The complainant alleged that Shared Services Canada (SSC) had improperly withheld information under subsection 19(1) (personal information), paragraph 20(1)(b) (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information), paragraph 20(1)(c) (financial impact on a third party) and paragraph 20(1)(d) (negotiations by a third party) of the Access to Information Act in response to an access request. The request was for the full report relating to cloud economics provided by Gartner, Inc. between July and October 2022. The allegation falls under paragraph 30(1)(a) of the Act.

Although the parties demonstrated that some of the information met the requirements of paragraph 20(1)(b), they did not establish that the remaining information met the requirements of any exemption or that no reasonable severance was possible in accordance with section 25. The Information Commissioner ordered that SSC to re-exercise discretion and to disclose specific information. SSC gave notice to the Commissioner that it would comply with the order. The complaint is well founded.