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Administration of the Privacy ActAnnual Report on the Privacy Act for the period ending March 31, 2020

2.1. Education and training

Privacy training at Elections Canada typically involves educating staff on the principles of the Act; how to securely manage privacy requests and protect personal information. In the 2019–2020 fiscal year, Elections Canada delivered 6 formal ATIP training and awareness sessions for 56 employees of various levels. All of the sessions provided an overview of the ATIP process, legislation, roles and responsibilities. A presentation was also given to the Enterprise Project Management Office team on Elections Canada's Privacy Breach Protocol. The ATIP Office also raised awareness of privacy issues throughout the agency when providing advice on the collection, retention, use and disclosure of personal information.

2.2. Institutional privacy policies and procedures

Elections Canada updated its Privacy Breach Protocol before the 43rd general election. Several information tools and guidance documents were developed to assist employees of the institution understand their privacy responsibilities. Towards the end of the reporting period, Elections Canada adjusted its ATIP request procedures for Offices of Primary Interest (OPI) to allow for the electronic sign-off by executive committee members of OPI responses to ATIP requests. The ATIP Office also started to send out responses to requesters electronically, whenever possible, instead of by regular mail or courier. These changes were implemented because of the situation with COVID-19 and the transition to remote work.

Elections Canada is continuing to review its other ATIP tools and procedures and update them as required.

2.3. Institutional monitoring of privacy requests

The ATIP Office uses its case management software to monitor the status of each request being processed, including the number of days remaining before the statutory deadline. A weekly progress report of all open and recently closed files is regularly provided to senior officials, including the Chief Electoral Officer and the Executive Committee.

2.4. Material privacy breaches

A material privacy breach is any unauthorized collection, use, disclosure, retention or disposal of sensitive personal information that could reasonably be expected to cause injury or harm to the individual.

No material privacy breaches were reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner or to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat by Elections Canada during the reporting period.

2.5. Privacy impact assessments

Elections Canada consistently conducts privacy impact assessments (PIA) to address privacy risks in new or existing departmental programs, initiatives or projects that manage personal information.

One PIA was completed by Elections Canada during the 2019–2020 fiscal year. The PIA looked at the risks to privacy associated with Elections Canada's Political Entities Service Centre (PESC). The PESC is Elections Canada's online portal for candidates, their campaigns, and political entities. It provides political entities online access to a variety of electoral services and documents.

The PIA summaries can be found on the EC website at elections.ca > Resource Centre > Reports > Proactive Disclosure > Privacy Impact Assessments, where available.