The complainant alleged that Canadian Heritage did not conduct a reasonable search for records in response to an access request under the Access to Information Act. The complainant also alleged that Canadian Heritage improperly withheld information under subsection 19(1) (personal information) and paragraph 20(1)(b) (confidential third-party financial, commercial, scientific or technical information). The access request was for weightlifting-related communication records, including but not limited to appeals and review, dated between January 18, 2024, and January 26, 2024, from the records of two specific Sport Canada employees.

During the investigation, the complainant decided it was no longer necessary for the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) to investigate information withheld under subsection 19(1) and paragraph 20(1)(b) and decided it was only necessary to investigate the reasonable search.

The investigation revealed that the scope of the search was likely not broad enough to capture all the responsive records, and Canadian Heritage failed to provide sufficient representations to explain why its search was reasonable.

The Information Commissioner ordered the Minister of Canadian Heritage to conduct a new search and provide a new response to the complainant no later than 36 business days after the date of the final report.

Canadian Heritage did not give notice to the Commissioner whether it would be implementing the order.

The complaint is well founded.