Report on the administration of the Privacy Act 2018-2019

Summary of the purpose of the Privacy Act

The Privacy Act (the Act), promulgated on July 1, 1983, aims to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a government institution.

The purpose of the Act is to protect personal information by allowing individuals to consult information about them. It also imposes strict controls on how such information is gathered, used and shared.

Annual report prepared in accordance with section 72

This document was prepared in response to section 72 of the Act, which requires federal institutions to submit an annual report to Parliament on administration of the Act. This report provides details on activities related to administration of the Act at Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED).

Mandate of the institution

CED is one of the regional development agencies (RDA) that make up the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Portfolio. Quebec communities and businesses—especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)— are at the heart of its action. Through the projects it funds and its networking and integration role, CED is the key federal actor in the Quebec entrepreneurial ecosystem.

CED maintains client relations with businesses and supports them in their projects. It makes strategic investments that promote competitive regional advantages and support the transition and modernization of communities. Aiming to position Quebec businesses at the leading edge of tomorrow’s economy, CED focuses on business growth, innovation, clean technologies, inclusive economy and the participation of groups that are generally underrepresented in the labor market.

Well rooted in the regions thanks to its 12 business offices, CED builds on collaboration and creating synergies with businesses, communities, supporting organizations and other levels of government to increase the quality and impact of its programs. For example, it forms partnerships to foster a concerted action by regional economic development actors and ensures a better exchange of information between federal organizations.

CED provides a regional strategic perspective that supports national priorities and works with other departments to ensure coordination of government policies and programs. Its action has a significant impact on Quebec communities and businesses, not only through its direct investments, but also because it contributes to understanding the economic development needs of the regions.

CED’s Grants and Contributions Programs and Initiatives, in effect in 2018–19

The main recipients of CED’s programs are SMEs, business groups or associations and NPOs whose principal mission is to support businesses or economic development. These programs include repayable and non-repayable contributions.

To learn more about the Agency’s mandate, programming and operations, go to its Web site: www.dec-ced.gc.ca.

Access to Information and Privacy Office

CED fulfills its Access to Information Act (ATI) and Privacy Act (PA) responsibilities with an Access to Information and Privacy Office (AIPO) to process requests. The AIPO reports directly to the Deputy Minister / President’s Chief of Staff.

AIPO has an access to information and privacy coordinator, as well as an advisor and a coordinating agent. The coordinator, with the help of the advisor and agent, oversees compliance with legislation, regulations, procedures and broad government trends.

Through its delegated authority, AIPO represents the Agency on matters relating to the Act in dealings with the public, Treasury Board Secretariat, the Commissioners of Information and Privacy and other federal departments and institutions.

CED’s enabling legislation identifies its head as being the Deputy Minister / President. In addition to managing the institution and overseeing management of its personnel, the Deputy Minister / President is responsible for application of the Privacy Act.

To this end, the authority for application of the Act was delegated to the Coordinator, Access to Information and Privacy, while most administrative authority was delegated to the Advisor, Access to Information and Parliamentary Affairs.

A copy of the signed and dated delegation order is attached to this report.

Requests received and processed

Over fiscal year 2018-19, eleven privacy requests were received. There was no request carried over from the previous year. Although the eleven requests processed this year is an increase over the last year, each of the requests received were abandoned during the reporting period. Ever since CED has been accepting privacy requests submitted on-line, more requests are abandoned because they were submitted to CED by mistake. The ATIP Office redirected and advised the requesters to submit a new request to the appropriate department and to abandon the request submitted to CED following an error in the applicant's identification of the department. The abandon rate is an increase from the five requests abandoned last year and continues a trend reported over the last three years. As a result, CED received no privacy request for which a response was provided. Owing to its economic development activities, CED holds numerous documents containing information on third parties, but very little in the way of personal information.

The following table illustrates the number of privacy requests received since 2014-15. Excluding abandoned requests, CED has only processed five privacy requests over that period.

Disposition, completion times and extensions

The Act stipulates that privacy requests must normally be answered within 30 calendar days. Extensions may be granted in only rare instances. Each of the eleven requests was abandoned prior to day 15 after it was received.

Exemptions and exclusions invoked

Because CED had no privacy request for which a response was provided, there was no exemption or exclusion invoked during the reporting period.

Pages processed and disclosed

There were no pages processed as part of the eleven requests that were abandoned during 2018-19. As such, no pages were disclosed. During the previous period, CED had processed and released 871 pages. Since CED rarely processes privacy requests, there is no trend that can be detected.

Consultations

CED did not resort to any consultation while processing both privacy requests. Also, CED did not process any consultation from other institutions.

Costs

Expenditures related to the administration of the Act totalled $12,036 in 2018-19. That amount includes $11,752 in salaries for 0.14 full-time equivalents. A total of $284 was spent on travel costs, software leasing, supplies and translation services.

Statistical Report

A copy of the 2018-19 statistical report on the administration of the Privacy Act is attached to this report.

In 2018-19, one training session was delivered to seven CED employees. The AIPO always remains available to deliver specific training to employees, whose duties call for a certain grasp of matters that relate to the protection of personal information.

Since 2017-18, CED’s Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator became an associated faculty member of the Canada School of Public Service. In that capacity, he delivered courses titled “Access to Information in the Government of Canada” and “Privacy in the Government of Canada Privacy in the Government of Canada” during the reporting period.

DEC did not implement any new policies, guidelines, procedures or initiatives during the reporting period.

However, CED is continuing to implement its plan put into place last year in order for to comply with the new proactive disclosure requirements once royal assent is given to Bill C-58, which will amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. This plan details the actions CED has to undertake to proactively disclose new information, such as briefing packages for new or changing deputy heads, briefing package prepared for the deputy head and public servants for parliamentary committee appearances and titles and tracking numbers of briefing notes to submitted to the minister and deputy heads.

Complaints

During fiscal year 2018-19, CED did not receive any complaints regarding a privacy request.

Audits and investigations

CED was not the subject of any audit over the reporting period, nor was CED under any investigation.

Monitoring of the processing time

The AIPO ensures the time to process privacy requests is monitored through a weekly report of on-going requests. The report provides the details of each request, such as the due date and current status, i.e. documents being retrieved, under review, in consultation or in the approval process. This report is distributed to CED’s senior management, including its Deputy Head.

Since 2011, the AIPO has equipped itself with software to manage and track access to information requests and privacy requests. This program makes it easier to follow every activity and task related to any request and serves as a tool to monitor processing time to comply with the provisions on timeframes as set out in the Act.

Requests for correction

Requests for correction of personal information are processed by the AIPO and a record is kept within an internal tracking system. There was no request for correction of personal information made over the reporting period.

There was no material privacy breach that occurred over the reporting period.

No privacy impact assessment was conducted over the reporting period.

During fiscal year 2018-19, no information was disclosed pursuant to subsection 8.(2)(m) of the Privacy Act.

The President, pursuant to section 73 of the Privacy Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions set out in the schedule hereto, or the persons occupying on an acting basis those positions, to exercise the powers, duties and functions of the President as the head of the Economic Development Agency for the Regions of Quebec, under the provisions of the Act and related regulations set out in the schedule opposite each position. This designation replaces all previous delegation orders.

* Legal advice obtained beforehand

I approve the delegation schedule.

Name of institution: Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions

Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2019-03-31

Part 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

Part 2: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

2.5 Complexity

2.6 Deemed refusals

Part 3 - Disclosures Under Subsection 8(2) and 8(5)

Part 4 - Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

Part 5 - Extensions

Part 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

Part 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

Part 8: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received

Part 9: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs)

Part 10: Resources Related to the Privacy Act

Note: Enter values to two decimal places.