Place du Centre, 4th floor
200 Promenade du Portage
Gatineau QC K1A 1K8
1 September 2023
The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, P.C., M.P.
President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Dear Minister:
In accordance with section 72 of the Privacy Act, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is pleased to submit to Parliament this report on its activities relating to the application of the Act for the period 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Sincerely,
Original signed by Kathleen Fox
Chair
1.0 Introduction
Pursuant to section 72 of the Privacy Act, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is pleased to table in Parliament this report on its activities relating to the application of the Act. The report covers the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
The purpose of the Privacy Act is to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by government institutions such as the TSB, and to provide individuals with a right of access to that information.
conducting independent investigations, including public inquiries when necessary, into selected transportation occurrences in order to make findings as to their causes and contributing factors;
identifying safety deficiencies, as evidenced by transportation occurrences;
making recommendations designed to eliminate or reduce any such safety deficiencies; and
reporting publicly on our investigations and on the findings in relation thereto.
More information on the TSB is available at tsb.gc.ca.
The TSB’s administration of its Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) activities is in accordance with the government’s stated principles that government information should be available to the public with only specific and limited exceptions. Furthermore, the TSB treats personal information in compliance with the code of fair information practice expressed in the Privacy Act.
2.0 ATIP Office organization
During 2022–23, the Director General, Corporate Services held the responsibilities of the ATIP Coordinator. The ATIP Office also consisted of four full-time positions.
The ATIP Office administers the requests made pursuant to the Act and provides functional advice and guidance to managers and employees concerning the release of information and protection of privacy. ATIP analysts are required to exhibit strong consultative and negotiating skills when meeting with requesters, employees of the TSB, and representatives of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
3.0 Delegation of authority
As required by the legislation, a delegation of authority is in place. For the purposes of the Privacy Act, the “head of the institution” as defined in section 3 of the Act is the Chair of the TSB. The incumbents of the positions of Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, Director General for Corporate Services and Senior ATIP Analyst have been delegated powers by the Chair deemed appropriate for the effective administration of the Act. These employees ensure that the TSB meets all its obligations fairly and consistently. The delegation of authority was updated in November 2019 and remains unchanged. A copy of the Delegation Order is attached as Appendix A.
4.0 Disposition of requests
4.1 Requests for personal information
During the 2022–23 reporting period, fourteen (14) formal requests for personal information were received, compared to ten (10) in 2021–22, to twenty-two (22) in 2020–21, and to twenty-three (23) received in 2019–20. Privacy requests received by the TSB are primarily attributed to Canadian airline pilots inquiring as to whether they are named in any occurrences reported to the TSB as certain international airlines request this information as a pre-employment requirement. As well, some employees will request access to their personal information.
Of the thirteen (13) requests closed in 2022–23, records were fully disclosed in eight (8) cases (62%), records did not exist in two (2) cases (15%) and three (3) cases (23%) were abandoned. One (1) request was carried over to next fiscal year.
Of the requests closed during the reporting period, ten (10) were completed within 1 to 15 days and three (3) were completed within 16 to 30 days. The average time taken to process a request during the 2022–23 reporting period was nine (9) calendar days, compared with last year’s average of fourteen (14) in 2021–22, and thirty-three (33) in 2020–21.
During this period, the ATIP Office was involved in the search, preparation, and review of eleven (11) pages of information, and the reproduction and release of eleven (11) pages of information. During past fiscal years, seven hundred eighty-four pages (784) were reviewed and two hundred ninety-two (292) pages were released in 2021–22, one thousand nine hundred thirty-four (1934) pages were reviewed and seven hundred (700) pages released in 2020–21 and twenty-two (22) pages were reviewed and eighteen (18) pages released in 2019–20. The variation in the number of pages reviewed between years is due to the different type of requests received and if requests are from employees requesting access to their personal information.
The TSB’s open approach allows for the disclosure of information to its employees without necessarily requiring the Privacy Act to be invoked. Human resources staff handle these requests as part of their routine duties. The TSB remains vigilant in meeting requirements under the Act to protect personal information under its control. This is achieved by ensuring that employees are cognizant of their responsibility to protect the personal information they handle in the course of their duties and by respecting the code of fair information practice enshrined in the legislation.
Finally, although the TSB ATIP office was temporarily affected following the mid-March 2020 closure of offices due to the pandemic, the TSB ATIP Office operated normally in 2022–23, making full use of digital tools and a hybrid work model.
5.0 Costs
During 2022–23, the ATIP Office incurred an estimated $38,285 in costs to administer the Privacy Act, compared to $27,209 for the reporting period of 2021–22, $28,574 for the reporting period of 2020–21, and $39,007 for 2019–20. These costs include salaries, overtime, goods and services, and professional services contracts for temporary help staff but do not include the resources expended by other areas of the TSB to meet the requirements of the Act.
6.0 Training and education
The TSB has an orientation program in place for new employees, which includes training on ATIP awareness. In addition, the TSB made it mandatory for all staff to attend comprehensive ATIP training sessions given by the ATIP Office. During 2022–23, the ATIP Office provided two (2) training sessions of two (2) hours each to five (5) employees, compared to five (5) sessions to thirty-seven (37) employees in 2021–22, to none in 2020–21 and one (1) session in 2019–20.
Given the responsibilities and knowledge requirements of the TSB’s ATIP Office, there is a long learning curve for its staff. Continuous on-the-job training is provided to ATIP staff to ensure sound and current knowledge of ATIP requirements and procedures, as well as TSB operations. In this context, ATIP staff attended all ATIP Community Meetings organized by the Treasury Board Secretariat during 2022–23. These Community Meetings provide the TSB ATIP staff with valuable information on trends and best practices within the ATIP circle, updates on recent complaints and court cases, and tools to help improve service standards within the field. Finally, the TSB ATIP staff attended the yearly Canadian Bar Association Symposium on Access to Information and Privacy latest trends.
7.0 Policies, guidelines, and procedures
There were no changes to privacy-related policies, guidelines, or procedures implemented by the TSB during the reporting period 2022–23.
8.0 Complaints and investigations
No complaints were received by the Privacy Commissioner in 2022–23.
9.0 Monitoring process
The TSB monitors the time to process privacy requests through biweekly meetings between the ATIP Coordinator and the Senior ATIP Analyst, during which the status of outstanding requests is reviewed. Any significant issues are raised to the Chief Operating Officer as required.
10.0 Material privacy breaches
No material privacy breaches occurred during the reporting period.
11.0 Privacy impact assessments
The TSB did not undertake any privacy impact assessments during the reporting period.
12.0 Disclosures pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(m)
During fiscal year 2022–23, the TSB made no disclosure of information in the public interest pursuant to paragraph 8(2)(m).
13.0 Statistics required by the Treasury Board
The statistics required by the Treasury Board Secretariat are found in Appendix B.
