Parks Canada Agency
2023-2024
Annual report to parliament
Privacy Act

Introduction

Parks Canada Agency is pleased to submit to Parliament its annual report on the administration of the

Privacy Act for the reporting period commencing on April 1, 2023, and ending on March 31, 2024.

This report is prepared and tabled in accordance with section 72 of the Privacy Act which requires that the head of every federal institution prepare and submit an annual report to Parliament on the administration of the Act in the institution during the fiscal year.

Purpose of thePrivacy Act

The purpose of the Privacy Act is to provide:

• individuals with the right to access and correct personal information about themselves that is under the control of a government institution.
• the legal framework for the collection, retention, use, disclosure, disposition, and accuracy of personal information in the administration of programs and activities by government institutions subject to the Act.

Mandate of Parks Canada Agency

The Parks Canada Agency’s mandate is to protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage and to foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure their ecological and commemorative integrity for present and future generations. The Agency is responsible for operations under multiple pieces of federal legislation and protects approximately 450 000 km² of Canada’s terrestrial, marine, and freshwater ecosystems. It is the steward of 48 national parks, one national urban park, five national marine conservation areas and 171 national historic sites, including nine heritage canals. The Agency is highly decentralized with team members located across the country and often in remote areas.

Organizational Structure

During this reporting period, Parks Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Office was part of the Corporate Communications Branch. The Access to Information and Privacy Office is comprised of six (6) full-time employees responsible of implementing and managing services related to the administration of the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act. The team is also responsible of providing advice to Parks Canada employees as they fulfill their obligations under both Acts including requirements for the proactive publication of information.

Internal tools and procedures have been developed to support the Agency in meeting its obligations under the Privacy Act, regulations and Treasury Board policies and are regularly reviewed and improved.

Parks Canada met its statutory deadlines for all requests during the reporting period and ensured proactive publication requirements were met. Parks Canada is committed to transparency, service to Canadians and the expeditious processing of access to information requests and has put in place the systems and processes necessary to meet this commitment.

Parks Canada did not enter in any service agreements under section 73.1 of the Privacy Act during the reporting period.

Delegation order

Performance 2023-2024

The following report presents an overview of activities carried out within the Agency during the reporting period of April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024. The Statistical Report (Appendix A) contains detailed statistics on the information requests processed under the Privacy Act.

Parks Canada responded to all requests for personal information within legislated timelines.

Thirty-five (35) personal information requests were received under the Privacy Act. Four (4) requests were carried over to next reporting period.

The following is a breakdown of the number of completed requests broken down by completion times:

Completed requests broken down by completion times

Number of Days	Number of Completed Requests
1 to 15 days	18
16-30 days	10
31 to 60 days	7
61-120 days	0
121-180 days	0
181- 365 days	0
More than 365 days	0

Eight (8) requests were fully disclosed, and fourteen (14) requests resulted in the partial disclosure of the records. Five (5) were abandoned by the applicants.

Four (4) active complaints were outstanding from the previous reporting period.

The following is a percentage breakdown by disclosure types for privacy requests processed in 2023-2024.

Completed requests broken down by completion times

Disclosure	Percentage
All disclosed	23%
Disclosed in part	40%
Requests abandoned	14%

Section 15 of the Privacy Act permits the statutory time limits to be extended if consultations are necessary, if translation is required or if the request is for a large volume of records and processing it within the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution.

Parks Canada invoked a total of seven (7) extensions during the 2023-24 reporting period that were deemed necessary to process a large volume of records.

In fiscal year 2023-2024, there has been a 17% increase in the number of privacy requests received as well as an increase on the number of pages reviewed of 485%.

The Agency received one (1) consultation request under the Privacy Act. No consultations were carried forward from the previous reporting period and no consultations were carried forward to the next reporting period.

The Agency provides the public with information on an informal basis. Information is provided only when the Agency is satisfied that the information requested concerns the individual making the request or where at least one of the conditions outlined in subsection 8(2) of the Act is met.

Training and Awareness

Facilitating efficient and transparent access to information and to personal information for Canadians is a priority for Parks Canada.

To ensure that all Agency employees understand their responsibilities and obligations regarding the legislation, including the proactive publication of Part 2, awareness sessions are offered periodically to provide information on the provisions of the Access to Information Act.

The participation of ATIP Office team members in several meetings on new initiatives, programs and services offered by the agency created opportunities to meet with many employees from different sectors. ATIP focused on customized, program-specific training for the different responsibilities of each Parks Canada program and service.

As a result of the relationships built through these meetings, Parks Canada employees have a better understanding of the impact of access to information and privacy on the programs and activities they deliver. They have the knowledge to provide relevant documents with appropriate recommendations for processing requests.

The development of these relationships has been beneficial to the Agency, with employees in Offices of Primary Interest sending ninety-four (94) questions related to the ATIP request.

The Agency put a focus on training its employees as to their responsibilities pertaining to access to information and privacy during the last reporting period. This year, eighteen (18) training sessions were given to Agency employees in 2023-2024. In total, three hundred and ninety-eight (398) employees attended these sessions.

Policies, Guidelines, Procedures and Initiatives

During the reporting period, the ATIP Office was continuously ensuring that its policies and procedures for processing requests made pursuant to the Privacy Act were up to date and that adjustments were made to areas where the need for improvement was identified.

The Agency created an internal privacy breach protocol following the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat update of the Privacy Policy instruments.

The Agency did not receive authority for any new collection or new consistent use of Social Insurance Numbers during the reporting period.

Summary of Key Issues and Actions Taken on Complaints

Fourteen (14) complaints were filed with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada during the reporting period under review. Thirteen (13) of them were filed by the same applicant. There have been no audits or investigations.

Monitoring Compliance

The Agency monitors the time required to process personal information requests. When the need for improvements are identified, internal processes are adjusted. No requests for correction of personal information were received during the reporting period.

Material Privacy Breaches

There were no material privacy breaches reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and to the Information and Privacy Policy Division, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat during this period.

Privacy Impact Assessments

Between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, the Agency reviewed the following three (3) Privacy Impact Assessments: Youth Employment Skills Strategy, the Parks Canada Reservation Service and the Aquatic Invasive Species.

Parks Canada’s completed Privacy Impact Assessments

Public Interest Disclosures

There were no disclosures of personal information made pursuant to 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act during the reporting period.

2023-2024 Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution: Parks Canada Agency

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Section 1: Requests under the Privacy Act

1.1 Number of requests received

		Number of requests
Received during reporting period		35
Outstanding from previous reporting periods		4
• Outstanding from previous reporting period	4
• Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total		39
Closed during reporting period		35
Carried over to next reporting period		4
• Carried over within legislated timeline	4
• Carried over beyond legislated timeline	0

1.2 Channels of requests

Source	Number of requests
Online	32
E-mail	3
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	35

Section 2: Informal requests

2.1 Number of informal requests

		Number of requests
Received during reporting period		0
Outstanding from previous reporting periods		0
• Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
• Outstanding from more than one reporting period	0
Total		0
Closed during reporting period		0
Carried over to next reporting period		0

2.2 Channels of informal requests

Source	Number of requests
Online	0
E-mail	0
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	0

2.3 Completion time of informal requests

Completion time
1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

2.4 Pages released informally

Less than 100 pages released		100-500 pages released		501-1000 pages released		1001-5000 pages released		More than 5000 pages released
Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released	Number of requests	Pages released
0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 3: Requests closed during the reporting period

3.1 Disposition and completion time

Disposition of requests	Completion time
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
All disclosed	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	8
Disclosed in part	2	5	7	0	0	0	0	14
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	7	1	0	0	0	0	0	8
Request abandoned	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	18	10	7	0	0	0	0	35

3.2 Exemptions

Section	Number of requests	Section	Number of requests	Section	Number of requests
18(2)	0	22(1)(a)(i)	0	23(a)	0
19(1)(a)	0	22(1)(a)(ii)	0	23(b)	0
19(1)(b)	0	22(1)(a)(iii)	0	24(a)	0
19(1)(c)	0	22(1)(b)	0	24(b)	0
19(1)(d)	0	22(1)(c)	0	25	0
19(1)(e)	0	22(2)	0	26	14
19(1)(f)	0	22.1	0	27	1
20	0	22.2	0	27.1	0
21	0	22.3	0	28	0
		22.4	0

3.3 Exclusions

Section	Number of requests	Section	Number of requests	Section	Number of requests
69(1)(a)	0	70(1)	0	70(1)(d)	0
69(1)(b)	0	70(1)(a)	0	70(1)(e)	0
69.1	0	70(1)(b)	0	70(1)(f)	0
		70(1)(c)	0	70.1	0

3.4 Format of information released

Paper	Electronic				Other
	E-record	Data set	Video	Audio
2	20	0	0	0	0

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed for paper and e-record formats

Number of pages processed	Number of pages disclosed	Number of requests
15 076	14 336	27

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed by request disposition for paper and e-record formats by size of requests

Disposition	Less than 100 pages processed		100-500 pages processed		501-1000 pages processed		1001-5000 pages processed		More than 5000 pages processed
	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed	Number of requests	Pages processed
All disclosed	7	177	0	0	0	0	1	3 198	0	0
Disclosed in part	1	70	6	1 675	3	2 398	4	7 558	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	13	247	6	1 675	3	2 398	5	10 756	0	0

3.5.3 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for audio formats

Number of minutes processed	Number of minutes disclosed	Number of requests
0	0	0

3.5.4 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for audio formats by size of requests

Disposition	Less than 60 minutes processed		60-120 minutes processed		More than 120 minutes processed
	Number of requests	Minutes processed	Number of requests	Minutes processed	Number of requests	Minutes processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.5 Relevant minutes processed and disclosed for video formats

Number of minutes processed	Number of minutes disclosed	Number of requests
0	0	0

3.5.6 Relevant minutes processed per request disposition for video formats by size of requests

Disposition	Less than 60 minutes processed		60-120 minutes processed		More than 120 minutes processed
	Number of requests	Minutes processed	Number of requests	Minutes processed	Number of requests	Minutes processed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.7 Other complexities

Disposition	Consultation required	Legal advice sought	Interwoven information	Other	Total
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0

3.6 Closed requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	35
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%)	100

3.7 Deemed refusals

3.7.1 Reasons for not meeting legislated timelines

Number of requests closed past the legislated timelines	Principal reason
	Interference with operations / Workload	External consultation	Internal consultation	Other
0	0	0	0	0

3.7.2 Request closed beyond legislated timelines (including any extension taken)

Number of days past legislated timelines	Number of requests past legislated timeline where no extension was taken	Number of requests past legislated timeline where an extension was taken	Total
1 to 15 days	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	0	0	0
31 to 60 days	0	0	0
61 to 120 days	0	0	0
121 to 180 days	0	0	0
181 to 365 days	0	0	0
More than 365 days	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

3.8 Requests for translation

Translation requests	Accepted	Refused	Total
English to French	0	0	0
French to English	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0

Section 4: Disclosures under subsections 8(2) and 8(5)

Paragraph 8(2)(e)	Paragraph 8(2)(m)	Subsection 8(5)	Total
6	0	0	6

Section 5: Requests for correction of personal information and notations

Disposition for correction requests received	Number
Notations attached	0
Requests for correction accepted	0
Total	0

Section 6: Extensions

6.1  Reasons for extensions

Number of requests where an extension was taken	15(a)(i) Interference with operations				15 (a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation purposes or conversion
	Further review required to determine exemptions	Large volume of pages	Large volume of requests	Documents are difficult to obtain	Cabinet Confidence Section (Section 70)	External	Internal
7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0

6.2 Length of extensions

Length of extensions	15(a)(i) Interference with operations				15 (a)(ii) Consultation			15(b) Translation purposes or conversion
	Further review required to determine exemptions	Large volume of pages	Large volume of requests	Documents are difficult to obtain	Cabinet Confidence Section (Section 70)	External	Internal
1 to 15 days	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30 days	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 days or greater								0
Total	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 7: Consultations received from other institutions and organizations

7.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions and other organizations

Consultations	Other Government of Canada institutions	Number of pages to review	Other organizations	Number of pages to review
Received during the reporting period	1	0	0	0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	0	0	0	0
Total	1	0	0	0
Closed during the reporting period	1	0	0	0
Carried over within negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0
Carried over beyond negotiated timelines	0	0	0	0

7.2 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

Recommendation	Number of days required to complete consultation requests
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

7.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations outside the Government of Canada

Recommendation	Number of days required to complete consultation requests
	1 to 15 days	16 to 30 days	31 to 60 days	61 to 120 days	121 to 180 days	181 to 365 days	More than 365 days	Total
Disclose entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclose in part	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exempt entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Exclude entirely	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Consult other institution	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 8: Completion time of consultations on cabinet confidences

8.1 Requests with Legal Services

Disposition	Less than 100 pages processed		100-500 pages processed		501-1000 pages processed		1001-5000 pages processed		More than 5000 pages processed
	Number of pages	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

8.2 Requests with Privy Council Office

Disposition	Less than 100 pages processed		100-500 pages processed		501-1000 pages processed		1001-5000 pages processed		More than 5000 pages processed
	Number of pages	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed	Number of requests	Pages disclosed
1 to 15	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16 to 30	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31 to 60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
61 to 120	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
121 to 180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
181 to 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
More than 365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 9: Complaints and investigations notices received

Section 31	Section 33	Section 35	Court action	Total
14	0	0	2	16

Section 10: Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and Personal Information Banks (PIBs)

10.1 Privacy Impact Assessments

Number of PIAs completed	2
Number of PIAs modified	1

10.2 Institution-specific and Central Personal Information Banks

Personal Information Banks	Active	Created	Terminated	Modified
Institution-specific	18	0	0	1
Central	0	0	0	0
Total	18	0	0	1

Section 11: Privacy breaches

11.1 Material privacy breaches reported

Number of material privacy breaches reported to TBS	0
Number of material privacy breaches reported to OPC	0

11.2 Non-material privacy breaches

Number of non-material privacy breaches

6

Section 12: Resources related to the Privacy Act

12.1  Allocated costs

Expenditures		Amount
Salaries		$96 667
Overtime		$0
Goods and Services		$0
• Professional services contracts	$0
• Other	$0
Total		$96 667

12.2  Human resources

Resources	Person years dedicated to privacy activities
Full-time employees	1.000
Part-time and casual employees	0.000
Regional staff	0.000
Consultants and agency personnel	0.000
Students	0.000
Total	1.000

Supplemental statistical report on the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act

Name of institution: Parks Canada Agency

Reporting period: 2023-04-01 to 2024-03-31

Section 1: Open requests and complaints under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

1.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Information Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Section 2: Open requests and complaints under the Privacy Act

2.1 Enter the number of open requests that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

2.2 Enter the number of open complaints with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada that are outstanding from previous reporting periods

Section 3: Social Insurance Number

Section 4: Universal access under the Privacy Act