Nearly a Decade After Trudeau’s Promise of Openness, Canada’s Access-to-Information System Is Still Broken

In 2015, the Liberal government pledged to make Canada’s government “open by default,” promising Canadians unprecedented transparency in federal decision-making. However, nearly a decade later, Canada’s Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) system remains plagued by extensive delays, massive redactions, and privacy-related issues.

Canada’s Access to Information Act, passed in 1983, was supposed to empower Canadians with the right to access government records. Yet experts say the system has devolved into an impenetrable bureaucracy. Unlike Canada, countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand—all members of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance—along with nations such as France, Germany, and Sweden, have established protocols to release historical records over time. These systems include declassification programs based on security levels and sunset clauses that specify when information is no longer sensitive, allowing it to be made public.

Chronic Delays and Redactions

The delays in processing ATIP requests have become a defining feature of the system. Federal Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard highlighted in 2022 that nearly one-third of requests exceed the legislated 30-day deadline, with some responses delayed by years or even decades. These delays are not isolated instances. The Privy Council Office, for example, took 907 days to respond to a 2020 request from Global News, which ultimately yielded just two emails and a PowerPoint presentation. Other departments, such as the Canada Border Services Agency, still have yet to fulfill requests made during the pandemic.

Under the current ATIP framework, there are no penalties for departments that miss response deadlines, and citizens have no legal recourse when delays render information outdated or irrelevant. Critics argue that this absence of accountability has led to a culture of delay, in which departments are free to prioritize their own workload over public access obligations.

This situation has direct consequences for Canadians. Information on urgent issues such as environmental policies, healthcare spending, and foreign policy decisions are often withheld or redacted beyond usefulness. Public bodies frequently invoke exemptions under the Act to withhold information they consider sensitive, even when it pertains to events that occurred decades ago. Historian Patricia McMahon, for instance, spent six years fighting to access records on Canadian conscription practices during the First World War, only to have many documents withheld under solicitor-client privilege. The records are over a century old.

Privacy Concerns and Intimidation of Requesters

Compounding the delays and redactions are privacy concerns within the ATIP system. Unlike the United States Freedom of Information Act, which allows anonymous requests, Canada’s Access to Information Act mandates that requesters provide proof of identity and residency, and this information is often divulged to other government officials.

This lack of anonymity can be especially problematic for vulnerable individuals, such as military personnel reporting misconduct or journalists investigating government activities. Privacy breaches within the system have caused requesters to fear retaliation, particularly in cases involving allegations of abuse or harassment in government institutions. Privacy advocates argue that stricter safeguards and anonymized requests would enhance impartiality and protect citizens from potential intimidation.

Historical Records Trapped in the Past

Another critical flaw in Canada’s ATIP system is its lack of a formal declassification program for historical records. While other democracies release classified records after a set period, Canada has no equivalent system, keeping all documents closed by default until specifically requested. This approach hinders historians and researchers, who must navigate a maze of redactions and delays to access Canada’s past.

Historians like Professor Timothy Sayle, who studies Cold War diplomacy, report significant challenges in accessing Canadian records from this period. Often, similar documents in the United States or Europe are publicly available, while Canadian records remain inaccessible, obscured by bureaucratic red tape, he told The Globe and Mail. Sayle notes that in some cases, the same document may be released unredacted one year, only to be classified the next by a different department’s interpretation of sensitivity. This ambiguity has led Canadian historians to rely on foreign archives to study Canada’s own history.

Library and Archives Canada, which oversees the preservation of government records, has struggled to meet demand. According to Information Commissioner Maynard, outdated cataloguing systems and a reliance on paper records have led to massive backlogs. Maynard’s 2022 report urged the government to implement a declassification system, stating that Canada is in “urgent need” of a modern framework.

Proposed Reforms and Challenges

Efforts to reform Canada’s ATIP system have thus far failed to meet expectations. Despite Trudeau’s 2015 “open by default” promise, actual changes have been piecemeal and limited to periodic reviews. Experts and Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard have called for more ambitious reforms, including the establishment of clear declassification guidelines, stronger privacy protections, and a shift to digital record-keeping.

In a 2023 op-ed, former federal officials Mel Cappe and James Mitchell argued that Canada’s reliance on analog record-keeping is a primary barrier to modernizing the ATIP system. They advocated for a digital overhaul with searchable databases and proactive disclosure, emphasizing that these changes could reduce compliance costs and improve transparency.

Maynard argues that Canada’s access-to-information issues cannot be fixed by merely adding more personnel. A cultural shift within government, prioritizing transparency over secrecy, is necessary.

Seven years after the Liberal government’s pledge for openness, Canada’s ATIP system remains far from the “open by default” ideal. Instead of an accessible resource, it has become a labyrinth of red tape, inconsistent standards, and delayed responses.