2013-2014 Appendix A. Facts and figures

Trend in complaints registered, 2011–2012 to 2013–2014

Trend in complaints registered, 2011–2012 to 2013–2014

Note: As of April 1, 2013, the Commissioner counts all miscellaneous complaints as refusal complaints. Previously, they had been classified as administrative complaints.

Text Version

This bar chart shows the number of complaints the Commissioner registered in each of 2011–2012, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014 in three categories (from top to bottom): administrative complaints, Cabinet confidence exclusion complaints and refusal complaints.

In 2011–2012, the Commissioner received 391 administrative complaints, 38 Cabinet confidence exclusion complaints and 1,036 refusal complaints.

In 2012–2013, the Commissioner received 519 administrative complaints, 37 Cabinet confidence exclusion complaints and 1,040 refusal complaints.

In 2013–2014, the Commissioner received 801 administrative complaints, 61 Cabinet confidence exclusion complaints and 1,219 refusal complaints.

The number of complaints the Commissioner received in 2013–2014 increased in all three main categories from 2012–2013: administrative complaints (about delays, time extensions and fees) grew by 54 percent, Cabinet confidence refusal complaints by 65 percent and refusal complaints (about the application of exemptions) by 17 percent. The ratio of administrative complaints to refusal complaints is up from last year at 39:61.

Overall new complaints by institution, 2011–2012 to 2013–2014*
  2011–2012 2012–2013 2013–2014
Citizenship and Immigration Canada 66 109 305
Canada Revenue Agency 324 336 283
Royal Canadian Mounted Police 68 125 185
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada 56 83 120
National Defence 74 72 120
Canada Border Services Agency 36 63 106
Transport Canada 30 72 83
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 71 45 61
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 47 45 60
Correctional Service Canada 65 57 56
Department of Justice Canada 47 24 51
Health Canada 49 37 48
Privy Council Office 36 52 48
Industry Canada 34 36 42
Natural Resources Canada 12 21 38
Employment and Social Development Canada 25 20 37
Environment Canada 17 26 29
Public Works and Government Services Canada 45 35 28
Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board 1 7 22
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 23 18 21

*Institutions are listed according to the number of complaints the Commissioner received about them in 2013–2014. The number of complaints for each year includes any complaints initiated by the Commissioner under subsection 30(3) of the Access to Information Act.

As part of the overall 30-percent increase in complaints in 2013–2014, 16 of the 20 institutions about which the Commissioner received the most complaints were the subject of more complaints in 2013–2014 than they had been the year before.

New administrative complaints by institution, 2011–2012 to 2013–2014*
  2011–2012 2012–2013 2013–2014
Citizenship and Immigration Canada 34 27 179
Royal Canadian Mounted Police 19 70 102
Canada Revenue Agency 43 96 96
Canada Border Services Agency 10 22 49
National Defence 19 26 41
Transport Canada 14 31 38
Health Canada 17 23 26
Correctional Service Canada 17 17 24
Employment and Social Development Canada 6 9 23
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada 20 33 21
Natural Resources Canada 4 1 19
Privy Council Office 2 12 15
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 5 9 13
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 2 5 12
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 20 6 12
Public Works and Government Services Canada 18 19 11
Environment Canada 7 13 10
Public Health Agency of Canada 1 5 9
Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board 0 1 8
Canadian Food Inspection Agency 6 18 7

*Institutions are listed according to the number of complaints the Commissioner received about them in 2013–2014.

Overall, the Commissioner received 54 percent more administrative complaints in 2013–2014 than she did the year before. While a few institutions, including Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada, saw decreases in this type of complaint, most were the subject of more, and in a few cases significantly more: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (563 percent), Canada Border Services Agency (123 percent) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (46 percent).

Turnaround times for complaint investigations, 2011–2012 to 2013–2014

Complaints closed within nine months

COMPLAINTS CLOSED WITHIN NINE MONTHS

Text Version

This bar chart shows the proportion of complaints the Commissioner closed within nine months from date of registration in each of 2011–2012, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014.

In 2011–2012: 49.4 percent of complaints were closed within nine months (739 complaints).

In 2012–2013: 56.7 percent of complaints were closed within nine months (919 complaints).

In 2013–2014: 62.5 percent of complaints were closed within nine months (1,118 complaints).

In 2013–2014, the Commissioner closed more complaints within nine months of their being registered (63 percent) than she did in 2012–2013 (57 percent). This continues the trend of increasingly timely investigations since 2011–2012. The overall median time for closing a complaint was 194 days from the date it was registered (down 21 days from 2012–2013). However, there remains a gap of 173 days (roughly six months) between the median closure time for refusal complaints when measuring from the date the file is registered and from when it is assigned to an investigator. The Commissioner does not have enough staff to immediately assign these files upon receiving them.

Administrative complaints closed within 90 days

PRIORITY AND EARLY RESOLUTION COMPLAINTS CLOSED WITHIN SIX MONTHS

Text Version

This bar chart shows the proportion of administrative complaints the Commissioner closed within 90 days from the date of assignment to an investigator in each of 2011–2012, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014.

In 2011–2012: 49.0 percent of administrative complaints were closed within 90 days (266 complaints).

In 2012–2013: 70.4 percent of administrative complaints were closed within 90 days (336 complaints).

In 2013–2014: 68.4 percent of administrative complaints were closed within 90 days (473 complaints).

The Commissioner’s goal is to close 85 percent of administrative complaints within 90 days of their being assigned to an investigator. In 2013–2014, the closure rate slipped slightly to 68 percent from 70 percent the year before. However, the Commissioner closed 137 more of these files (41 percent) than in 2012–2013.

Priority and early resolution complaints closed within six months

ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLAINTS CLOSED WITHIN 90 DAYS

Text Version

This bar chart shows the number of priority and early refusal complaints the Commissioner closed within six months from the date of assignment to an investigator in each of 2011–2012, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014.

The Commissioner also has a goal to close 75 percent of her priority and early resolution cases within six months. In 2013–2014, she closed 65 percent of these files in this time frame, up slightly from the previous year.

Complaints completed with finding in 2013–2014*
  Overall With merit Not well founded
Citizenship and Immigration Canada 148 127 21
Canada Revenue Agency 146 105 41
Royal Canadian Mounted Police 100 92 8
Transport Canada 61 59 2
Canada Border Services Agency 56 47 9
National Defence 53 44 9
Correctional Service Canada 44 33 11
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 34 26 8
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada 32 26 6
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 27 22 5
Privy Council Office 27 22 5
Health Canada 27 13 14
Public Works and Government Services Canada 24 16 8
Fisheries and Oceans Canada 19 12 7
Department of Justice Canada 18 11 7
Library and Archives Canada 12 11 1
Public Health Agency of Canada 12 11 1
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat 12 10 2
Bank of Canada 11 11 0
Canadian Food Inspection Agency 11 10 1
Industry Canada 11 8 3
Others (52 institutions) 160 97 63
Total 1,045 813 232

*The number of complaints includes any complaints initiated by the Commissioner under subsection 30(3) of the Access to Information Act.

This chart lists the 21 institutions about which the Commissioner completed the most complaints with a finding in 2013–2014 (that is, the complaint was found to have merit or to be not well founded).

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