Office of the Auditor General of CanadaAnnual Report on the Privacy Act—2021–22

Introduction

The Privacy Act gives individuals the right to access information about themselves that is held by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG), subject to certain specific and limited exceptions. The Privacy Act also protects the privacy of individuals by giving them substantial control over the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information and by preventing others from having access to that information.

Section 72 of the act requires the head of each government institution to prepare an annual report on the administration of the act within the institution and to submit the report to Parliament.

This annual report on the Privacy Act at the OAG describes how we administered our responsibilities under the act during the 2021–22 fiscal year.

Who we are

The OAG audits federal government operations and provides Parliament with independent information, advice, and assurance regarding the federal government’s stewardship of public funds.

We are in the business of legislative auditing. We conduct

• performance audits of federal departments and agencies
• annual financial audits of the government’s financial statements
• special examinations and annual financial audits of Crown corporations
• audits of the governments of Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories

Since 1995, the OAG has also had a specific environmental and sustainable development mandate, which is carried out by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development on behalf of the Auditor General of Canada. The Commissioner has additional responsibilities under the Federal Sustainable Development Act and the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act to review and monitor the Government of Canada’s sustainable development strategies and its implementation of measures aimed at mitigating climate change.

Access to Information and Privacy team

The Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Coordinator is a member of the Legal Services, ATIP, and Policy team headed by the OAG’s General Counsel. The full-time ATIP Coordinator is supported by a junior analyst, counsel, and administrative staff as required. The main activities of the ATIP Coordinator included

• monitoring compliance with ATIP legislation and relevant procedures and policies
• processing requests under both the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act
• developing and maintaining policies, procedures, and guidelines to ensure that the OAG respected the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act
• promoting awareness of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act within the OAG to ensure that employees were aware of their responsibilities
• preparing annual reports to Parliament and other statutory reports, as well as other material that might be required by central agencies
• representing the OAG in dealings with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the information and privacy commissioners, and other government departments and agencies in matters pertaining to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act
• helping the OAG meet its commitments to ensure openness and transparency, through proactive and informal disclosure of information

Performance

Completion time for closed requests

During the reporting period, from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, the OAG received 2 formal Privacy Act requests. One of the requests was completed during the reporting period, and the other was carried over to the next reporting period.

Trends

The OAG responds to multiple requests throughout the year from individuals seeking informal feedback, input, or advice regarding whether they should submit a formal request for their personal information, either to the OAG or to another institution.

The OAG processed and completed a total of 4 formal requests for personal information during the past 3 reporting periods, including the period of this report.

Training and awareness

The OAG requires that all employees complete mandatory ATIP training, offered by the Canada School of Public Service as an online, self-paced course.

All new OAG employees are required to complete the training within 3 months of the start date of their employment.

During the reporting period, 150 employees completed this training.

The ATIP Coordinator regularly provides OAG employees with guidance and briefings on the processing of ATIP requests. Furthermore, information is available on the OAG’s internal website to help raise employees’ awareness of privacy issues, such as the collection, retention, use, and disclosure of personal information.

Impact of COVID‑19 measures

During the reporting period, the OAG was not affected by measures related to the COVID‑19 pandemic.

Administration of the Privacy Act

Requests under the Privacy Act

Disposition of completed requests

The OAG completed 1 formal Privacy Act request during the reporting period. The records were disclosed in their entirety.

Exemptions invoked

The OAG did not invoke any exemptions during the reporting period.

Exclusions cited

The OAG did not cite any exclusions during the reporting period.

Completion time

The request which was completed during the reporting period was completed within the 30‑day legislated time frame.

Extension of time limits

The OAG did not invoke any extensions during the reporting period.

Method of access

For the request which was closed during the reporting period, digital copies of the records were provided to the requester.

Operational costs

The costs directly associated with the administration of the Privacy Act for the reporting period are estimated to be $22,755 for salaries. This salary amount includes time spent by the ATIP Coordinator, part-time members of the ATIP team, and all OAG employees and contractors on all privacy-related activities. The OAG is able to estimate salary costs for time spent on all ATIP-related activities because of the OAG’s timekeeping software and practices, which require all employees to charge time spent on ATIP matters.

Complaints and investigations

The OAG did not receive any complaints pursuant to the Privacy Act during this reporting period, and no investigations regarding the OAG were carried out.

Disclosure of personal information under section 8(2)

The OAG did not disclose any personal information pursuant to section 8(2) during the reporting period.

Requests for correction of personal information

No requests for correction of personal information were received during the reporting period.

Monitoring compliance

The OAG uses a case management system that tracks both active and closed requests. The system is designed to track legislative deadlines.

The ATIP team holds biweekly meetings a to discuss request-related activities, determine timelines, and help ensure that all team members are informed of the status of files. Regular meetings are also held with the General Counsel as the executive member responsible for ATIP matters.

Senior officials, up to and including the Auditor General, are advised about compliance with legislative, policy, and regulatory obligations, as requested or required.

As reflected in part 12.2 of the Appendix, the OAG dedicated 0.520 person-years to Privacy Act–related activities.

Breaches

One material privacy breach occurred during the reporting period. An environmental petitioner’s personal information (email and telephone number) was inadvertently sent to the wrong person by email. The affected people were informed, and the breach was reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Completed privacy impact assessments

Vaccine attestation reporting system

The Canadian government announced its plan for implementing a mandatory vaccination policy across the federal public service on 6 October 2021. As a separate employer, the OAG had to manage the implementation of this policy for its offices across Canada.

The goal of this project was to develop a strategy and tool for capturing, storing, and reporting data for the vaccination attestation process at the OAG.

Audit working paper software replacement project

The OAG has acquired CaseWare, an audit working paper software, to conduct its legislative audits of the federal government, Crown corporations, and the territorial governments.

The new audit working paper solution is expected to increase efficiencies and expand the OAG’s capabilities in conducting its operations.

The OAG has been using and relying on TeamMate AM as its core working paper software for over a decade. However, TeamMate AM will no longer be supported, and its end of life is expected in April 2023.

CaseWare alters the way in which personal information collected during the audit process is used, retained, or destroyed. For this reason, the OAG completed a privacy impact assessment to identify and mitigate the risks presented by using new methods of processing audit records.

Preliminary (informal) assessments

For all new or amended projects, the OAG has implemented a mandatory process that requires the completion of a Preliminary Privacy Assessment checklist. This document ensures that personal information elements are considered before and during the completion of the project.

This process also identifies the required elements for a formal privacy impact assessment, which is initiated if the preliminary assessment identifies the need for one.

During the reporting period, the OAG completed 15 preliminary assessments.

Appendix—Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution: Office of the Auditor General of Canada

Reporting period: 2021-04-01 to 2022-03-31

Section 1: Requests Under the Privacy Act

1.1 Number of requests received

1.2 Channels of requests

Section 2: Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

2.2 Channels of informal requests

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

2.4 Pages released informally

Section 3: Requests Closed During the Reporting Period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

3.2 Exemptions

3.3 Exclusions

3.4 Format of information released

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e‑record formats

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed per request disposition for paper and e‑record formats by size of requests

3.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

3.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests

3.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

3.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests

3.5.7 Other complexities

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

3.7.2 Requests closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

3.8 Requests for translation

Section 4: Disclosures Under Subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Section 5: Requests for Correction of Personal Information and Notations

Section 6: Extensions

6.1 Reasons for extensions

6.2 Length of extensions

Section 7: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

7.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

7.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada

Section 8: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Section 9: Complaints and Investigations Notices Received

Section 10: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and Personal Information Banks (PIBs)

10.1 Privacy impact assessments

10.2 Institution-specific and central personal information banks

Section 11: Privacy Breaches

11.1 Material privacy breaches reported

11.2 Non-material privacy breaches

Section 12: Resources Related to the Privacy Act

12.1 Allocated costs

12.2 Human Resources