Information Commissioner’s appearance before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

September 15, 2025
Ottawa, ON

(Check against delivery)

Thank you for inviting me today. I have had the honor to serve as Canada’s Information Commissioner since 2018, and I always welcome the opportunity to speak to this committee. For returning members, some of what I will cover in my opening remarks may already be familiar.

Canada’s access to information legislation gives Canadians the right to know how their government operates. The Supreme Court of Canada has described this right as “quasi-constitutional.”

Every year, Canadians exercise their right of access by submitting over 200,000 requests for records under the control of government institutions. These requests often touch on topics at the heart of our democracy: How tax dollars are being spent, how programs and services are administered, how government contracts are awarded and to whom, and what measures are being taken to strengthen our economy, to name just a few.

As outlined in the background materials I have provided, my role is to enforce the Access to Information Act using the full range of tools and powers at my disposal.

For the past seven years, I have investigated thousands of complaints related to access requests. I have also issued orders to institutions since being granted that power in 2019, and I have pursued litigation to enforce the law and uphold Canadians’ right of access.

When the Act came into force in 1983, it was considered groundbreaking. But over the decades, governments have failed to keep it up to date. Neither the Act, nor the system that supports it, reflect the realities of how information is created, shared, and used in today’s world.

Let me give you a picture of what that means in practice. In many institutions, responding to access requests requires searching through thousands of electronic records that have not been properly managed or going through boxes or cabinets of documents that have not been adequately archived. And all too often, manual redactions, duplicate removal, and other labour-intensive processes relying on outdated technologies impede the efficiency of these searches.

These performance deficiencies, combined with a persistent culture of secrecy, often result in institutions failing to meet their obligations under the Act.

We now have both an Act and a system that are unfit to meet the information needs of Canadians.

Last June, the Government launched a legislative review, as required by the Act. I hope it moves swiftly and results in meaningful changes to both the Act and the system that supports it.

I truly look forward to playing an active role in this review, as well as in any other reviews Parliament chooses to undertake, with the hope that they will result in a full and comprehensive overhaul of the Act. Canadians deserve an access law worthy of this great country.

At a time of growing misinformation and public skepticism, Canada must be a leader in transparency and accountability, for the sake of our democracy.

This also means that the Access to Information and Privacy function must be properly resourced within each institution to uphold this legal obligation.

As the government carries out a Comprehensive Expenditure Review to ensure that public spending is responsible, cost-effective, and delivers real results for Canadians, institutions must carefully assess the risks that come with any reduction in access to information capacity. Access to information is not a service. It is a right, enshrined in law.

Next week marks Right to Know Week—a time each year when we shine a spotlight on Canadians’ right of access.

It is the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves that modernizing the Access to Information Act to increase transparency is one of the most powerful ways to strengthen the trust between citizens and their government and to protect our democracy.

Thank you.