The complainant alleged that the extension of time Library and Archives Canada (LAC) took under subsection 9(1) of the Access to Information Act to respond to an access request is unreasonable. The request is for RG146: Vol. 4050 1 01/05/70 04/28/72 Vol. 4050 2 04/29/72 07/15/84 Vol. 4050 3 07/16/84 11/13/84 Vol. 4051 1 05/19/60 07/31/68 Vol. 4051 2 08/01/68 01/31/71 Vol. 4051 3 02/01/71 05/25/73 Vol. 4051 4 05/26/73 11/03/82 Vol. 4052 5 11/04/82 07/15/84 Vol. 4052 6 07/16/84 11/15/84. The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(c) of the Act.

LAC claimed an extension of time under paragraph 9(1)(b) for 639 days to consult the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on 974 pages of records. The Commissioner found the extension, on less than 1000 pages of records, to be unreasonable. LAC could not show it had made a serious effort to assess how long the extension should be, relying instead on CSIS’s estimate of 18 to 24 months as the time it would need to review the 974 pages of records and provide its recommendations on disclosure.

This led the Commissioner to question, as she had in her 2022 report on her systemic investigation into LAC’s consultation practices and other matters, LAC’s position that it must consult institutions on all security and intelligence-related records—thus, jeopardizing LAC’s ability to provide timely access.

Since the Commissioner concluded that the 639-day extension of time was unreasonable, the Commissioner ordered that LAC provide a complete response to the request no later than 60 business days following the date of her final report.

She also recommended that LAC include in its next semi-annual report on its progress addressing issues raised in the systemic investigation specific updates on improved timelines for consultations with other institutions.

LAC gave notice to the Commissioner that it would not be implementing the order but indicated that it would include an update on consultation timelines in its next progress report.

The complaint is well founded.