Structure

Vision:

An FOI a day.

Mission:

Activities that enable FIPA to make research and experience-based recommendations reflecting best practice in and about freedom of information.

Objective:

Individual FOI requests are to be made to obtain information and data necessary for an expanded understanding of FIPAs Mandate Areas.

Scope

FIPA does not make requests on behalf of other individuals; we empower people to make their own requests.
FIPA will regularly send freedom of information (FOI) requests that are designed to evaluate and gain insight into public bodies’ compliance with FIPPA or related Acts.
This is a defined and repeatable activity with limited resources allocated from Legal Research, Law Reform, and Public Education program area.
Exhaustive research and searches are to be conducted for information in the public interest prior to making formal requests.
Every effort will be made to ensure FIPA can continue this activity without overwhelming the system.
The Executive Director manages the activity. Work is conducted by FIPA staff assigned to these program areas.
Stakeholders will be consulted as this develops.
Portions of the workplan will be shared publicly.

Criteria and Considerations

Qualification criteria and considerations for the requests FIPA makes will vary based on specific activities. They are broadly based on the following:

Qualification Criteria

Is the information already available following review of online sources, including but not limited to:
- Open information, government websites, previous FOI releases
Does the FOI answer or provide insight in the following program areas
1. Legal Research
  1. Does it engage in exploratory and descriptive research?
  2. Does it confirm, deny, or alter an observation about a trend or hypothesis in mandate areas?
2. Education
  1. Does it fill an identified gap in legal interpretation or public information?
  2. Does it expand information in FIPA mandated areas in the public interest?
3. Law Reform
  1. Does it provide information or trends on the application of law?
  2. Does it result in a complaint that will necessitate judicial review or strategic litigation that could shift legal interpretation in the public interest?
What is the cost of the request?

Considerations

A request planning cycle will be developed and periodically reviewed.
Qualification criteria are used to ensure alignment between previous project FOI requests, strategic management plan, and defined program areas.
Certain responses may trigger the need for later action. Planning includes an allocation of time for reactive FOI requests that result from prior responses or emergent issues.
The cumulative results may be published once complete or in later iterations of the activity.
Requests may be grouped to conduct an assessment or be sent to multiple public bodies to conduct comparative analysis.
The results of individual requests will either generate information that can result in subsequent communication or be stored for further research specific to the subject matter identified within the records.
Research will focus on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the Information Management Act (IMA). Information may also be sought to inform FIPA’s other mandate areas. In particular, the Personal Information Protection Act, Public Interest Disclosure Act, and Anti-Racism Data Act.

Updated: 20250527