News release

FOIPOP Compliance Rate Hits All-Time High

Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services (July 2019 - May 2023)

The Province’s response rate to access to information requests reached an all-time high of 91 per cent in 2021-22, a highlight in the annual report from Information Access and Privacy Services released today, September 27.

The record mark was achieved even with a 47 per cent increase in requests compared with 2020-21.

“The time and energy invested in responding to information requests is helping to promote a culture where the public is informed, privacy is protected and the government is accountable for its decisions,” said Colton LeBlanc, Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services. “We have worked hard to ensure the government is transparent, and I’m proud of the all-time high compliance rate.”

The annual report provides statistics about government responses to applications under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIPOP) Act and outlines the government’s compliance work. For the first time, the report also provides statistics on the acceptance rate of recommendations made by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

The report is available at: https://beta.novascotia.ca/documents/information-access-and-privacy-services-annual-report-2021-2022

Quick Facts:

  • there were 2,716 FOIPOP applications received in 2021-22, but 2,767 applications were completed because of applications carried over from the previous fiscal year
  • there were 312,000 pages of records reviewed for release last year, an average of more than 1,200 per business day
  • the largest response to an application was 6,600 pages
  • 76 per cent of requests received responses in 30 days or less
  • the FOIPOP Act is under the Department of Justice and administered by Information Access and Privacy Services

Additional Resources:

Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: https://nslegislature.ca/sites/default/files/legc/statutes/freedom%20of%20information%20and%20protection%20of%20privacy.pdf

FOIPOP disclosure website: https://openinformation.novascotia.ca/

Information Access and Privacy Services’ FOIPOP request website: https://iaprequest.novascotia.ca/

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