Home | The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

Guidance

Helpful information on how we approach investigations and interpret the Access to Information Act.

Make a complaint

The Access to Information Act gives Canadians the right to request information from federal institutions. If you submitted a request for information to a federal institution under the Act and you are not satisfied with how it was processed, you may complain to the OIC.

What is this complaint regarding?

Have you already filed an access request with a federal government institution?

Has it been more than 60 days since: you’ve received a response to your access request; you should have received a response to your access request; or you became aware of grounds for the complaint?

Have you already filed a complaint to the OIC regarding this matter?

You can ask for records from the OIC by making an access request under the Access to Information Act. Anyone who believes that their access request was improperly handled by the OIC may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner ad hoc.

Complaints regarding matters covered by the Privacy Act are only investigated by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

The OIC investigates complaints under the Access to Information Act. Not all institutions are subject to the Act – it applies to about 250 institutions listed in Schedule I of the Act.

To make an access to information request to a federal government institution, see the ATIP Online Request Service.

The time frame for filing a complaint to the OIC is within 60 days after you have received response to your access request from a federal institution, or within 60 days after you became aware that grounds for the complaint exist.

To inquire as to the status of your complaint, please contact us.

Continue

Continue to online complaint form

, or Download Form (PDF)

Download complaint form pdf

Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard

What we do

Complaints

The Access to Information Act gives Canadians the right to request information from federal institutions. If you submitted a request for information to a federal institution under the Act and you are not satisfied with how it was processed, you may file a complaint with us.

Guidance

Our guidance for institutions on how we approach investigations and on the Information Commissioner’s interpretation of the Act is available to everyone.

Parliamentary activities

The Information Commissioner reports directly to Parliament. She appears before parliamentary committees and makes written submissions to them. She also publishes her annual report to Parliament and issues special reports when required. Upon request, the Commissioner provides expert advice to parliamentarians on access to information matters.

Events

2019 COGEL Conference

December 15, 2019 - December 18, 2019

Senior Investigations Director Allison Knight will participate in the panel “Investigations of Public Officials: How Much Should the Public Know?” at the 2019 Council on Governmental Ethics Law (COGEL) Conference.

2019 COGEL Conference