Amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act come into force

Today, R.J. Simpson, Minister of Justice, announced that amendments to the territory’s Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPP Act) are now in effect. These amendments will strengthen access to information and privacy protections for NWT residents.

The amendments are the most significant changes to the ATIPP Act since it was introduced in 1996. The changes are intended to address issues identified by the public, the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Government Operations, the Information and Privacy Commissioner, and public bodies after a comprehensive review of the legislation and consultation with NWT residents.

The Act now provides improved public accountability through access to government information, as well as more safeguards for how personal information is collected, and how it is used and disclosed by public bodies. In addition, the Information and Privacy Commissioner’s general powers have been expanded to include order making authority and the ability to carry out access and privacy reviews of his own initiative.

As part of these amendments, community governments will now be brought under the ATIPP Act in collaboration with the GNWT. The Department of Municipal and Community Affairs will be leading a Working Group that will include representatives from the Department of Justice, the Northwest Territories Association of Communities (NWTAC) and the Local Government Administrators of the Northwest Territories (LGANT). This Working Group will assess capacity development, resource and training requirements related to both records practices and the ATIPP Act.

In advance of bringing the amendments into force, the centralized Access and Privacy Office started processing all new access to information requests for GNWT departments and the Northwest Territories Housing Corporation as of March 1, 2021. The centralized office continues to provide advice and assistance to the other 22 public bodies subject to the ATIPP Act. The Access and Privacy Office aims to provide consistent and timely responses to new access to information requests and advice on privacy management issues across the GNWT.

The Access and Privacy Office is leading the development of new regulations, policies and training to assist GNWT departments and public bodies in meeting their obligations under the amended ATIPP Act. Further, recent updates to the regulations eliminated any application fees associated with access to information requests for either general or personal information, in line with the majority of other Canadian jurisdictions. As a result of these changes, a vast majority of access to information requests will not incur any fees, which will increase ease of access to GNWT records and assist in moving towards a more modern access to information program for the territory.

Quote(s)

“The amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act reflects the government’s commitment to providing open, accessible and accountable government to the people of the Northwest Territories. This Act touches the lives of all residents. These changes will improve access to information, strengthen the protection of their privacy and make government decision-making more transparent.”

- R. J. Simpson, Minister of Justice

Quick facts

Bill 29: An Act to Amend the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act was introduced in the Legislative Assembly in October 2018 and received assent on June 6, 2019.
A comprehensive review was undertaken in the development of Bill 29, including extensive consultation with public bodies, the IPC, and the public. The results of the feedback were published in a “What We Heard Report” which was released on November 10, 2016.
The centralized Access and Privacy Office processes all access to information requests for GNWT departments and the NWT Housing Corporation, but the decision making related to those requests and reviews remains with those public bodies.

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Amendments to the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act come into force