2012-2013 Fisheries and Oceans Canada

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) develops and implements policies and programs in support of Canada's scientific, ecological, social and economic interests in oceans and fresh waters, and works towards ensuring these resources benefit current and future generations.

In 2012-13, DFO received 547 requests, an increase of 49.5% compared to 2011-12 (366 requests). DFO’s performance in 2012-13 was similar to that of 2011-12. In general, DFO’s results were under the government-wide levels, except for the proportion of requests closed past the statutory deadline.

DFO completed 73.2% of all requests in its inventory in 2012-13. This is lower than its completion rate in 2011-12 (81.7%). This reduction signals a larger backlog of requests that will be carried over to the next reporting period. The average time to complete a request was 52 days.^{Footnote 1}

The most common category of requestors in 2012-13 was the public (39.3%), the media (28%) and organizations (18.5%).

DFO reported receiving 95 requests for previously processed requests. An additional 57 informal requests (internal and external) were received by DFO.

Table 1: Workload

The volume of pages processed proportionally decreased in 2012-13 compared to the previous reporting period, but was higher than the government-wide level. 8.2% of requests required processing 1,000 pages or more, compared to 12.6% in 2011-12. 62% of the requests required processing 100 pages or less.

Timeliness

DFO responded to 268 requests within 30 days or less, which represents 59.2% of the requests closed in 2012-13. This rate is below the government-wide percentage. DFO however closed fewer requests in more than 120 days in 2012-13 than in 2011-12.

The proportion of requests completed past the statutory deadline in 2012-13 was 5.5%. This represents a “B” grade.^{Footnote 2} Workload was invoked as the principal reason why requests were closed late (15 requests, 60%). DFO also noted that work force adjustment had an important impact on program staff and the ability to retrieve records and provide sound recommendations as to disclosure in a timely manner.

Extensions

The number of extensions went up by 10.2% between 2011-12 and 2012-13. Consultations under section 9(1)b) was the the most commonly cited reason for extending requests.

The proportion of extensions taken for 30 days or less increased from 29.3% in 2011-12 to 35.3% in 2012-13. The proportion of those extensions for more than 120 days decreased (24.2% in 2011-12 to 14% in 2012-13).

Disclosure

Of the requests completed in 2012-13, 18.1% were disclosed in full, which is comparable to the previous year. There was, however, an improvement in the percentage of pages processed that were disclosed.

Table 2: Performance

Complaints

The number of complaints received by the OIC against DFO decreased slightly from 23 complaints in 2011-12 to 18 in 2012-13.

The OIC received as many administrative complaints as it did for refusal complaints (9 complaints each).

Half of the complaints (9) were well-founded and four were not well-founded. An additional 4 complaints are still pending (as of May 2014).