Call for Topics: FOI Assist Seminar Series

The FOI Assist Seminar Series (2026) is now underway, and it has been great to see FOI professionals from across Canada joining these sessions.

The most recent seminar explored Third Party Information and the Affected Person Process, and the next session — Frivolous and Vexatious Requests (subscriber link) — is coming up in just a couple of weeks.

If you are interested, you can read the seminar announcement here:

Frivolous and Vexatious Requests Seminar Announcement

As a reminder, participation in the seminar series is free, but attendees must be subscribed to the FOI Assist Knowledge Base in order to participate. Subscribing is also free and simply allows you to receive updates when new articles and seminar announcements are posted.

Seeking Topics for Future Seminars

Most seminar topics for 2026 have already been planned, but a few of this year’s sessions have not yet had their topics finalized.

With that in mind, I would be interested to hear from readers of the FOI Assist Knowledge Base: Is there an FOI topic you would like to see covered in a future seminar?

The goal of the seminar series is to focus on practical issues that FOI coordinators and privacy professionals regularly encounter, particularly under Ontario’s FIPPA and MFIPPA legislation.

Examples of topics that might be explored include:

• Informal Requests and Alternative Fee Systems
• The Absurd Result Principle
• Privacy Breaches and Best Practices
• 10 Tips for a More Efficient FOI Program

Of course, suggestions are not limited to these examples. If there is a topic that would make your day-to-day FOI work easier, I would be very interested in hearing about it.

How to Send Suggestions

If you have a suggestion, feel free to leave a comment below or send me a message through the Contact FOI Assist page.

Your feedback helps shape future seminars and Knowledge Base articles, and helps ensure that the seminar series continues to focus on the issues that matter most to Ontario’s FOI professionals.

I’ll end with a question that might help spark ideas:

What is one FOI issue that you wish someone had explained clearly when you first started working with FIPPA or MFIPPA?

I look forward to reading your suggestions, and I hope to see you at the next seminar.