Personal Information Requests to Public Bodies BC

Under section 7 of BC FIPPA, a provincial public body generally has 30 business days to respond to a request. In some cases, the deadline may be extended but the public body must provide you with the reason and notify you as per section 10 of BC FIPPA. For example, the timeline may be extended by another 30 days if a request is seen to:  

• Not provide enough detail; 
• The request results in a large number of records needing to be found; or 
• The applicant consents to the extension 

Typically requests for non-personal or general information takes longer than requests for your own personal information, while requests by political parties, media, and interest groups take the longest. In addition, requesting access to controversial or sensitive information may warrant an extension to the 30-day period.   

If a second extension that goes beyond 60 business days is requested, you are not required to agree. If you decline this extension, the public body must present their case for the extension to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, who will either deny the extension or grant an additional 30 business days. 

Public bodies must ensure the personal information they hold is accurate. If you believe there is an error or omission in your information, all your rights regarding corrections stem from section 29 of BC FIPPA.  

The public body must notify you if they corrected the information or provide reasons for not correcting it. 

If the public body decides that changing the information is not appropriate, it must still note your request for change in the record. If you ask for a correction to an opinion, the public body typically won’t make the change but will note your disagreement with the opinion in the record. If the error is factual and sufficient proof is provided, the public body must make the correction.  

If the public body has shared your newly corrected information to other organizations within the past year, they must tell them about the correction or the correction request.  

As per section 8 of BC FIPPA, if the head of the public body refuses to fulfill parts or your entire request, they must tell you their reasons that are aligned with BC FIPPA, provide follow-up contact information, and suggest that you review section 53 or section 63 of BC FIPPA.  

If you are denied access to parts of or your entire request, you have the right to request a review by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia within 30 days of receipt of the public body’s written response, as per section 53 of BC FIPPA. Before going to the Commissioner’s Office, ask the public body to review their decision to deny, access, or delete information.  

Under section 11 of BC FIPPA, if a public body determines it does not have the records you are requesting or only provides you with a portion of them, it has a legal duty to transfer your request to another public body. In addition, said public body must notify you in writing that it has transferred your request or indicate it has no records and provide other written assistance to you. If you doubt the public body’s response, you can ask them to reconsider, then appeal to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.  

For more information on request reviews, please visit the BC OIPC’s “How do I request a review” page. 

The provincial public body may refuse to disclose the requested information for a number of reasons. Public bodies tend to withhold more information than they should in their initial response, especially with content that is sensitive, politically charged, or potentially damaging to the government.  

If one or more exceptions under BC FIPPA apply to your request, a public body can remove or redact the excepted information and release the rest of the record to you. Listed below are the relevant sections of BC FIPPA that deal with exceptions to disclosure as per division 2 of BC FIPPA. 

• Section 12: Cabinet and local public body confidences 
• Section 13: Policy advice or recommendations 
• Section 14: Legal advice 
• Section 15: Disclosure harmful to law enforcement 
• Section 16: Disclosure harmful to intergovernmental relations or negotiations 
• Section 17: Disclosure harmful to the financial or economic interests of a public body 
• Section 18: Disclosure harmful to the conservation of heritage sites etc. 
• Section 18.1: Disclosure harmful to interests of an Indigenous people 
• Section 19: Disclosure harmful to individual or public safety 
• Section 20: Information that will be published or released within 60 days 
• Section 21: Disclosure harmful to business interests of a third party 
• Section 22: Disclosure harmful to personal privacy 
• Section 22.1: Disclosure of information relating to abortion services 

Exceptions to disclosure tend to be used liberally by public bodies. The refusal to disclose under any of the above sections of BC FIPPA does not mean that you cannot obtain access to the personal information you seek, as you are allowed to dispute the refusal through the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.  

Provincial public bodies may charge either an application fee or fees related to producing the records as per section 75(1) of BC FIPPA. Additionally, the public body may charge a deposit fee set by the public body head as per section 75(4)(b) of BC FIPPA. Under section 75(4)(a) of BC FIPPA, if a provincial public body charges a fee, they must first give a written estimate. Regarding section 75(7) of BC FIPPA, fees for services to produce records may vary between applicants but these fees can never be more than what the services cost.  

Under section 75(2) and section 75(3) of BC FIPPA, a provincial public body cannot charge a fee regarding the first 3 hours used to produce the record nor can they charge an applicant requesting their own personal information.  

Under section 75(5) of BC FIPPA, a public body may excuse fees related to producing records if the head of the public body finds that the applicant cannot afford the fee, if there is any fair reason to excuse the fee, or the request involves public interest. If an applicant requests fee excuse under section 75(5) of BC FIPPA, then the public body must respond within 20 days of the request as per section 75(6) of BC FIPPA. 

Regarding requests for general information, there is a $10 application fee that applies to all general freedom of information requests in British Columbia. 

As set out in section 75(5) of BC FIPPA, provincial public bodies in BC will consider waiving fees if you make a request to them in writing. You must be able to prove either that the records you seek relate to a matter of public interest, or that your personal circumstances (such as the lack of ability to pay a fee) make it unfair to levy one on your request.  

Fees are often used by public bodies to discourage requests or encourage requesters to narrow their focus. However, you can ask for fees to be waived. A fee will not be waived unless you ask for a waiver. If you plan to ask for a refund or fee waiver, add this information to your initial request.  

The public body must respond in writing within 20 days of receiving your request for a fee waiver, as per section 75(6) of BC FIPPA. The 30-business day response time is suspended from the time you are provided the fee estimate until you pay the fee or deposit, or until they agree to waive the fees. You may choose to pay the deposit and then request to waive the overall fee to avoid any delays on your request. 

Many public bodies and organizations, including the provincial government, have a policy that notes that fees charged under BC FIPPA should allow them to recover a portion of the processing costs. However, fees are not mandatory (as per OIPC Order 90-1996) and can be waived under section 75(5) of BC FIPPA if the applicant cannot afford the payment or for any other reason it is fair to excuse payment, or if the record relates to a matter of public interest, including the environment or public health or safety. 

You should consider the following when preparing your fee waiver request: 

• Have you included detailed written reasons for your request? 
• Is this request reasonable? 
• Are you open to narrowing the request? 
• Are the requested records relevant to your needs, or is their relevance questionable? 

As per the BC government’s interpretation of section 75(5) of BC FIPPA, provincial public bodies will consider the following, which is a non-exhaustive list of factors when deciding if all or only a portion of your fees should be waived: 

• Whether the payment will cause financial hardship for the applicant;  
• The extent to which the actual cost of providing the service varies from the fee that may be charged under the Act. If the actual cost is considerably more than the fee, the public body may be less inclined to waive the fee, subject to other considerations;  
• Whether the applicant is to be granted access to the records requested. If the records are subject to severing or some of the records are not being released, the public body considers the extent to which the released records answer the applicant’s request and considers giving a partial or full fee waiver;  
• Whether the amount of the fee is more or less than the minimum processing threshold;  
• Whether the record relates to public health or safety and release is in the public interest; and,  
• Whether the record relates to the environment and release is in the public interest 

If you are requesting information that is in the public interest, we recommend you submit a written explanation of why you should not be charged a fee and include as much proof as possible to convince the public body to waive the fee. Always send your fee waiver requests to the person who sent you the fee estimate. 

If you are unsatisfied with any decision, act, refusal, or failure to act regarding a request for a record or correction of your personal information, you have the right to file a complaint or request a review through the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia as per section 52 of BC FIPPA. 

As per section 53(2) of BC FIPPA, please file a complaint about the response time, extension, refusal, fee, or any other issue to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia within 30 days of receiving notice of the fee. 

For more information about complaints, please visit FIPA’s complaint and review page.