Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Access to Information Regulations.

Interpretation

2 In these Regulations,

Access to Information Request Form

Access to Information Request Form means the form prescribed by the designated Minister pursuant to paragraph 70(1)(b) of the Act for the purpose of requesting access to records under the control of a government institution; (formule de demande d’accès à l’information)

Act

Act means the Access to Information Act; (Loi)

appropriate officer

appropriate officer means the officer of a government institution whose title and address is published pursuant to paragraph 5(1)(d) of the Act. (fonctionnaire compétent)

Limitation on Production of Records

3 For the purpose of subsection 4(3) of the Act, a record that does not exist but can be produced from a machine readable record under the control of a government institution need not be produced where the production thereof would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution.

Procedures

4 A request for access to a record under the Act shall be made by forwarding to the appropriate officer of the government institution that has control of the record, together with the required application fee,

• (a) a completed Access to Information Request Form; or

• (b) a written request that provides sufficient detail to enable the officer to identify the record.

5 Where access to a record is to be given to a person under the Act, the head of the government institution that has control of the record shall, where appropriate, forthwith inform the person

• (a) that the record may be examined by that person in order to save the cost of reproduction of the record;

• (b) that the person may specify that he requires only certain parts of the record to be reproduced;

• (c) of any amount required to be paid as a deposit before the search or production of the record is undertaken or the record is prepared for disclosure;

• (d) of the estimated total cost of the search for the record and preparation of the record for disclosure; and

• (e) of any amount required to be paid before access is given to the record including the cost of production or reproduction.

Transfer of Request

• 6 (1) The head of a government institution may, within 15 days after a request for access to a record is received by the institution, transfer the request to another government institution as provided in subsection 8(1) of the Act, on condition that the head of the other government institution consents to process the request within the time limit set out for such a request in the Act.

• (2) A request that has been transferred under subsection (1) shall not be transferred to a third government institution.

Fees

• 7 (1) Subject to subsection 11(6) of the Act, a person who makes a request for access to a record shall pay

  • (a) an application fee of $5 at the time the request is made;

  • (b) where applicable, a fee for reproduction of the record or part thereof to be calculated in the following manner:

    • (i) for photocopying a page with dimensions of not more than 21.5 cm by 35.5 cm, $0.20 per page,

    • (ii) for microfiche duplication, non-silver, $0.40 per fiche,

    • (iii) for 16 mm microfilm duplication, non-silver, $12 per 30.5 m roll,

    • (iv) for 35 mm microfilm duplication, non-silver, $14 per 30.5 m roll,

    • (v) for microform to paper duplication, $0.25 per page, and

    • (vi) for magnetic tape-to-tape duplication, $25 per 731.5 m reel; and

  • (c) where the record or part thereof is produced in an alternative format, a fee, not to exceed the amount that would be charged for the record under paragraph (b),

    • (i) of $.05 per page of braille, on paper with dimensions of not more than 21.5 cm by 35.5 cm,

    • (ii) of $.05 per page of large print, on paper with dimensions of not more than 21.5 cm by 35.5 cm,

    • (iii) of $2.50 per audiocassette, or

    • (iv) of $2 per microcomputer diskette.

• (2) Where the record requested pursuant to subsection (1) is a non-computerized record, the head of the government institution may, in addition to the fee prescribed by paragraph (1)(a), require payment in the amount of $2.50 per person per quarter hour for every hour in excess of five hours that is spent by any person on search and preparation.

• (3) Where the record requested pursuant to subsection (1) is produced from a machine readable record, the head of the government institution may, in addition to any other fees, require payment for the cost of production and programming calculated in the following manner:

  • (a) $16.50 per minute for the cost of the central processor and all locally attached devices; and

  • (b) $5 per person per quarter hour for time spent on programming a computer.

Access

• 8 (1) Where a person is given access to a record or part thereof under the control of a government institution, the head of the institution may require that the person be given an opportunity to examine the record or part thereof, rather than a copy of the record or part thereof if,

  • (a) the record or part thereof is so lengthy that reproduction of the record or part thereof would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution; or

  • (b) the record or part thereof is in a form that does not readily lend itself to reproduction.

• (1.1) Where a person is given access to a record or part thereof under the control of a government institution, the head of the institution shall provide the person with an opportunity to examine the record or part thereof, rather than with a copy of the record or part thereof, where providing a copy to that person is prohibited by or under another Act of Parliament.

• (2) Where a person is given access to a record under the control of a government institution, the head of the institution may require that the person be given a copy of the record, rather than an opportunity to examine it if,

  • (a) the record forms a disclosable part of a record for which disclosure may otherwise be refused under the Act and from which it cannot reasonably be severed for examination; or

  • (b) the record is in a form that does not readily lend itself to examination.

• (3) Where access to a record under the control of a government institution is given in the form of an opportunity to examine the record, the head of the government institution shall

  • (a) provide reasonable facilities for the examination; and

  • (b) set a time for the examination that is convenient both for the institution and the person.

• (4) The head of a government institution shall not give a person who requests access to any record access thereto until that person has paid any fee or other amount or part thereof required to be paid under the Act and these Regulations in respect of that request.

Limitations in Respect of Format

• 8.1 (1) For the purposes of subsection 4(2.1) of the Act, if access to a record involves giving a copy of the record, the copy does not have to be provided in the requested format if the record does not exist in that format within the government institution and the head of the government institution considers, taking into account the factors described in subsection (3), that the conversion of the record to the requested format is unreasonable.

• (2) If the head of the government institution considers that the conversion of the record to the requested format is unreasonable, the copy of the record must be provided in a format chosen by the person making the request

  • (a) from a format in which the record already exists within the government institution; or

  • (b) from a format the conversion to which the head of the government institution considers is reasonable taking into account the factors described in subsection (3).

• (3) The following factors are to be taken into account in determining if the conversion to the requested format is reasonable or unreasonable:

  • (a) the costs to the government institution;

  • (b) the potential degradation of the record;

  • (c) if the person making the request is to be given access to only a part of a record, the facility with which the record may be severed in the format requested;

  • (d) the existence of the record within the government institution in another format that is useful to the person making the request;

  • (e) the possibility that the record can be converted to another format that is useful to the person making the request;

  • (f) the impact on the operations of the government institution;

  • (g) the availability of the required personnel, resources, technology and equipment.

Investigative Bodies

9 The investigative bodies for the purpose of paragraph 16(1)(a) of the Act are the investigative bodies set out in Schedule I to these Regulations.

Classes of Investigations

10 The classes of investigations for the purpose of paragraph 16(4)(c) of the Act are the classes of investigations set out in Schedule II to these Regulations.