Access to Information Act Heads of Government Institutions Designation Order: SI/2024-61
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 158, Number 26
Registration
SI/2024-61 December 18, 2024
ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT
P.C. 2024-1276 November 29, 2024
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, makes the annexed Access to Information Act Heads of Government Institutions Designation Order under subsection 3.2(2)footnote a of the Access to Information Act footnote b.
Access to Information Act Heads of Government Institutions Designation Order
Designation
Head of government institution
1 The person holding a position set out in column 2 of the schedule is designated, for the purposes of the Access to Information Act, as the head of the government institution set out in column 1.
Repeal
2 The Access to Information Act Heads of Government Institutions Designation Order footnote 1 is repealed.
Coming into Force
30th day after making
3 This Order comes into force on the 30th day after the day on which it is made.
SCHEDULE
(Section 1)
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EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order.)
Proposal
The Order in Council repeals the Access to Information Act Heads of Government Institutions Designation Order (SI/83-113) and replaces it with an updated Access to Information Act Heads of Government Institutions Designation Order (Designation Order) under subsection 3.2(2) of the Access to Information Act (ATIA).
Objective
The objective is to put in place an updated and streamlined Designation Order, which will facilitate the identification of the head of a government institution for the purpose of the ATIA for Canadians and other users of the Act.
A number of administrative changes are made, including
- obsolete references to titles and to names of government institutions are updated;
- spent designations and unnecessary designations are removed;
- typographical errors are corrected; and
- the format of the Designation Order is modernized and brought in line with current drafting standards.
The head of a government institution is changed, in some instances — either directly, by designating a new person as head, or indirectly, by repealing an existing designation.
Background
The head of a government institution for the purposes of the ATIA has many responsibilities under that Act, including responding to requests for access to records under the institution’s control (access to information requests) and proactively publishing several types of information, for example, information on travel and hospitality expenses of senior officers and employees, information on contracts and grants and contributions, reports tabled in Parliament and briefing materials.
When enacted, the ATIA provided that the head of a government institution, in the case of a department or ministry of state, is the presiding Minister. With respect to all other government institutions, it was necessary to designate the head by order in council. This resulted in a lengthy list of designations.
This changed somewhat in 2006 with the enactment of the Federal Accountability Act. The Federal Accountability Act expanded the ATIA’s application to a large number of additional institutions, including parent Crown corporations and their wholly owned subsidiaries, the offices of certain agents of Parliament and various foundations created under federal statute. It also amended the definition of “head” in the ATIA such that in the absence of a designated head, the head would be the chief executive officer of the government institution, whatever their title. This was done to ensure that someone was in the role of head once the additional institutions became subject to the ATIA. The rule with respect to the head of a department or ministry of state being the presiding Minister remained unchanged.
As a result of the 2006 amendments, designations of chief executive officers as heads of government institutions for the purposes of the ATIA became unnecessary. As well, over the years, titles of some designated heads have changed, some government institutions have been continued under different names and others have been privatized, have merged with other government institutions or have ceased to exist.
With the passage of time, the governance structure of certain government institutions has evolved and ministerial responsibility for certain others has also shifted. The changes to the heads of government institutions are in line with such shifts or reflect the existing day-to-day administration of the ATIA within the institutions in question.
Implications
The Designation Order contributes to improving transparency of the federal regime governing access to information and accountability of government institutions.
The Designation Order’s coming into force has been delayed until the 30th day after the day on which the Order is made to allow government institutions to prepare for a change in head, as needed.
Consultation
Extensive consultations internal to government were undertaken, including with the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, the Department of Public Works and Government Services, the Department of Transport, the Privy Council Office and the Treasury Board Secretariat. No concerns were raised about the Designation Order.
Contact
Magali Clervoix
Acting Director and General Counsel
Centre for Information and Privacy Law
Department of Justice
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0H8
Email: CIPL-CDIPRP@justice.gc.ca