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ComplaintsAnnual Report on the Access to Information Act for the period ending March 31, 2020

Individuals who are not satisfied with the processing of their access to information request can file a complaint with the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada (OIC).

The OIC received a total of 6 complaints against Elections Canada in 2019–2020. At the beginning of the reporting period, the OIC also had 4 outstanding complaints received in previous years to consider. Six complaints against Elections Canada were closed in 2019–2020.

The OIC determined that two complaints, one received in 2016–2017 and one received in 2018–2019, were well founded. Elections Canada had released additional information to the complainant subsequent to the OIC investigation for the first complaint and had responded to the request after the statutory deadline for the second complaint. One complaint received in 2019–2020 was resolved as the OIC determined that Elections Canada had already provided the records to the requester prior to the start of their investigation. Another complaint received in 2019–2020 alleging that Elections Canada had failed to conduct a reasonable search for records was discontinued by the complainant. The OIC determined that two other complaints received in 2019–2020 were not well founded as Elections Canada had accurately responded to the request or had conducted a reasonable search for records.

Two complaints from 2019–2020, one alleging that Elections Canada refused to process a request and the other alleging that Elections Canada had improperly applied exemptions so as to unjustifiably deny access to the requested information, are still under investigation.