Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56

• Jurisdiction: Ontario

Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act

R.S.O. 1990, Chapter M.56

Consolidation Period: From April 19, 2021 to the e-Laws currency date.

Last amendment: 2021, c. 4, Sched. 11, s. 25.

CONTENTS

Purposes

1 The purposes of this Act are,

(a) to provide a right of access to information under the control of institutions in accordance with the principles that,

(i) information should be available to the public,

(ii) necessary exemptions from the right of access should be limited and specific, and

(iii) decisions on the disclosure of information should be reviewed independently of the institution controlling the information; and

(b) to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by institutions and to provide individuals with a right of access to that information. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 1.

Interpretation

2 (1) In this Act,

“close relative” means a parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece, including by adoption; (“proche parent”)

“head”, in respect of an institution, means the individual or body determined to be head under section 3; (“personne responsable”)

“Information and Privacy Commissioner” and “Commissioner” mean the Commissioner appointed under subsection 4 (1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act; (“commissaire à l’information et à la protection de la vie privée”, “commissaire”)

“institution” means,

(a) a municipality,

(b) a school board, municipal service board, city board, transit commission, public library board, board of health, police services board, conservation authority, district social services administration board, local services board, planning board, local roads board, police village or joint committee of management or joint board of management established under the Municipal Act, 2001 or the City of Toronto Act, 2006 or a predecessor of those Acts,

Note: On a day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant Governor, clause (b) of the definition of “institution” in subsection 2 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out “police services board” and substituting “police service board”. (See: 2019, c. 1, Sched. 4, s. 36)

(c) any agency, board, commission, corporation or other body designated as an institution in the regulations; (“institution”)

“law enforcement” means,

(a) policing,

(b) investigations or inspections that lead or could lead to proceedings in a court or tribunal if a penalty or sanction could be imposed in those proceedings, or

(c) the conduct of proceedings referred to in clause (b); (“exécution de la loi”)

“Minister” means the minister designated under section 3 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act as the responsible minister for the purposes of that Act; (“ministre”)

“personal information” means recorded information about an identifiable individual, including,

(a) information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status of the individual,

(b) information relating to the education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved,

(c) any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to the individual,

(d) the address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual,

(e) the personal opinions or views of the individual except if they relate to another individual,

(f) correspondence sent to an institution by the individual that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature, and replies to that correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence,

(g) the views or opinions of another individual about the individual, and

(h) the individual’s name if it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual; (“renseignements personnels”)

“personal information bank” means a collection of personal information that is organized and capable of being retrieved using an individual’s name or an identifying number or particular assigned to the individual; (“banque de renseignements personnels”)

“record” means any record of information however recorded, whether in printed form, on film, by electronic means or otherwise, and includes,

(a) correspondence, a memorandum, a book, a plan, a map, a drawing, a diagram, a pictorial or graphic work, a photograph, a film, a microfilm, a sound recording, a videotape, a machine readable record, any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy thereof, and

(b) subject to the regulations, any record that is capable of being produced from a machine readable record under the control of an institution by means of computer hardware and software or any other information storage equipment and technical expertise normally used by the institution; (“document”)

“regulations” means the regulations made under this Act; (“règlements”)

“spouse” means,

(a) a spouse as defined in section 1 of the Family Law Act, or

(b) either of two persons who live together in a conjugal relationship outside marriage. (“conjoint”) R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 2 (1); 1997, c. 25, Sched. E, s. 8; 2000, c. 26, Sched. J, s. 2; 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table; 2006, c. 19, Sched. N, s. 3 (1); 2006, c. 32, Sched. C, s. 35; 2006, c. 34, Sched. C, s. 13 (1, 2); 2016, c. 23, s. 59; 2021, c. 4, Sched. 11, s. 25.

Personal information

(2) Personal information does not include information about an individual who has been dead for more than thirty years. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 2 (2).

Business identity information, etc.

(2.1) Personal information does not include the name, title, contact information or designation of an individual that identifies the individual in a business, professional or official capacity. 2006, c. 34, Sched. C, s. 13 (3).

Same

(2.2) For greater certainty, subsection (2.1) applies even if an individual carries out business, professional or official responsibilities from their dwelling and the contact information for the individual relates to that dwelling. 2006, c. 34, Sched. C, s. 13 (3).

Bodies considered part of municipality

(3) Every agency, board, commission, corporation or other body not mentioned in clause (b) of the definition of “institution” in subsection (1) or designated under clause (c) of the definition of “institution” in subsection (1) is deemed to be a part of the municipality for the purposes of this Act if all of its members or officers are appointed or chosen by or under the authority of the council of the municipality. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 2 (3); 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

1997, c. 25, Sched. E, s. 8 - 01/07/1998

2000, c. 26, Sched. J, s. 2 - 06/12/2000

2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table - 01/01/2003

2006, c. 19, Sched. N, s. 3 (1) - 22/06/2006; 2006, c. 32, Sched. C, s. 35 - 01/01/2007; 2006, c. 34, Sched. C, s. 13 (1-3) - 01/04/2007

2016, c. 23, s. 59 - 01/01/2017

2018, c. 3, Sched. 5, s. 38 - no effect - see 2019, c. 1, Sched. 3, s. 5 - 26/03/2019

2019, c. 1, Sched. 4, s. 36 - not in force

2021, c. 4, Sched. 11, s. 25 - 19/04/2021

Designation of head

3 (1) The members of the council of a municipality may by by-law designate from among themselves an individual or a committee of the council to act as head of the municipality for the purposes of this Act. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 3 (1); 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table.

Idem

(2) The members elected or appointed to the board, commission or other body that is an institution other than a municipality may designate in writing from among themselves an individual or a committee of the body to act as head of the institution for the purposes of this Act. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 3 (2); 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table.

If no designation

(3) If no person is designated as head under this section, the head shall be,

(a) the council, in the case of a municipality; and

(b) the members elected or appointed to the board, commission or other body in the case of an institution other than a municipality. R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 3 (3); 2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

2002, c. 17, Sched. F, Table - 01/01/2003

PART I
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

Access to Records

Right of access

4 (1) Every person has a right of access to a record or a part of a record in the custody or under the control of an institution unless,

(a) the record or the part of the record falls within one of the exemptions under sections 6 to 15; or

(b) the head is of the opinion on reasonable grounds that the request for access is frivolous or vexatious.

Severability of record

(2) If an institution receives a request for access to a record that contains information that falls within one of the exemptions under sections 6 to 15 and the head of the institution is not of the opinion that the request is frivolous or vexatious, the head shall disclose as much of the record as can reasonably be severed without disclosing the information that falls under one of the exemptions. 1996, c. 1, Sched. K, s. 13.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

1996, c. 1, Sched. K, s. 13 - 30/01/1996

Measures to ensure preservation of records

4.1 Every head of an institution shall ensure that reasonable measures respecting the records in the custody or under the control of the institution are developed, documented and put into place to preserve the records in accordance with any recordkeeping or records retention requirements, rules or policies, whether established under an Act or otherwise, that apply to the institution. 2014, c. 13, Sched. 6, s. 3.

Section Amendments with date in force (d/m/y)

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