2023-2024 Annual Report to Parliament on the Administration of the Access to Information Act

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

The RCMP continues to modernize on the heels of its 150th anniversary in May 2023. The RCMP’s Strategic Plan, Vision150 and Beyond, represents an ambitious path to a modern, inclusive and trusted RCMP. This plan saw a renewed focus on technology, digital policing and improvements to organizational culture. As a federal, provincial, territorial and municipal policing body, the RCMP provides federal policing services to all Canadians and policing services under contract to the three territories, eight provinces, and more than 150 communities delivered through more than 700 detachments across Canada, 600 Indigenous communities and three international airports.

The RCMP's mandate is multifaceted and includes: preventing and investigating crime; maintaining peace and order; enforcing laws; contributing to national security; ensuring the safety of state officials, visiting dignitaries and foreign missions; and, providing vital operational support services to other police and law enforcement agencies within Canada and abroad.

A Commissioner leads the RCMP and is supported by a Senior Executive Committee (SEC) made up of regular members, civilian members and public servants. The role of SEC is to develop, promote and communicate strategic priorities, strategic objectives, management strategies and performance management for the purpose of direction and accountability.

The organization is subdivided into 15 divisions (ten provinces, three territories, Depot Division and National Headquarters in Ottawa), each of which is under the direction of a Commanding Officer or Director General.

National Headquarters includes 10 business lines and is structured as follows: Federal Policing, Contract and Indigenous Policing, Specialized Policing Services, Corporate Management and Comptrollership, Human Resources, Internal Audit and Evaluation, Professional Responsibility Sector, Strategic Policy and External Relations, and Legal Services.

May 2023 brought about an internal re-organization which saw the ATIP Branch re-align itself under the Chief Information Officer (CIO) responsible for the Information Management and Information Technology (IM/IT) Program. Even though this is not a common structure within government, it unites data, Information Management (IM) and Information Technology (IT) with ATIP enabling the modernization of the ATIP program. These benefits include a more high-profile role for the Branch in areas such as digital records management, open government, and the declassification of historical records.

Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Branch

The RCMP established the ATIP Branch in 1983, as the central point of contact for all matters arising from both the ATIA and/or the Privacy Act (PA). For the majority of this reporting period, the ATIP Branch fell within the IM/IT Branch of Specialized Policing Services.

The Director General acts on behalf of the head of the institution as the Departmental Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator for the RCMP. The ATIP Coordinator ensures compliance with both the spirit and the intent of the ATIA and PA, as well as all associated regulations, policies and guidelines. The Director General position is also tasked with leading the program’s broad modernization efforts.

During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the RCMP was not party to any service agreements in accordance with Section 96 of the ATIA.

Compliance

The ATIP Branch saw a decrease in compliance for the number of ATIA requests closed within the legislated time frame. In the 2023-2024 reporting period, compliance decreased to 35% from 42% in the previous fiscal year. The decrease is due to the substantial efforts undertaken to eliminate the backlog of dated requests. While this decrease does appear negative, it should be noted that the ATIP Branch closed more files in 2023-2024 than it did in 2022-2023 (6,374 files compared to 5,633 files) and processed more pages in 2023-2024 (1.6M pages) compared to 2022-2023 (941K pages). The increase in number of requests and pages processed helped maintain the compliance rate. As a main performance indicator across the ATIP field, compliance will continue to be impacted until this backlog is eliminated.

Requests Received and Closed

As noted in the Statistical Report in Appendix B, the RCMP received a total of 3,658 new requests under the ATIA in 2023-2024. In addition, there were 6,048 requests outstanding from the previous reporting periods for a total of 9,706 requests. Of these, 6,374 requests were completed and 3,332 requests carried over to the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Of the completed requests, 8.3% were fully disclosed and 54% were partially disclosed.

Generally, ATIA requests cover a variety of topics and can include information about contracts/program costs and expenses, information related to security issues, operational file material, as well as the management of the RCMP. Of note, approximately 85% of the ATIA requests processed were related to matters of a personal nature.

As demonstrated below, there has been a significant decrease in the number of requests received compared to the previous reporting period (3,658 in 2023-2024 compared to 5,510 in 2022-2023). In contrast, the number of requests closed for this reporting period increased by 15% compared to the previous fiscal year, and was 25% higher than the 2021-2022 fiscal year. This increase can be associated with the modernization of the program: increased staffing efforts, several process improvements, and the assistance of seasoned consultants.

The decrease in the number of ATIA requests received is directly related to the education efforts of the Branch. Guidance has been added to the TBS portal guiding more requesters to the Privacy Act to request their own personal information. This has benefited requesters as the PA requests can be made free of charge, have an expanded right of access, and grants requesters the right to correction, none of which exists under the ATIA. The decrease here is matched to an increase in requests made under the PA.

Sources of requests

During the 2023-2024 fiscal year, a total of 3,658 requests were received. The sources of these requests were as follows:

• 1,621 (44%) from the public
• 829 (23%) from business
• 243 (7%) from the media
• 62 (2%) from organizations
• 89 (2%) from academia
• 814 (22%) declined to identify

Requests completed with pages processed

The ATIP Branch’s level of output for the number of pages processed under the ATIA during the 2023-2024 fiscal year increased by 42% compared to the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and was 38% higher than the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Completion time

The ATIP Branch was able to complete a total of 1,113 (17%) requests in 30 days or less. During the reporting period, 1,093 (17%) requests were completed within 31-60 days, 430 (6.7%) were completed in 61-120 days and 3,738 (58%) were completed in more than 121 days. The noteworthy number of requests closed in more than 121 days can be attributed to the significant effort undertaken to conclude the most dated requests.

Extensions

Section 9 of the ATIA allows institutions to extend the statutory time limits to respond to a request beyond 30 days.

For the requests closed during the 2023-2024 reporting period, the RCMP sought a total of 4,274 extensions under section 9(1)(a), which pertains to unreasonable interference with operations.

A total of 8 extensions under section 9(1)(b), which pertains to necessary consultations were taken.

No extensions under section 9(1)(c) were taken for third-party consultation.

While the RCMP makes every effort to avoid extensions, the unique operational reality of the organization sometimes requires additional time to process requests. For example, during the wildfire season in British Columbia and Alberta, several detachments were structurally impacted at various levels, others had to close, and many were on Evacuation Alert. Similar restrictions were in place in Nova Scotia during the floods in summer 2023. Extensions were therefore sought for requests in these affected areas.

Consultations for other institutions

During the reporting period, the RCMP completed 348 consultations, totalling 27,457 pages reviewed. Of the 348 completed consultations, 289 were received from other Government of Canada (GC) institutions and 59 were from other organizations. Of those, 147 (50%) consultations from GC institutions were completed within 30 days, and 42 (71%) consultations from other organisations were completed within 30 days.

The number of consultations received rose by 16% this reporting period over the last. More importantly, the number of pages received in consultations rose by 34% from the previous reporting period. The RCMP continues to put an equal focus on consultations as a service to the ATIP community and in line with the expectations of the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) that consultation should not be used to extend the time in order to process requests.

Active outstanding requests from previous reporting periods

The significant work done to eliminate the backlog of requests can be seen in the numbers below. While there is still a backlog of requests to process, they are much more recent and this demonstrates the efforts made to improve the service the RCMP is providing to the public. At the conclusion of the 2023-2024 fiscal year, a total of 3,332 requests were outstanding which is a decrease of 44.9% compared to the previous reporting period. Of those outstanding, 9% were carried over within legislated timelines, and 90.8% were carried over beyond legislated timelines.

Here are the number of the carried over requests by fiscal year received:

• 1,269 (38%) received in 2023-2024
• 924 (28%) received in 2022-2023
• 605 (18%) received in 2021-2022
• 407 (12%) received in 2020-2021
• 79 (2%) received in 2019-2020
• 15 (less than 1%) received in 2018-2019
• 22 (less than 1%) received in 2017-2018
• 10 (less than 1%) received in 2016-2017
• 1 (less than 1%) received in 2015-2016 or earlier

*percentages have been rounded and do not add to 100

Active Outstanding Complaints from Previous Reporting Periods

At the conclusion of the reporting period, a total of 223 complaints were outstanding. Here are the number of outstanding complaints by the fiscal year received:

• 111 (50%) received in 2023-2024
• 66 (30%) received in 2022-2023
• 31 (14%) received in 2021-2022
• 3 (less than 1%) received in 2020-2021
• 11 (less than 1%) received in 2019-2020
• 0 (0%) received in 2018-2019
• 0 (0%) received in 2017-2018
• 0 (0%) received in 2016-2017
• 0 (0%) received in 2015-2016
• 1 (less than 1 %) received in 2014-2015 or earlier

*percentages have been rounded and do not add to 100

ATIP Modernization

In November 2020, the Information Commissioner of Canada released the results of a systemic investigation of the RCMP’s ATIP program, entitled Access at issue: The need for leadership. The report was highly critical of the RCMP’s ATIP program and identified 15 recommendations for improvement. Subsequently, the Minister of Public Safety issued a Direction to the RCMP to action the recommendations of the OIC’s review and submit a strategy outlining a way forward to be developed in consultation with the TBS. In response, the RCMP developed a strategy entitled Access Granted: Restoring Trust in the RCMP’s Access to Information Program, supported by an action plan, outlining initiatives to modernize the program.

The RCMP began implementation of the strategy in the 2021-2022 reporting period and is committed to seeing it through over the course of the next several years. The objective is to increase compliance rates and enhance public transparency. The RCMP posted the strategy, and is providing regular updates on the RCMP external website, and we encourage all Canadians to visit the site and monitor our progress.

Over the reporting period, the RCMP continued to make progress in implementing the strategy. While more details can be found on our external website, some key initiatives include:

Additional efforts include:

• As part of the RCMP’s response to major events, the ATIP Branch assigned key analysts who work directly with the record holders to retrieve relevant records. This provided a consistent and quick response due to their complete and unique knowledge of the records.
• The ATIP Branch was involved in the implementation of the Mass Casualty Commission’s recommendations following the events in Portapique, Nova Scotia. Advice and guidance were given to ensure the RCMP’s response was more open and transparent from the onset.
• The ATIP Branch regularly works with the RCMP’s Audit and Evaluation unit to conduct reviews with an ATIP like lens of all audits/reports prior to their publication
• Following a Ministerial Directive, the ATIP Branch continues to support the RCMP’s Management Advisory Board by conducting informal reviews prior to the publication of their recommendations which supports internal reform while remaining transparent with the public
• The ATIP Branch is working alongside internal stakeholders in order to respond to the document requests as part of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference. This highly sensitive topic requires careful scrutiny to ensure any potential disclosure meets the requirements of the Inquiry but does not harm any on-going investigations.
• The RCMP remains the co-lead of an Interdepartmental Leadership Working Group that exchanges best practices and identify areas for collaboration. Some of the topics discussed this year included complaints, privacy practices, software updates, professional development program, improved streamlining practices and backlog strategies.

These successes were not without their challenges. The ATIP environment has evolved significantly, and until the recent modernization efforts, the RCMP program has lagged behind. Over time, common issues emerged in the case management software used to manage requests, leading each user to develop their own workarounds. This unsustainable method, coupled with the decision to forgo maintenance support from the vendor, prompted the RCMP to renew maintenance contracts. The updates required 18 months of IT efforts to implement and were meant to resolve existing issues. However, the update completed in July 2023 resulted in several new and significant errors, notably the loss of automatically generated letter and email templates. The loss of these templates caused significant additional work per week to manually modify them for each recipient, slowing request processing times and increasing the risk of privacy breaches. Issues with the aging case management software persist despite the update. To meet legislated obligations, the RCMP must dedicate funds and efforts to procure a new request processing software solution before the software’s end of life. This update is currently stalled due to procurement issues at the Central Agency level.

In the previous reporting period, the RCMP joined the TBS ATIP Online Management Tool (AOMT) portal. This portal was designed to allow requesters to submit their requests under both the ATIA and the PA online, directly to the institution, upload any required supporting documentation, and even receive their release packages online. In practice, for the RCMP, this portal has slowed the processing time for each request received and added many additional manual steps that must be taken. The portal as first launched was cumbersome, and could not customized to the RCMP’s needs. The ATIP Branch has been working closely with TBS to try to improve the portal as approximately 80% of requests received via the portal require manual clarification by ATIP Branch employees, drastically adding to the time required to process each request. It is estimated that these additional steps are costing the RCMP ATIP Branch upwards of $100,000 a year. That said, it is hoped that working in tandem with TBS, a more customized portal will address these inefficiencies and be resolved in reporting period 2024-2025.

Complaints and investigations

During this reporting period, the RCMP continued to work collaboratively with the OIC to address complaints as efficiently as possible. Following the publication of the OIC's systemic investigation in November 2020 into the RCMP and its ATIA practices, concrete steps were taken to review and update internal processes to help ensure the RCMP meets its obligations under the Act.

As identified in the OIC's 2023-2024 annual report, the OIC received a record number of complaints from across government during this reporting period. As the OIC worked diligently to respond and investigate these complaints, departments and agencies had to respond accordingly to support the OIC investigative process, and respond to the inquiries of the Agent of Parliament. The RCMP was no exception to this, and had to respond accordingly to ensure that it was meeting its expectations.

As part of the modernization strategy, the ATIP Branch continued to utilize a dedicated team of ATIP personnel to serve as the primary point of contact for the OIC. The team is led by a manager responsible for coordinating complaints and assisting in complaint-related reporting to both the OIC, ATIP management and RCMP senior management. Regular monthly meetings are held between the OIC and the ATIP Branch to discuss file progression. These monthly meetings resulted in the resolution of more complaints and better collaboration with OIC and the ATIP Branch.

Since the Systemic Investigation in 2020 and the recommendations from the Modernization Action Plan have been implemented, significant improvement has been seen in the number of complaints received by the RCMP. Indeed, in 2023-2024, the RCMP received 215 complains. This is the lowest number of complaints received of the last six fiscal years.

Section 9 – Statistical Report

Section 9 of the Statistical Report in Appendix B also provides data on the complaints received and closed. Specifically, for the 2023-2024 reporting period, the RCMP received and provided the following under the ATIA:

Section 32

The RCMP received 215 notices, which represents 5.9% of all requests received during the reporting period. The majority of the complaints received relate to delays, where the RCMP was unable to respond within 30 days and therefore considered in deemed refusal in accordance with the Act. Under this section, the OIC formally notifies the institution of their intent to investigate a complaint received.

Section 30(5)

The RCMP received 212 notices. Under this section, if the OIC refuses or ceases to investigate a complaint, it notifies the complainant, the institution and, if applicable, any third party and the Privacy Commissioner.

Section 35

The RCMP provided 101 formal representations. Under this section, the OIC provides an opportunity to institutions to provide representation to an ongoing complaint investigation.

Section 36.1

The RCMP received six (6) intent to order notifications. Under this section the OIC may issue an order to the institution to release the requested information.

Section 37(1)

The RCMP received six (6) initial reports. Under this section, the OIC finds that the complaint is well founded and provides the institution the findings of their investigation, specific recommendations to remedy the issue, and when appropriate, a specific time frame that the OIC can expect a plan to implement the recommendations. The institution must then decide on whether to implement the recommendations.

Section 37(2)

63 Final reports were issued during the reporting period. No reports contained recommendations and six (6) stated the OIC's intent to order. Four (4) formal orders were received from the OIC during this reporting period. In each case, the RCMP advised the OIC of our intent to comply with the Order and in all cases, the records were released in compliance with the Order.

Court Action

Three (3) court proceedings were actioned with respect to access requests processed within the 2023-2024 fiscal year, and none were discontinued/concluded or dismissed in this reporting period.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act Delegation Order

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, pursuant to section 73 of the Access to Information Act and of the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the position set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers and functions of the Minister as the head of a government institution, that is, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, under the section of the Act set out in the Schedule opposite each position. This designation replaces and nullifies all such designations previously signed and dated by the Minister.

Signed, at the City of Ottawa, this 4 day of December, 2015

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Section 1: Requests under the Access to Information Act

Section 2: Informal requests

Section 3: Applications to the Information Commissioner on declining to act on requests

Section 4: Requests closed during the reporting period

4.5 Complexity

4.6. Closed requests

4.7 Deemed refusals

Section 5: Extensions

Section 6: Fees

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on cabinet confidences

Section 9: Investigations and reports of finding

Section 10: Court action

Section 11: Resources related to the Access to Information Act

Note: Enter values to three decimal places.

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

Section 2: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

Section 3: Social insurance number

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act