2024-25 Departmental Results Report

Contents:

• At a glance
• From the Commissioner
• Results – what we achieved
  • Core responsibility: Government transparency
  • Internal services
• Spending and human resources
  • Spending
  • Funding
  • Financial statement highlights
  • Human resources
• Supplementary information tables
• Federal tax expenditures
• Corporate information
• Definitions

At a glance

This departmental results report details the accomplishments of the Office of the Information Commissioner against the plans, priorities and expected results outlined in its 2024–25 Departmental Plan.

• Vision, mission, raison d'être and operating context

Key priorities

The Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) identified the following key priorities for 2024-25:

• Investing in and supporting our resources: continue to advocate for a funding model that reflects the Commissioner's status as an independent Agent of Parliament;
• Innovating and transforming operations: provide tools to enable the OIC to consistently improve its annual performance by assigning complaints and concluding investigations more rapidly and excel in a hybrid work environment;
• Maintaining and enhancing the organization's credibility: uphold the right of access to information through the OIC's investigations, report and, when necessary, orders, and the conduct of litigation. Contribute to finding new ways to make information available through means other than access requests to provide relief to an overstretched system.

Highlights for the OIC in 2024-25

• Total actual spending (including internal services): $18,166,969
• Total full-time equivalent staff (including internal services): 119

For complete information on the OIC's total spending and human resources, read the Spending and human resources section of its full departmental results report.

Summary of results

The following provides a summary of the results the OIC achieved in 2024-25 under its main area of activity, called its "core responsibility".

Core responsibility: Government transparency

Actual spending: $12,857,733

Actual full-time equivalent staff: 88

In fiscal year 2024-25, the OIC continued to enhance its operations to better serve the public interest. Efficient resource management was a strategic priority for the reporting period. This included optimizing office space, modernizing information management tools, and reallocating funds to bolster investigative capacity. One major undertaking was transitioning to a new information management system, leading to a stronger culture of information stewardship and collaboration between sectors.

Over the course of the year, 4,924 complaints were submitted and the OIC concluded 5,406. Of the new complaints submitted, 3,626 or 73.6% were accepted for investigation.

The OIC also continued to make progress resolving the most complex complaints in its inventory. The OIC began 2025–26 with an inventory largely composed of complaints that were either under active investigation or had recently been received and were awaiting assignment to an investigator. In addition, the total number of complaints in the inventory decreased by nearly 40% since the beginning of the Commissioner's first mandate.

The volume of complaints received by the OIC varies annually. Although multiple factors—such as the level of resources dedicated to institutions' access to information and privacy (ATIP) units—can affect this number, the OIC does not have the ability to regulate or predict the number of complaints it will receive in any given year. While the OIC's limited resources continue place restrictions on how quickly complaints can be assigned as they come in, there has been progress in concluding investigations more rapidly once they have been assigned to investigators.

During 2024–25, the OIC continued to make substantial progress in reducing its inventory. As of March 31, 2025, the inventory contained 2,191 complaints, only 10% of which were submitted in 2022–23 or earlier. Investigating older complaints can often present numerous challenges due to the passage of time, amongst others. Working on contemporary ones with individuals within the institutions involved in processing the access request to begin with is the most efficient use of resources for both the OIC and the institutions.

For more information on the OIC's work under the government transparency core responsibility read the 'Results – what we achieved" section of its departmental results report.

From the Commissioner

This 2024-25 Departmental Results Report (DRR) outlines the performance of my office during my seventh year as Commissioner and serves as an important bookend to my first mandate, which began in 2018. Each year's DRR charts the steady progress made on the priorities I established when I first took on this role, and looking back at the DRR for my first year, it is quite apparent how far the OIC has come.

Midway through fiscal year 2024-25, I was notified that I would be renewed for an additional term. From that point on, I was determined to maintain my single-minded focus on results, even as I continued to press for changes to the Access to Information Act and the system that underpins it. Throughout the year, I upheld my pledge to continue to enhance the operations of my office and advance the right of access through my investigations, issuing of orders, and conducting litigation.

Thanks to ongoing efforts to streamline investigations and reduce timelines, in 2024-25, the OIC once again concluded more complaints than it received. My investigations team also continued to focus on making progress against our inventory of complaints, essentially all but eliminating that portion that had been submitted more than two years ago. Nevertheless, owing to limited resources, the OIC continues to struggle to assign complaints to investigators in as timely a manner as I would wish, even as performance continues to improve from the time a complaint is assigned to the time it is concluded.

I continued to pursue compliance with the Act by issuing orders when necessary and by being a party to various court proceedings, as required. In 2024-25, the OIC was involved in more litigation before the federal courts than at any other time since I became Commissioner.

Internal collaboration has been a key driver of my office's successes. Enhanced coordination across all sectors has led to more efficient internal processes and information sharing. A notable milestone was the successful transition to a SharePoint-based information management system. This technological upgrade marks a crucial step in our ongoing efforts to modernize our workplace.

In parallel, we have reformed our recruitment and hiring practices, refining our processes and standards to attract and retain high-caliber talent. Investing in our people allows us to build and retain a more versatile and capable team.

As I embark on my second term, I rededicate myself to ensuring the OIC operate as efficiently as possible in carrying out my mandate and delivering results for Canadians.

Caroline Maynard
Information Commissioner of Canada

Results – what we achieved

Core responsibility and internal services

• Core responsibility: Government Transparency
• Internal services

Core responsibility: Government transparency

In this section

• Description
• Quality of life impacts
• Progress on results
• Details on results
• Key risks
• Resources required to achieve results
• Program inventory

Description

The Information Commissioner is the first level of independent review of government decisions relating to requests for information under the control of government institutions. The second level of independent review is performed by the Federal Court.

Quality of life impacts

This core responsibility contributes to the "Good Governance" theme of the Quality of Life Framework for Canada and, more specifically, "confidence in institutions," through all activities associated with Government transparency.

Progress on results

This section details the department's performance against its targets for each departmental result under Core responsibility: Government transparency

Table 1: Targets and results for government transparency

Table 1 shows the target, the date to achieve the target and the actual result for each indicator under government transparency in the last three fiscal years.

The OIC is working towards meeting all its targets but also remains committed to balancing the investigation of new complaints and the conclusion of older complaints in its inventory, ensuring fairness and progress. By the end of 2024-25, a minimal number of complaints submitted prior to 2023 remained in the inventory. Maintaining a contemporary inventory will help the OIC achieve its timeliness targets in future years. Various factors continue to influence the pace of investigations, including the complexity of cases, the sensitivity of information, and the workload of the institutions involved. The OIC continues to focus on streamlining its work processes to maximize productivity. The timely assignment of complaints also requires a skilled and adequately resourced team of investigators, capable of managing the workload effectively. The OIC continues to invest in its resources, and actively backfills vacancies annually. However, budgetary constraints limit its ability to expand its investigative workforce beyond its current capacity.

The Results section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase page provides additional information on results and performance related to its program inventory.

Details on results

The following section describes the results for government transparency in 2024–25 compared with the planned results set out in the OIC's departmental plan for the year.

Departmental Result: Canadians receive timely resolution of complaints on how federal institutions process access to information requests.

Results achieved

Lack of predictability in number of complaints submitted

The number of complaints submitted to the OIC fluctuates from year to year. While various factors may influence this volume, including the resources allocated to institutions' ATIP units, the OIC has no control over how many complaints it receives.

Significant spikes in delay complaints during 2021–22 and 2022–23 were driven by prospective immigrants' representatives reporting a lack of response to access requests for immigration files. Since then, improvements in access request processing by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, among other factors, have led to a substantial decline in this type of complaint. A decline in the number of complaints made against an institution does not necessarily correlate with a decrease in the access requests received by that same institution.

The lack of predictability requires the OIC to be agile and adapt quickly.

Admissibility of complaints

The OIC Registry is the first stop for all new complaints. This team determines whether complaints are admissible. They notify complainants and institutions that admissible complaints will be investigated, and they gather the information and documents investigators need to begin their work.

The criteria Registry staff use to determine whether complaints are admissible include whether they were submitted by the 60-day deadline, whether the complainant has standing under the Act, and whether the allegations fall within the Commissioner's mandate. This year, the Registry concluded 1,298 complaints prior to investigation. These included complaints submitted after the 60-day deadline, as well as complaints against institutions not subject to the Act.

Significant reduction in the OIC's inventory

By the end of 2024–25, the Commissioner had concluded a record number of new complaints and essentially eliminated the inventory she had inherited when she began her first term. During 2024–25, the OIC received 4,924 complaints and concluded 5,406 complaints. As of March 31, 2025, the inventory contained 2,191 complaints, only 10% of which were submitted in 2022–23 or earlier. Whereas investigating older complaints can often present numerous challenges due to the passage of time, working on contemporary ones with individuals within the institutions involved in processing the access request to begin with is the most efficient use of resources for both the OIC and the institutions.

While the resolution of complaints without having recourse to an order is by far the most efficient way to conclude a complaint investigation, the Commissioner uses the full extent of her powers, including issuing orders, as needed, when complaints are well founded. During 2024–25, the Commissioner issued 375 orders, the majority of which related to delay complaints.

The OIC's Decisions Database continues to expand each year and is a key resource for institutions and complainants. While maintaining the database is a resource-intensive process, involving translation and web publishing, it is vital to ensuring decisions made by the Commissioner are readily available to parties so they can better understand the interpretation and application of the Act. Increasingly, institutions and complainants refer to published decisions to support their arguments and, where possible, work towards solving the issue at hand.

Increased litigation

The Commissioner's orders are legally binding, meaning that institutions must implement the Commissioner's orders unless they apply to the Federal Court for a review. This means that the Commissioner has limited control over the volume of incoming litigation, since reviews under the Act are generally initiated by a party that is not satisfied with the outcome of the Commissioner's investigation or her orders.

During 2024–25, the OIC experienced an increase in new court proceedings that required its involvement, rising to 40. This compares to the 26 new court proceedings initiated in 2023-24, an overall increase of 54%.

Among those court proceedings, the Commissioner applied for a writ of mandamus against heads of institutions on four occasions because the institutions had not taken the required action: they had neither implemented her order nor applied to the Federal Court for a review. A writ of mandamus is an extraordinary remedy asking a court to order a public authority to perform a legal duty, such as complying with the Commissioner's order.

In 2024-25, the Commissioner has appeared before the Federal Court of Appeal in a case involving the novel interpretation of two exemption from disclosure under the Act. She has also appeared before the Federal Court on two occasions in reviews of the subject matter of her orders.

The majority of the reviews under the Act were applied for by institutions. They relate to delay complaints, where the Commissioner has ordered the institution to respond to the access request at issue. The institutions frequently discontinued these proceedings when they ultimately responded to the access request. Discontinuance occurs at various stages of the litigation, but almost always before the hearing. These cases nonetheless generated significant amounts of work for the OIC Legal Services team and delays for the complainant.

Driving efficiency: a year of progress

During 2024–25, the OIC completed 74.4% of administrative complaints within 60 days of assignment and 71.2% of refusal complaints within 270 days. These results are due in part to the OIC's effective implementation of its Professional Development Program for Investigators, which helps the OIC attract and retain a diverse and qualified workforce. Attracting and retaining a diverse workforce hinges on the OIC's ability to create an inclusive work environment. A diverse workforce improves opportunities to innovate and leverage talent, both now and in the future.

The Investigation Governance and Strategic Guidance unit, with the support of the Legal Services team also contributed to the efficient delivery of the investigations program by developing more tools and delivering training opportunities for investigators and Registry staff. The Legal Services team provided continued support to the Commissioner by offering advice on a wide range of internal services and investigation related issues, including investigations findings and reports, and institutions' applications to seeking the Commissioner's approval to decline to act on access requests.

Enhancing the efficiency of the OIC's operations has been a key priority since the outset of the Commissioner's mandate. In 2024–25, significant progress continued—particularly in the speed with which complaints are concluded once they have been assigned —driven by the implementation of new tools and streamlined processes.

Improvements to the OIC's website including new and updated guidance

In 2024-25, the Commissioner continued to update and add to the guidance on her website for complainants, institutions and other stakeholders.

A new page updated each quarter provides statistics on the Commissioner's caseload— including how it changes over the year and between years—and the outcomes of all new complaints submitted. Furthermore, several new guides were added to the OIC's website in the Information Commissioner's guidance section, namely a guide focusing on the Commissioner's interpretation of the exemption under section 16 of the Act and a guide focusing on institutions' exercise of discretion under the Act.

The guidance on submitting applications to the Commissioner for seeking her approval to decline to act on an access request was also revised. These updates provide additional key information for both institutions and requesters. The webpage now includes explanations and examples of the various reasons why institutions may apply for approval to decline an access request.

Key risks

In spite of its small size, the OIC is wholly responsible for its own information technology (IT) services and support. It must ensure that it keeps pace with an ever-changing and evolving IT landscape by continuously upgrading its IT infrastructure and software. Although these investments increase the efficiency of the OIC's operations and improve cybersecurity, the cost and effort required by the IT team represents a significant burden on a small organization. The OIC's mitigation strategy is to fund its technology infrastructure modernization projects by using carry-forward funds from one year to the next and extending the project over several years.

It is impossible to predict the number of complaints the OIC will receive each year, nor the number of reviews applied for by institutions under the Act. As a result, the OIC faces an operational risk due to this lack of predictability. Although the OIC's funding and resources have remained stable from year to year, the number of complaints submitted to the OIC fluctuates annually, and the amount of litigation involving the Commissioner has drastically increased since 2021-22. While various factors may influence this volume, including the resources allocated to institutions' ATIP units, the OIC has no control over the volume of complaints received and the corresponding workload. Similarly, because the Act requires that institutions apply for a review before the Federal Court when they do not intend to implement the Commissioner's orders, the OIC has no control over the number of reviews brought before the courts. So far, the OIC has been managing this risk by temporarily reallocating resources internally. Should the volume of litigation remain high, this will require a reassessment of permanent funding for the OIC's Legal Services unit.

The OIC currently lacks a funding model that reflects the Commissioner's status as an independent agent of Parliament, as decisions on funding continue to be made by ministers, through institutions that are parties to the investigations. Although the OIC has been successful in reducing its backlog of complaints, Canadians are still facing unnecessary delays when seeking a timely resolution of their complaints due to insufficient funding. Despite our effort to streamline and further reduce timelines, current resource levels make additional IT investments that would allow more efficiency gains difficult. The Commissioner will continue to advocate for a funding model that reflects her independence and accountability to parliament, rather than the executive, and ensures it has the resources required to fulfill its mandate and maintain Canadians confidence in the access to information system.

Resources required to achieve results

Table 2: Snapshot of resources required for government transparency

Table 2 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.

The Finances section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase page and the People section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase page provide complete financial and human resources information related to its program inventory.

Gender-based Analysis Plus

The OIC helps Canadians obtain access to information about government activities and decisions, including gender based (GBA+) information. However, the confidentiality requirements of investigations conducted pursuant to the Access to Information Act hamper GBA+ data collection efforts. In 2023-24, the OIC completed a complainant consultation about its program delivery, including the accessibility and inclusivity of its investigation processes. There were no significant barriers identified by complainants.

United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals

In 2022–23, the OIC initiated the development of its sustainable development strategy and will make every effort to review the possibility of integrating certain key elements of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that align with its operating context. The OIC has only one mandate and program and operates as an independent agency. As such, key targets and key goals are not directly related to any specific government initiative. More information on the OIC's contributions to Canada's Federal Implementation Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy can be found in our Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy.

Innovation

The OIC plans to explore how artificial intelligence can be used to improve the efficiency of ATIP and complaint processes. Learning from others, applying an adequate risk management framework, and making the best use of modern technology all have the potential to transform the ATIP landscape.

Translation is one area in which the use of technology has already yielded considerable benefits for the organization. Thanks to the adoption of computer-assisted translation software and machine translation tools, the OIC's linguistic services unit has managed to keep pace with the increased volume of publication of final reports and guidance, all of which must be translated to comply with official languages requirements. Going forward, the OIC, which has already begun using artificial intelligence tools to support the drafting of texts, reports and various communications products, will build upon these promising early results by piloting AI-based tools with a view to fully integrating them. Adopting such powerful tools will increase drafting, editing, and translation capacity within the organization without resorting to additional human resources.

Program inventory

Government transparency is supported by the following programs:

• Compliance with access to information obligations

Additional information related to the program inventory for government transparency is available on the Results page on GC InfoBase.

Internal services

In this section

• Description
• Progress on results
• Resources required to achieve results
• Contracts awarded to Indigenous business

Description

Internal services refer to the activities and resources that support a department in its work to meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. The categories of internal services are:

• Management and Oversight Services
• Communications Services
• Human Resources Management
• Financial Management
• Information Management
• Information Technology
• Real Property
• Materiel
• Acquisitions

Progress on results

This section presents details on how the department performed to achieve results and meet targets for internal services.

In 2024–25, the Corporate Services sector remained committed to fostering collaboration, driving innovation, and identifying operational efficiencies. These efforts were strategically aligned to ensure that the OIC could allocate the maximum possible financial and human resources to its core investigations program. This focus became even more critical during the year, since the OIC faced an unexpected shortfall stemming from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's methodology for allocating funding related to new collective agreements. In response, the Finance team, working in close collaboration with all sectors, reviewed budgets and reallocated resources to align with the organization's top priorities. As a result, the OIC reduced its planned staffing for the year, decreasing the maximum number of full-time equivalents (FTEs) by approximately 4%. In parallel, the Human Resources team led a project to update the OIC's organizational structure to reflect these changes.

In addition, a significant milestone was achieved with the successful completion of a multi-year initiative to implement a new electronic records management system. This transformative project, led by the Information Management (IM) and IT teams, has streamlined internal processes and enhanced operational efficiency across all sectors of the OIC. The rollout also served as a catalyst for a comprehensive review of IM practices, ensuring compliance with document retention standards and promoting best practices across the organization. This project was successful thanks to the hard work, cooperation, and collaboration of numerous OIC employees in all sectors in the organization. Work also continues on the project to migrate IT infrastructure to a cloud environment, which will transform operations by reducing costs and further enhancing efficiencies.

After reviewing the OIC's physical workspace requirements, the Administration and Security team reduced the OIC's office space by approximately one quarter and the no longer required space will be transferred to Public Service and Procurement Canada early in 2025-26. This was a major project that involved managing renovations to consolidate all services on a single floor, and the IM team led a major review of physical documents. This project will reduce OIC's operating expenses and better reflect the workspace needs of OIC employees in a hybrid work environment.

With the reappointment of the Commissioner for a second term, the Strategic Planning team took the opportunity to update several corporate reports that help guide the OIC. Work began on an updated Strategic Plan for 2025-26 to 2028-29 to ensure that it reflects the mission, vision, and strategies that will guide the OIC during the Commissioner's second mandate. The OIC also consulted with all its employees to ensure that the core values of the organization are well reflected in the Strategic Plan. Additionally, the OIC has updated its Corporate Risk Profile to reflect the changes at the OIC specifically and in the larger access to information system.

Resources required to achieve results

Table 3: Resources required to achieve results for internal services this year

Table 3 provides a summary of the planned and actual spending and full-time equivalents required to achieve results.

The Finances section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase and the People section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase provide complete financial and human resources information related to its program inventory.

Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

Government of Canada departments are required to award at least 5% of the total value of contracts to Indigenous businesses every year.

The OIC's results for 2024-25:

Table 4: Total value of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses^{Footnote ¹}

As shown in Table 4, the OIC awarded 56% of the total value of all contracts to Indigenous businesses for the fiscal year.

The OIC was required to achieve the minimum 5% target of contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses by the end of 2024-25. The OIC exceeded this target in 2024-25 and has done so every year since 2022-23.

In its 2025–26 Departmental Plan, the OIC estimated that it would award 5% of the total value of its contracts to Indigenous businesses by the end of 2024–25. The OIC was able to exceed this target by procuring IM and IT services from Indigenous firms since these particular segments represent the highest operational expenditures for the organization.

The measures that OIC has taken and will continue to take to achieve the 5% minimum target include the following:

• disseminating communiqués to inform OIC budget managers of this commitment;
• ensuring that necessary training is provided to budget managers and contracting specialists; and
• considering the impact of multi year contacts

As a small organization, the OIC relies on the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) for procurement services and will continue to work jointly with CHRC to continue to achieve the contract target.

Spending and human resources

In this section

• Spending
• Funding
• Financial statement highlights
• Human resources

Spending

This section presents an overview of the department's actual and planned expenditures from 2022–23 to 2027–28.

Refocusing Government Spending

While not officially part of this spending reduction exercise, the OIC was required to absorb a budget shortfall due to the methodology used to allocate funding for the implementation of new collective agreements. As a result, the OIC was required to perform an in-depth review of its planned spending to ensure the maximum number of resources could be spent on OIC's core responsibility. The major impact of this shortfall is that the OIC was required to reduce its planned staffing by approximately five full-time equivalents. To respect the spirit of this exercise, the OIC undertook the following measures in 2024-25.

Additional measures taken by the OIC in the year include the following:

• examining ways to partner with other government organizations to share costs
• extending the useful life of major IT equipment and reusing equipment whenever possible
• reducing the amount of office space occupied

Budgetary performance summary

Table 5: Actual three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 5 shows the money that the OIC spent in each of the past three years on its core responsibilities and on internal services.

Analysis of the past three years of spending

The OIC spent $18.2 million in 2024-25 which is consistent with the amount spent in 2023-24. Despite the level of funding being consistent, the OIC has been required to absorb an unanticipated funding shortfall due to the methodology used by TBS to allocate funding for new collective agreements which impact the vast majority of OIC's employees. As a result of this, the OIC has been required to reduce its maximum number of full-time equivalents by approximately 4% which will impact the capacity of OIC to complete investigations. The total authorities available for use in 2024-25 was $18.7 million and increase of $1.5 million over the amount included in the Main Estimates. The main reason for this increase is additional funding received in the year for the implementation of new collective agreements and the OIC's carry forward of funding from 2023-24.

The OIC is committed to spending the maximum amount possible on its core responsibility and minimizing spending on internal services. The percentage spent on government transparency has increased annually from 2022-23 to 2024-25.

The Finances section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase offers more financial information from previous years.

Table 6: Planned three-year spending on core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)

Table 6 shows the OIC's planned spending for each of the next three years on its core responsibilities and on internal services.

Analysis of the next three years of spending

The OIC plans to spend $17.7 million in 2025–26 and $17.8 million in ongoing years. The vast majority of the OIC's spending is for salaries and associated employee costs.

The Finances section of the Infographic for the OIC on GC Infobase offers more detailed financial information related to future years.

Funding

This section provides an overview of the department's voted and statutory funding for its core responsibilities and for internal services. Consult the Government of Canada budgets and expenditures for further information on funding authorities.

Graph 1: Approved funding (statutory and voted) over a six-year period

Graph 1 summarizes the department's approved voted and statutory funding from 2022-23 to 2027-28.

Analysis of statutory and voted funding over a six-year period

The OIC spent $18.2 million in 2024-25 to carry out its program and meet its strategic outcome which was consistent with the spending in 2023-24.

The OIC plans to spend $17.7 million in 2025-26, a decrease from 2024-25 as spending returns to base levels after greater spending in 2023-24 and 2024-25 due to the implementation of new collective agreements. Spending in 2026–27 and ongoing is expected to be approximately $17.7 million as funding remains at base levels. Planned spending in 2026-27 and later years does not include any additional funding for new collective agreements after the current ones expire in the next several years. When these new collective agreements are signed, the OIC expects to receive additional funding from the TBS to cover the full cost of these agreements.

The Commissioner is committed to ensuring that the OIC uses its financial resources in the most strategic and responsible manner to continually improve service delivery and ensure that investigations and other activities aimed at enhancing government openness and transparency have the most impact. The vast majority of the OIC's spending (88%) was for salaries and associated employee costs.

Consult the Public Accounts of Canada for further information on the OIC's departmental voted and statutory expenditures.

Financial statement highlights

Please see the OIC's Financial Statements (Audited) for the Year Ended March 31, 2025

Table 7: Condensed Statement of Operations (audited) for the year ended March 31, 2025 (dollars)

Table 7 summarizes the expenses and revenues for 2024–25 which net to the cost of operations before government funding and transfers.

The 2024–25 planned results information is provided in the OIC's Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2024–25.

Table 8: Condensed Statement of Operations (audited) for 2023-24 and 2024-25 (dollars)

Table 8 summarizes actual expenses and revenues and shows the net cost of operations before government funding and transfers.

Table 9 Condensed Statement of Financial Position (audited) as at March 31, 2025 (dollars)

Table 9 provides a brief snapshot of the amounts the department owes or must spend (liabilities) and its available resources (assets), which helps to indicate its ability to carry out programs and services.

Human resources

This section presents an overview of the department's actual and planned human resources from 2022–23 to 2027–28.

Table 10: Actual human resources for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 10 shows a summary in full-time equivalents of human resources for the OIC's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the previous three fiscal years.

Analysis of human resources for the last three years

The actual number of FTEs in 2024–25 was consistent with 2023-24. The decrease from 2022-23 was due to several departures in the year which resulted in positions being vacant until a staffing action was completed and an unanticipated funding shortfall due to the methodology used to allocate funding for new collective agreements. The OIC was required to delay staffing until the full impact of this shortfall was determined and required the OIC to reduce its planned fulltime equivalents by five FTEs.

Table 11: Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services

Table 11 shows the planned full-time equivalents for each of the OIC's core responsibilities and for its internal services for the next three years. Human resources for the current fiscal year are forecast based on year to date.

Analysis of human resources for the next three years

The OIC had originally planned for 129 FTEs for the next three years. Due to the unanticipated structural deficit, resulting from the cost of covering unfunded salary increases under new collective agreements, the planned FTEs have been reduced to 124 FTEs.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the OIC's website:

• Gender‑based Analysis Plus

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.

Corporate Information

Organizational contact information

Mailing address:
France Labine
Deputy Commissioner, Corporate Services, Strategic Planning
and Transformation Services
Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada

Telephone: 613-462-4441

Email: france.labine@ci-oic.gc.ca

Website(s): http://www.oic-ci.gc.ca/

Definitions

appropriation (crédit)

Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)

Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, departments or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)

An enduring function or role of a department. The departmental results listed for a core responsibility reflect the outcomes that the department seeks to influence or achieve.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)

A report that outlines the anticipated activities and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3-year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament in spring.

departmental priority (priorité)

A plan, project or activity that a department focuses and reports on during a specific planning period. Priorities represent the most important things to be done or those to be addressed first to help achieve the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)

A high-level outcome related to the core responsibilities of a department.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)

A quantitative or qualitative measure that assesses progress toward a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)

A framework that connects the department's core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)

A report outlining a department's accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

Full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)

Measures the person years in a departmental budget. An employee's scheduled hours per week divided by the employer's hours for a full-time workweek calculates a full-time equivalent. For example, an employee who works 20 hours in a 40-hour standard workweek represents a 0.5 full-time equivalent.

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])

An analytical tool that helps to understand the ways diverse individuals experience policies, programs and other initiatives. Applying GBA Plus to policies, programs and other initiatives helps to identify the different needs of the people affected, the ways to be more responsive and inclusive, and the methods to anticipate and mitigate potential barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography (including rurality), language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

government priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)

For the purpose of the 2024–25 Departmental Results Report, government priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government's agenda as announced in the 2021 Speech from the Throne.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)

A program, project or other initiative where two or more federal departments receive funding to work collaboratively on a shared outcome usually linked to a government priority, and where the ministers involved agree to designate it as horizontal. Specific reporting requirements apply, including that the lead department must report on combined expenditures and results.

Indigenous business (entreprise autochtones)

For the purposes of a Departmental Result Report, this includes any entity that meets the Indigenous Services Canada's criteria of being owned and operated by Elders, band and tribal councils, registered in the Indigenous Business Directory or registered on a modern treaty beneficiary business list.

non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)

Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)

What a department did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the department intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)

A qualitative or quantitative measure that assesses progress toward a departmental-level or program-level result, or the expected outputs or outcomes of a program, policy or initiative.

plan (plan)

The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how a department intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)

For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to the amounts presented in Main Estimates. Departments must determine their planned spending and be able to defend the financial numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)

An Individual, group, or combination of services and activities managed together within a department and focused on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)

A listing that identifies all the department's programs and the resources that contribute to delivering on the department's core responsibilities and achieving its results.

result (résultat)

An outcome or output related to the activities of a department, policy, program or initiative.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)

Spending approved through legislation passed in Parliament, other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose and the terms and conditions of the expenditures.

target (cible)

A quantitative or qualitative, measurable goal that a department, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)

Spending approved annually through an appropriation act passed in Parliament. The vote also outlines the conditions that govern the spending.