Recent Articles

  • Patricia Kosseim is Ontario’s Next Privacy Commissioner

    Patricia Kosseim is Ontario’s Next Privacy Commissioner

    Patricia Kosseim has been appointed as the next Privacy Commissioner of Ontario effective July 1, 2020.

  • Can You Get COVID-19 From Mail?

    Can You Get COVID-19 From Mail?

    I thought it would be useful to look into the question of whether COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, can be caught by handling mail or parcels.

  • “Freedom-of-Information requests shunted to sidelines during virus crisis”

    “Freedom-of-Information requests shunted to sidelines during virus crisis”

    “The office of Ontario’s information commissioner says the expectation to comply with the province’s access law remains in effect, but adds it understands that many organizations will be unable to meet the 30-day response requirement.”

  • COVID-19 Applicable Exemptions

    COVID-19 Applicable Exemptions

    For provincial and municipal institutions in Ontario who are receiving Freedom Of Information requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the Municipal Freedom Of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) related to the current COVID-19 pandemic, I thought it would be helpful to create a list of exemptions and exclusions…

  • Abandonment Issues

    Abandonment Issues

    When are institutions allowed to decide that a file has been abandoned?

  • Question from a Journalist

    Question from a Journalist

    I recently received a question from a journalist who was wondering whether a particular organization who received financial support from the Province of Ontario had an obligation to respond to FOI requests for general records.

  • Become Ontario’s Next Privacy Commissioner

    Become Ontario’s Next Privacy Commissioner

    The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is currently accepting applications for the next Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

  • The Top 10 FOI Assist Articles of 2019

    The Top 10 FOI Assist Articles of 2019

    With this being the first full year the FOI Assist website has been operating, I thought it would be appropriate to publish a top 10 list of the most popular articles on this site, based on which ones received the highest viewership in 2019. 

  • The Public Interest Override

    The Public Interest Override

    “Exemptions Not To Apply” Both the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the Municipal Freedom Of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) contain a special provision referred to as the “public interest override”. Appearing in FIPPA s. 23 and MFIPPA s. 16, this language of this provision is essentially the…

  • Year-End Statistical Reporting doesn’t have to be scary

    Year-End Statistical Reporting doesn’t have to be scary

    Year-End Statistical Reporting doesn’t have to be scary. In this post, I show you how to make it easy and provide a free file closing worksheet to help you get started.

  • Filing an FOI request is not defamation

    Filing an FOI request is not defamation

    “The overarching purpose of access to information legislation, then, is to facilitate democracy. It does so in two related ways. It helps to ensure first, that citizens have the information required to participate meaningfully in the democratic process, and secondly, that politicians and bureaucrats remain accountable to the citizenry .” Dagg v Canada (Minister of…

  • The Affected Person Process

    The Affected Person Process

    The affected person process is one of the most important and visible ways that FIPPA and MFIPPA balance the public’s right of access against the rights of individuals and organizations to prevent the disclosure of their personal and confidential information.  Other names for the process include the “notice to affected person” process, “third party notice”…