Investigations

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) is mandated to conduct investigations into complaints on the personal information handling practices of federal institutions subject to the Privacy Act. The OPC is also mandated to conduct investigations into complaints involving businesses subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Through the investigations, the OPC seeks to ensure organizations are complying with their privacy obligations under the law. When appropriate, the Privacy Commissioner may make recommendations to help prevent issues from recurring.

Under PIPEDA, the Commissioner may choose to make public certain findings if he deems them to be in the public interest. Under the Privacy Act, the Commissioner can only make his findings public through an annual or special report to Parliament.

From here, you can access investigation findings or case summaries that the OPC has made public.