Date of Publishing:

Introduction

The Privacy Act (PA) gives individuals the right of access to personal information about them held by the government, subject to limited and specific exceptions. It also protects privacy by preventing unauthorized access to personal information and by giving the individuals substantial control over the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information.

The National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) is pleased to submit to Parliament its annual report on the administration of the PA for the fiscal year commencing April 1, 2019 and ending March 31, 2020. This report is submitted in accordance with section 72 of the PA.

The NSIRA is a new independent external review body, which reports to Parliament. NSIRA was established in July 2019 and is responsible to conduct reviews of the Government of Canada national security and intelligence activities to ensure that they are lawful, reasonable and necessary. NSIRA also hears public complaints regarding key national security agencies and activities. NSIRA replaces the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC), which reviewed Canadian Security Intelligence Service activities as well as those related to the revocation or denial of security clearances. NSIRA will also now hear complaints regarding the Communications Security Establishment and national security-related complaints regarding the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Organization Structure

The responsibility of the administration of the PA is delegated to NSIRA’s Executive Director and further sub-delegated to the Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) Coordinator consistent with the Designation Order provided in Appendix “A”.

The person holding the position or acting in the position of Executive Director has full delegation to exercise or perform any of the powers, duties and functions under the PA. The ATIP Coordinator operates under a restricted delegation.

The coordinator works with the Executive Director’s Office, Legal and Registry Services, and the Review directorate to meet requirements of the ATIP program.

The function is performed by a trained employee who is a member of the Corporate Services directorate.

Delegation Order

A signed and dated copy of the Delegation Order, in effect at the end of this reporting period is attached as Appendix A.

Performance

NSIRA received four requests under the PA. Three of these requests (75%) were closed during the reporting period. Two of the three requests delivered, were delivered outside legislative timelines. The volume of requests received remained low, only one request was received the previous fiscal year. One of the requests delivered outside of legislative timelines evolved into a complaint that was later closed on January 1, 2020 by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC).

The second request was received March 18, 2020 and the response provided on June 17, 2020 or 45 days after the legislative deadline.

COVID-19 has greatly disrupted NSIRA’s work and challenged the organization to meet corporate deadlines. During the reporting period, one privacy request was affected.

Since that time, the NSIRA has implemented additional tools to increasingly enable employees to function well while working from home during the pandemic. Given the sensitivity level of NSIRA information holdings and the minimal amount of records that have been digitized, searches are not typically able to be performed remotely.

A statistical summary showing the disposition of the requests is attached as Appendix B.

Training and awareness

For the reporting period, NSIRA was in existence for eight months. NSIRA has individual employee and management training to support the completion of privacy requests received. However, management is committed to implementing a Privacy training and awareness program for its managers and employees to ensure NSIRA complies with the PA requirements.

Access to information (Policies, guidelines, procedures and initiatives)

NSIRA was successfully on-boarded to the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) Automated On-line Request Service in October 2019. NSIRA implemented basic procedures and shared the necessary information to ensure its employees and managers complied with the policies and guidelines of the TBS on access to information.

Complaints and investigations

NSIRA received one new complaint during this reporting period. The OPC found the complaint to be well founded and the file was closed on January 21, 2020.

Monitoring processing time

Request processing time is monitored through the Access Pro software dashboard. The ATIP Coordinator notifies the Executive Director and suggests a course of action should any legislative timelines appear to be at risk.

Material Privacy Breaches

No material privacy breaches were reported to the OPC and to TBS (Information and Privacy Policy Division) during the reporting period.

Privacy Impact Assessments

Bill C-59 received Royal Assent on June 21, 2019 and National Security and Intelligence Review Agency Act came into force July 12, 2019. One of the Act’s requirement was for the conduct of a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) of NSIRA’s activities.

Over the course of the year the PIA was completed by an external expert. The PIA was aimed at providing recommendations and guidance to ensure that NSIRA’s programs and activities comply with the spirit and requirements of the PA, the generally accepted privacy principles as well as the internationally recognized privacy standards.

Results and recommendations were shared with NISRA’s senior management team just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. NSIRA’s management is in the process of developing a management action plan to address the assessment’s recommendations.

Public Interest Disclosures

No disclosures were made under paragraph 8 (2)(m) of the PA during this reporting period.

Appendices

Appendix A: Delegation Order

Access to Information Act Designation Order

The Executive Director of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, pursuant to section 95 of the Access to Information Act, hereby designates the persons holding the positions or acting in these positions, set out in the schedule hereto to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Executive Director of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency as the head of a government institution under the section of the Access to Information Act set out in the schedule opposite each position.

Privacy Act Designation Order

The Executive Director of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, pursuant to section 73 of the Privacy Act*, hereby designates the persons holding the positions or acting in these positions, set out in the schedule hereto to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Executive Director of the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency as the head of a government institution under the section of the Privacy Act set out in the schedule opposite each position.

Appendix B: 2019-2020 Statistical Report on the Privacy Act

Name of institution: National Security and Intelligence Review Agency

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 – 2020-03-31

Section 1: Request Under the Access to Information Act

1.1 Number of Requests

	Number of Requests
Received during reporting period	1
Outstanding from previous reporting period	2
Total	3
Closed during reporting period	2
Carried over to next reporting period	1

1.2 Source of Requests

Source	Number of Requests
Online	4
E-Mail	3
Mail	0
In person	0
Phone	0
Fax	0
Total	7

1.3 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

Section 2: Decline to act on vexatious, made in bad faith or abuse of right requests

	Number of Requests
Outstanding from previous reporting period	0
Sent during reporting period	0
Total	0
Approved by the Information Commissioner during reporting period	0
Declined by the Information Commissioner during reporting period	0
Carried over to next reporting period	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	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2
All exempted	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request transferred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Decline to act with the approval of the Information Commisioner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2

3.2 Exemption

Section	Numbers of Requests
13(1)(a)	0
13(1)(b)	0
13(1)(c)	0
13(1)(d)	0
13(1)(e)	0
14	0
14(a)	0
14(b)	0
15(1) – I. A. *	0
15(1) – Def. *	0
15(1) – S.A. *	0
16(1)(a)(i)	0
16(1)(a)(ii)	0
16(1)(a)(iii)	0
16(1)(b)	0
16(1)(c)	1
16(1)(d)	0
16(2)	0
16(2)(a)	0
16(2)(b)	0
16(2)(c)	1
16(3)	0
16.1(1)(a)	0
16.1(1)(b)	0
16.1(1)(c)	0
16.1(1)(d)	0
16.2(1)	0
16.3	0
16.31	0
16.4(1)(a)	0
16.4(1)(b)	0
16.5	0
16.6	0
17	1
18(a)	0
18(b)	0
18(c)	0
18(d)	0
18.1(1)(a)	0
18.1(1)(b)	0
18.1(1)(c)	0
18.1(1)(d)	0
19(1)	0
20(1)(a)	0
20(1)(b)	0
20(1)(b.1)	0
20(1)(c)	0
20(1)(d)	0
20.1	0
20.2	0
20.4	0
21(1)(a)	0
21(1)(b)	0
21(1)(c)	0
21(1)(d)	0
22	0
22.1(1)	0
23	0
23.1	0
24(1)	1
26	0

* I.A.: International Affairs
* Def.: Defence of Canada
* S.A.: Subversive Activities

3.3 Exclusions

Section	Numbers of Requests
68(a)	0
68(b)	0
68(c)	0
68.1	0
68.2(a)	0
68.2(b)	0
69(1)	0
69(1)(a)	0
69(1)(b)	0
69(1)(c)	0
69(1)(d)	0
69(1)(e)	0
69(1)(f)	0
69(1)(g) re (a)	0
69(1)(g) re (b)	0
69(1)(g) re (c)	0
69(1)(g) re (d)	0
69(1)(g) re (e)	0
69(1)(g) re (f)	0
69.1(1)	0

3.4 Format of information released

Paper	Electronic	Other
1	1	0

3.5 Complexity

3.5.1 Relevant pages processed and disclosed

Number of Pages Processed	Number of Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests
13	13	2

3.5.2 Relevant pages processed and disclosed by size of requests

Disposition	Less Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed	Number of Requests	Pages Disclosed
All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	2	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	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	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	2	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

3.5.3 Other complexities

Disposition	Consultation Required	Assessment of Fees	Legal Advice Sought	Other	Total
	All disclosed	0	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	2	0	0	0	2
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	2	0	0	0	2

3.6 Closed Requests

3.6.1 Number of requests closed within legislated timelines

	Requests closed within legislated timelines
Number of requests closed within legislated timelines	1
Percentage of requests closed within legislated timelines (%)	50

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
1	0	1	0	0

3.7.2 Requests 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	1	0	1
181 to 365 Days	0	0	0
More than 365 Days	0	0	0
Total	1	0	1

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: Extensions

4.1 Reasons for extensions and disposition of requests

Disposition of Requests Where an Extension Was taken	9(1)(a) Interference With Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
All disclosed	0	0	0	0
Disclosed in part	0	0	0	0
All exempted	0	0	0	0
All excluded	0	0	0	0
No records exist	0	0	0	0
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

4.2 Length of extensions

Length of Extensions	9(1)(a) Interference With Operations	9(1)(b) Consultation		9(1)(c) Third-Party Notice
		Section 69	Other
30 days or less	0	0	0	0
31 to 60 days	0	0	0	0
61 to 120 days	0	0	0	0
121 to 180 days	0	0	0	0
181 to 365 days	0	0	0	0
363 days or more	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0

Section 5: Fees

Fee Type	Fee Collected		Fee Waived or Refunded
	Requests	Amount	Requests	Amount
Application	0	$0	0	$0
Other fees	0	$0	0	$0
Total	0	$0	0	$0

Section 6: Consultations Received From Other Institutions and Organizations

6.1 Consultations received from other Government of Canada institutions

Consultations	Other Government of Canada Institutions	Number of Pages to Review	Other Organizations	Number of Pages to Review
Received during reporting period	15	0	0	0
Outstanding from the previous reporting period	1	0	0	0
Total	16	0	0	0
Closed during the reporting period	14	0	0	0
Carried over to next reporting period	2	0	0	0

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

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
Disclose entirely	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2
Disclose in part	5	3	0	1	0	0	0	9
Exempt entirely	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	2
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
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Decline to act with the approval of the Information Commisioner	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Total	6	5	1	2	0	0	0	14

6.3 Recommendations and completion time for consultations received from other organizations

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
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
Request abandoned	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neither confirmed nor denied	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Decline to act with the approval of the Information Commisioner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 7: Completion Time of Consultations on Cabinet Confidences

7.1 Requests with Legal Services

Number of Days	Less Than 100 Pages Processed		101-500 Pages Processed		501-1000 Pages Processed		1001-5000 Pages Processed		More Than 5000 Pages Processed
	Number of Requests	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
365	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Section 8: Complaints and investigations

Section 32 Notice of intention to investigate	Subsection 30(5) Ceased to investigate	Section 35 Formal representations	Section 37 Reports of finding received	Section 37 Reports of finding containing recommendations issued by the information Commissioner	Section 37 Reports of finding containing orders issued by the information Commissioner
0	0	1	0	0	0

Section 9: Court Action

9.1 Court actions on complaints received before June 21, 2019 and on-going

Section 41 (before June 21, 2019)	Section 42	Section 44
0	0	0

9.2 Court actions on complaints received after June 21, 2019

Section 41 (after June 21, 2019)
Complainant (1)	Institution (2)	Third Party (3)	Privacy Commissioner (4)	Total
0	0	0	0	0

Section 10: Resources Related to the Access to Information Act

10.1 Costs

Expenditures	Amount
Salaries	$56,192
Overtime	$0
Goods and Services	$9,030
Professional services contracts	$9,030
Other	$0
Total	$65,222

10.2 Human Resources

Resources	Person Years Dedicated to Access to Information Activities
Full-time employees	0.70
Part-time and casual employees	0.00
Regional Staff	0.00
Consultants and agency personnel	0.10
Students	0.00
Total	0.80