Recent Articles
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Can an institution consult a sample of affected persons rather than notifying everyone?
[A]n unidentified individual has filed an FOI request with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) for the following information: “List of all Ontario businesses with a Farm Business Registration. If possible I would like their FBR number as well, but at the very least, I just need the names of the…
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Assigning searches to internal staff
In the Province of Ontario alone, there are over 1,000 institutions who are obligated to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) or the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). This impressive number leaves a lot of room for variation…
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Applying the public interest override to employment information
Today’s article is intended to explain when the public interest override applies to requests for employment information.
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Patricia Kosseim is Ontario’s Next Privacy Commissioner
Patricia Kosseim has been appointed as the next Privacy Commissioner of Ontario effective July 1, 2020.
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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.
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“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.”
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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…
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Abandonment Issues
When are institutions allowed to decide that a file has been abandoned?
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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.
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Become Ontario’s Next Privacy Commissioner
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is currently accepting applications for the next Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.
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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.
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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…
