reading Room

A reading room is available at the OCL’s office, situated on the 8th floor at 410 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1R 1B7.

Education and Training Activities

In 2021-22, the OCL did not provide any education and training activity regarding the Privacy Act to its staff.

Privacy Impact Assessments

No privacy impact assessments were conducted by the OCL in 2021-22.

Disclosure of Personal Information

There were no disclosures of personal information by the OCL during the reporting period pursuant to each of the following provisions of the Privacy Act: paragraphs 8(2)(m), 19(1)(e) or (f), or sections 22.2, 22.3, 69.1 or 70.1.

New/Revised Policies, Guidelines and Procedures Implemented

During the reporting period, the OCL did not implement new policies, guidelines, procedures or initiatives related to the Privacy Act.

Complaints

No complaints concerning the Privacy Act were received from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in 2021-22.

At the beginning of 2021-22, the OCL had no active complaint concerning the Privacy Act that was outstanding from previous reporting periods. 

Application to the Federal Court

There were no applications filed in 2021-22 related to the Privacy Act.

Data Matching and Sharing Activities

No data matching or sharing activities were undertaken during 2021-22.

Time to Process Access to Information Request Monitoring

Given the small number of requests received and processed by the OCL, no formal monitoring system was required during the reporting period.

Material Privacy Breaches

No Material Privacy Breaches occurred in 2021-22.

Annex A — Delegation Order

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation Order

October 29, 2020

The Commissioner of Lobbying, pursuant to section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act and section 73 of the Privacy Act, hereby designates the person holding the position set out in the schedule hereto, or the person occupying on an acting basis that position, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the Commissioner of Lobbying as the head of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying, under the provisions of the Act and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

Schedule

Position

Director of Corporate Services

Access to Information Act and Regulations

Full authority

Privacy Act and Regulations

Full authority

Nancy Bélanger

Annex B — 2021-22 Statistical report

Statistical report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution: Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada

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

Section 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

1.1 Number of requests received