(ID 5346376 © Jeff Whyte | Dreamstime.com)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

service alberta considering findings

Gov’t of Alberta non-compliant with FOIP Act, says Information and Privacy Commissioner

May 9, 2025 | 6:40 PM

Alberta’s Information and Privacy Commissioner has found the Government of Alberta is non-compliant with processing access to information requests under the FOIP Act.

The finding comes after Diane McLeod conducted a 21-month long investigation into 27 government departments.

The full report can be read here.

The investigation itself was in response to a series of access requests refused by all Government of Alberta departments, including requests made by The Globe and Mail, as described in their ‘Secret Canada’ series.

“This investigation specifically looked into whether the Government of Alberta public bodies’ practice of refusing access requests citing sections 7 and 10(2) of the FOIP Act was appropriate,” said McLeod. “My investigation found that these public bodies are not permitted by sections 7 and 10(2) to refuse access requests and that they contravened their duties to assist under section 10(1) in processing these requests.”

Nighttime construction on Hwy 3 in Lethbridge starts April 17

Apr 17, 2025

SASHA launches #BuyABed fundraiser to support vulnerable Lethbridge residents

Apr 04, 2025

$20K grants available: TELUS STORYHIVE Pan-Asian Edition opens applications April 1

Mar 18, 2025

Non-compliant actions, as McLeod summarizes, included requiring applicants to limit the number of topics in an access request to one; placing limitations on the timeframe of the search for records; requiring applicants to split requests containing multiple topics into multiple requests; and requiring applicants to structure requests in a way that allowed the requests to be completed within 30 days.

“My report makes a number of recommendations to remedy the non-compliance with the FOIP Act,” said McLeod. “Although it is anticipated that the FOIP Act will be repealed very soon and replaced with the Access to Information Act, my findings and recommendations in this report are in large part still valid under the new legislation. This is because the relevant provisions of the new Act are the same or substantially similar to the provisions of the FOIP Act. For that reason, I expect government public bodies to apply my findings and recommendations to their practices under both the existing and the new legislation.”

In a statement on behalf of the Alberta Government, Osagie Ogunbor, Director of Communications, Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction, says the government is considering the report’s findings and recommendations.

“[We] will continue to work collaboratively to address concerns. We’re committed to openness and transparency, and we are proud of our record,” Ogunbor says.

“In 2023-24, 97.1 per cent of all FOIP requests were handled without complaint to the OIPC. Many of the recommendations brought forward in this report will be addressed by the new legislation and its supporting regulation.”

For local news delivered daily to your email inbox, subscribe for free to the Lethbridge News Now newsletter here. You can also download the Lethbridge News Now mobile app in the Google Play and the Apple App Stores.