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Access to Information Review Task Force





 

Report 23 - Access to Information Review Task Force

ISSUES AND OPTIONS REGARDING FEES UNDER THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT


Appendix I

ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT: CRITERIA FOR FEE WAIVERS

Subsection 11(6) provides that the head of a government institution may waive, reduce, or refund any fees payable under the Act and the Regulations.

The decision to waive, reduce or refund fees should be made on a case-by-case basis by assessing:

  1. whether the information is normally made available without a charge;
  2. the degree to which a general public benefit is obtained through the release of information

It should be noted that the circumstances of the requester and the requester's reasons for seeking information may be taken into consideration in a fee waiver decision, even though these are not proper factors to consider in deciding whether or not to grant access.

In view of the costs involved in administering fees, government institutions should consider waiving the requirement to pay fees, other than the application fee, if the amount payable is less than $25.00


Appendix II: Fee Schedule Comparison by Jurisdiction

 

Jurisdiction Application fee Frivolous or Vexatious Fee Waiver Free Hours Categories of Requesters Preperation and Handling Review and Severing Reproduction
Federal ATI Act allows up to $25; current fee $5 No At discretion of department; criteria in guidelines 5 hours for search and preparation No Yes, $10 per hour No Yes
British Columbia No Yes At discretion of Head of public body, criteria: public interest or financial hardship 3 hours for search and retrieval Yes, Act allows commercial but not currently in practice Yes, $30 No Yes
Alberta $25; $50 for continuing requests Yes Same as British Columbia Application fee includes $150 of search and retrieval No Yes, $27 per hour No Yes
Ontario Provincial $5 Yes Yes No   Yes, $30 per hour No Yes
Ontario Municipal $5 Yes Yes   No Yes, $30 per hour No Yes
Quebec No Yes Yes N/A No No No Yes Tied to consumer index
United Kingdom   Yes     Yes 10% of reasonable marginal costs   Yes
Australia Yes Yes Yes No   Not to exceed actual costs No Yes
United States   Yes Yes 2 hours Yes, commercial Direct costs Only for commercial users Yes, actual cost

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Denham

Elizabeth Denham is the Principal of Denham Information Privacy Consulting, a company formed in January 2001. Elizabeth has over 15 years experience in public policy and public sector management. She began her career as an archivist, working as City Archivist for the City of Richmond B.C., and City Archivist for the City of Calgary.

In 1996 she joined the Calgary Regional Health Authority as the authority's first Information Access and Privacy Coordinator. In this role she established the infrastructure required to comply with new Provincial Legislation. In 1998 she was promoted to Director, Legal Affairs. Throughout her years with the CRHA she served on provincial committees and task forces to review access and privacy legislation, and to draft new health privacy legislation. She also processed or managed the response to over 300 access to information requests, numerous appeals and inquiries.

Elizabeth holds a Masters Degree in Archival and Information Studies from U.B.C. and an Honours Degree in Canadian History.

Elizabeth is the Alberta Privacy Commissioner's lead policy advisor on the Health Information Act. She is also working for the Office of Bioethics at the University of Calgary, for the CRHA and Health Authority 5 on various access and privacy policy projects, and for Alliance Pipeline, a company reviewing practices to comply with the new Federal Privacy Legislation (C-6).
She is a member of the Research Ethics Board of the University of Calgary.

 

 

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Last Updated: 2001-12-08
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