Information Commissioner of Canada

The letter · 24 September 2026

Complaint under section 30 of the Access to Information Act - Privy Council Office - request of 24 September 2026, file A-2026-00582 - fee waiver refused without reasons, request held, one file number assigned to two requests

Hello,

This is a complaint under section 30 of the Access to Information Act against the Privy Council Office, under paragraphs 30(1)(b) and 30(1)(f). I am self-represented. A complaint against the same institution on the same fee practice, on the request of 30 August 2026 since numbered A-2026-00579, was filed on 17 September 2026 and has no case number yet.

The request.

On 24 September 2026 at 06:39 UTC I made a request by email to [email]. It has 4 numbered items on the consequences under the Public Service Superannuation Act of the termination for cause of Governor in Council appointees, including deputy ministers, from 2000 to 2026. It asked the head to waive the application fee under subsection 11(2), on the ground that the records concern the accountability of federal officeholders and that my income is social assistance, and it asked that a refusal be given in writing with reasons and the name and title of the officer. It asked for the file number and the date of receipt under section 7.

The institution's conduct.

At 15:27 UTC the same day the Deputy Director, Access to Information and Privacy, wrote that the request "has been created and assigned an initial received date of September 24, 2026", that the file number is A-2026-00582, that "the fee waiver request has not been approved" by the delegated authority, named as the Executive Director, Access to Information and Privacy and Executive Correspondence Services, and that "the request is not considered complete until the prescribed $5 application fee has been received. As a result, processing of the request cannot begin, and the statutory timeline will not commence, until payment has been received." No reason for the refusal is given. The exchange forwarded beneath the message records the intake officer asking whether to create the request "as the fee has not been paid" and the Deputy Director answering "Yes. Please create the request".

On 11 September 2026 the same Deputy Director wrote to me that a different request, on the federal response to the fertility rate, "has been created and assigned an initial received date of September 8, 2026. Your file number is A-2026-00582." 2 requests, received 16 days apart, carry one file number.

Grounds.

1. Paragraph 30(1)(b). I have been required to pay an amount under section 11 after a refusal of the waiver that states no reason, on a request that asked for the reasons in writing. The Office refused the waiver on files A-2026-00579, A-2026-00580, A-2026-00581 and A-2026-00582 on 11 September 2026 without reasons, was asked for the reasons in writing on 12 and 13 September 2026, and has given none. This is the fifth refusal and the fifth without a reason. A discretion exercised 5 times without a stated reason is a discretion that is not being exercised. 3 institutions waived the same fee for the same requester on the same ground: Public Safety Canada on file A-2026-00209, Global Affairs Canada on file A-2026-00737, and National Defence on files A-2026-01143, A-2026-01144 and A-2026-01154.

2. Paragraph 30(1)(f). The Office received the request, dated its receipt, opened a file and assigned a number, and states in the same message that the period under section 7 has not begun. Section 7 runs "within 30 days after the request is received", subject to sections 8 and 9; the reference to section 11 was removed by S.C. 2019, c. 18, s. 6.2; the only suspension is subsection 6.1(1.2), on application to the Commissioner. On the Office's own date the period ends on 24 October 2026 and a deemed refusal under subsection 10(3) arises on 25 October 2026.

3. Paragraph 30(1)(f). The Office assigned one file number to two requests. Its register cannot identify which request a number refers to, which date of receipt attaches to which request, or which deadline runs on which file. That is a matter relating to requesting or obtaining access, and it fails the duty in subsection 4(2.1) to respond accurately.

WHAT THE COMMISSIONER IS TO DO.

Investigate under paragraphs 30(1)(b) and 30(1)(f). Find that the waiver was refused without reasons. Under section 36.1, order the head of the institution to decide the waiver request in writing with reasons, or to waive the fee. Find that the Act confers no power to withhold the start of the period under section 7 for a fee and that the period runs from 24 September 2026. Order the Office to assign the request of 24 September 2026 a file number of its own and to state in writing which request carries A-2026-00582. Join this file with the complaint of 17 September 2026. Given 5 refusals without reasons on 5 files of one requester since 11 September 2026, open a complaint on the Commissioner's own initiative under subsection 30(3) into the Office's handling of the fee.

I hold the messages of 11 September and 24 September 2026 and will forward them on request.

Respectfully,
Danilo Dzyuban