2023-24 Departmental Plan
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
(The original version was signed by)
The Honourable David Lametti, P.C., K.C., M.P.
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by
the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, 2023
Catalogue No. IP51-6E-PDF
ISSN 2371-7955
From the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
I am pleased to present the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) 2023-24 Departmental Plan, my first since beginning my mandate as Privacy Commissioner in June 2022.
There has never been a more important time for privacy in Canada. We are using technology more and more, and while it offers tremendous potential for innovation, expediency, and improving our lives, it is essential that we ensure that Canadians can benefit from these advances and conveniences while protecting their fundamental privacy rights. We want to be active and informed digital citizens, able to fully participate in society and the economy without having to choose between this participation and our fundamental right to privacy. Achieving this balance will be critical to our success as a free and democratic society, and a key challenge for Canada’s institutions in the years ahead.
The OPC will continue to play a central role focusing on providing to Canadians a strong, fair, accessible, and timely compliance process, and to take actions that improve the protection of Canadians’ personal information and deliver results that make a real difference in their lives. We will engage with colleagues throughout the federal government, private industry, and with Data Protection Authorities across Canada and internationally to advance our understanding of privacy as a fundamental right. We will continue to promote public awareness of privacy issues and a better understanding of the rights and obligations of individuals and organizations under the federal privacy legislation, through advice and recommendations to citizens, government departments, private-sector organizations, and Parliamentarians on matters of tremendous public interest and importance.
In June 2022, the federal government introduced new private-sector privacy legislation. I welcomed the introduction of Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, as an important step by the government, recognizing that Canadians need and expect modernized privacy laws. I look forward to providing my advice to Parliament on how the Bill can and should be improved and am hopeful that modernized public sector privacy legislation is not far behind. The OPC will continue to offer its support to Parliamentarians to ensure that modernized legislation, if adopted, recognizes privacy as a fundamental right that supports the public interest and Canada’s innovation and competitiveness, while acting as an accelerator of Canadians’ trust in institutions and participation in the digital economy.
With the possibility of law reform on the horizon, the OPC is preparing to be ready to deliver on its new mandate should Bill C-27 be adopted by Parliament. It will be essential that the OPC is properly resourced in a timely way to prepare for the transition, including any necessary operational and structural changes that may be required, and to fully and effectively take on the important new responsibilities under that proposed legislation.
The OPC is dedicated to helping Canada’s public- and private-sector institutions cultivate a culture of privacy where it is considered, valued, and prioritized at the outset of any initiative. Privacy is fundamental, and it supports important public and private interests, and for Canadians, it builds necessary trust with organizations that treat it as a priority. That is why it is so important to embed privacy at the outset of innovation instead of treating it as an afterthought or a regulatory burden. Citizens and organizations can benefit from the OPC’s considerable expertise and guidance on how to enhance privacy protections in ways that promote Canadians’ fundamental right to privacy.
I am so proud of the extraordinary work that the OPC is doing to serve Canada and Canadians every day. We remain committed to ensuring that the OPC is a diverse, inclusive, accessible, safe, and healthy work environment. We have an incredibly dedicated group of employees, and we will continue to support them in the transition to a hybrid work model to ensure that they are empowered and equipped to thrive in the hybrid workplace.
This is an important moment for privacy protection, and my office will continue to carry out its important mission in the year ahead to advance privacy interests for the benefit of Canada and all Canadians.
(The original version was signed by)
Philippe Dufresne
Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Plans at a glance
1. Contribute advice and recommendations on law reform
In the coming year, we will continue to advocate for the strengthening of Canada’s privacy laws and we will provide advice to Parliament to ensure that laws adopted effectively recognize, promote, and protect the fundamental right to privacy while enabling responsible innovation.
In June 2022, we welcomed the introduction of Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2022, which will reform our federal private-sector privacy law. This much-anticipated development marks an important step toward a new improved law for the private sector. We have been carefully analyzing the bill so we may properly advise Parliament when invited to do so. We were also encouraged by remarks by the Minister of Justice, the Honourable David Lametti, following the tabling of Bill C-27 that public-sector privacy reform is not far behind and that lawmakers are taking steps to harmonize the legislation to ensure that both laws are grounded in the same privacy principles.
We look forward to Parliament taking the next steps in its review of Bill C-27, which would bring forth much needed updates to federal private-sector privacy legislation and which, we hope, will be followed by a modernization of the public sector Privacy Act in the near future.
2. Provide a fair, accessible and timely compliance process that generates a high level of impact for Canadians
Complaints to the OPC are one form of recourse available to Canadians if their privacy rights under federal privacy legislation are not respected. They are also a mechanism to ensure that public- and private-sector organizations take corrective action when found not to be in compliance with federal privacy laws. In the coming year, our office will continue to strive to carry out its compliance activities in the service of Canadians in a fair, accessible and timely manner.
To that end, we will continue to focus our efforts on reviewing our compliance processes, innovating, and exploring solutions to enhance our capacity to address incoming complaints and breach reports more efficiently, so that we can dedicate greater resources to proactively identifying and addressing violations of the law that are of greatest risk to Canadians.
3. Anticipate and prepare for the implementation of potential new responsibilities
If and when new laws are adopted, we anticipate becoming a substantially different Office of the Privacy Commissioner – notably one with greater enforcement powers and an enhanced role in developing guidance, approving codes of practice and working with public- and private-sector institutions to ensure greater respect for privacy rights. While it will likely take some time before the OPC exercises new responsibilities, it is important that we prepare as soon as possible to ensure that we will be in a position to quickly implement potential new privacy laws once they are in place.
The OPC has already begun work on a transition plan, involving costing and growth-modelling, as well as planning for and consulting on the eventual new responsibilities we could inherit, such as new order-making powers, adjudicatory functions and obligations to review applications for codes of practice and certification programs. This preparatory work will continue in the year ahead, in a manner that is guided by, and responsive to, the evolution and adoption of the Bill.
4. Transition the OPC to the hybrid workplace while strengthening employees’ engagement
The coming year will be yet another year of transition for the OPC as we prepare for and adapt to a number of significant internal changes. These include the full transition to hybrid work, the implementation and leveraging of new information management tools and the preparation for the new responsibilities that we could inherit as a result of law reform.
An engaged and motivated workforce is critical to our mission of protecting and promoting the privacy of Canadians and the office’s ability to carry out its current and future mandate. Maintaining this collective engagement and dedication will be critical to the success of the OPC during this pivotal transformation period. The OPC will continue to focus broadly on organizational change management, adaptation, mental health and inclusion to support a healthy, resilient, diverse and inclusive workforce. We will seize opportunities in our new modes of working to provide a high level of service in both official languages and remove barriers to accessibility to address privacy matters of greatest importance to Canadians.
For more information on the OPC’s plans, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources” section of this plan.
Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks
This section contains information on the department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.
Protection of Privacy Rights
Description
Ensure the protection of privacy rights of Canadians; enforce privacy obligations by federal government institutions and private-sector organizations; provide advice to Parliament on potential privacy implications of proposed legislation and government programs; promote awareness and understanding of rights and obligations under federal privacy legislation.
Planning highlights
In 2023-24, our office will continue to fulfil its core responsibility, guided by the three departmental results we want to achieve: (1) Privacy rights are respected and obligations are met; (2) Canadians are empowered to exercise their privacy rights; and, (3) Parliamentarians and public- and private-sector organizations are informed and guided to protect Canadians’ privacy rights.
We will continue our push for greater compliance with privacy obligations by businesses and federal institutions by making maximum and strategic use of our existing powers, including using early resolution and summary investigation processes. These approaches allow our office to resolve issues more flexibly and to dedicate resources to higher-risk privacy issues. To address high-impact issues, such as those that put Canadians’ privacy at broad risk or affect an entire industry sector or government program, we will continue to conduct comprehensive complaint-driven and Commissioner-initiated investigations to the extent that resources permit. We will also continue to collaborate with enforcement partners domestically and internationally on privacy matters in both private and public sectors, leveraging our collective expertise and capacity, to amplify the impact of our regulatory efforts.
Between April 2019 and March 2021, we successfully leveraged a temporary resources increase and enhanced efficiencies to reduce our investigation files older than 12 months by more than 90%. While we have seen a slight improvement in our overall average treatment time for complaints in the last year, with the conclusion of the 2019 backlog funding and a concurrent 73% spike in complaints submitted to our office, we have seen our backlog of cases climb back. Without an infusion of additional resources, we expect this trend to continue in the coming year.
In the meantime, we have reallocated funds internally to address some of the capacity shortfall in our compliance program and we will continue, in the absence of funding, to identify and adopt new efficiencies, including those flowing from an internal compliance process review project that we recently concluded.
In addition, the ability of our office to complete thorough reviews of breaches contributes to greater compliance by business and federal organizations. Breach reports are a valuable tool to understand the current privacy risks facing Canadians. As technology advances and business models evolve, so does the associated risk. However, given the current funding, and the significant increase in breaches reported to our Office since mandatory private-sector breach reporting came into force in 2018 (600% increase), our ability to thoroughly review breaches is very limited. In the absence of additional funding, our Office will continue to review breach reports on a risk basis, and to the extent our limited resources permit.
We will also continue to closely monitor the impacts that the Privacy Act Extension Order No. 3, which came into force in July 2022, could have on our complaint volumes.
Our office is committed to empowering Canadians to exercise their privacy rights and to guiding organizations on how to comply with their obligations. In support of this, we will strive to continue providing information to Canadians in a timely, accessible manner. We will also allocate resources to provide advice to federal and private-sector organizations on programs and initiatives, so that they can proactively address privacy risks.
In order to prepare for anticipated changes brought by law reform, and to ensure we have an up-to-date suite of guidance, our office is in the midst of a guidance modernization project. As part of this initiative, we are formalizing our guidance development processes and focusing on making better use of internal and external intelligence sources to inform the identification of future guidance topics. We are also examining our stakeholder consultation processes to ensure stakeholder views are accounted for in our guidance development, and to make the process more efficient for all parties.
Given the significant developments in technology and the need to be aware of the potential impact of new technologies on data protection, our office will make effective use of its modernized technology laboratory to maintain, acquire and implement a sufficient repository of knowledge of new developments in technology. We will also leverage the technology laboratory to provide better support for investigative activities and research development both now and in the future. In order to ensure that we have the required technological capabilities when the new law comes into force, our office will continue its analysis to enhance its ability to conduct digital forensics in support of compliance activities.
Providing advice to Parliamentarians will continue to be a key activity for our office in the coming year. While we anticipate that our main focus will be to advise Parliament on Bill C-27, the Digital Charter Implementation Act, our office is frequently called upon to provide our views on a wide range of bills and subject-specific studies that touch upon privacy. We look forward to continuing to support Parliament in all matters relating to privacy with the ultimate goal of ensuring Canadian’s fundamental privacy rights are promoted and protected.
We anticipate that the OPC’s private-sector mandate will change to one that includes new order-making powers, adjudicatory functions and obligations to review applications for codes of practice and certification programs. Therefore, we will consider allocating resources to prepare our office, so that it is ready to exercise its new responsibilities should the amended privacy legislation comes into force.
On the public-sector side, we were encouraged by remarks made by the Minister of Justice, the Honourable David Lametti, following the tabling of Bill C-27 that public-sector privacy reform is not far behind the private sector and that lawmakers are taking steps to harmonize the legislation to ensure that both laws are grounded in the same privacy principles. Our office will continue to prioritize providing advice on the modernization of the Privacy Act as this important work progresses.
As Canada’s federal privacy regulator, we will continue to advocate for the strengthening of Canada’s privacy laws and work with Parliament to support the adoption of laws that enable responsible innovation, within a strong legal framework that recognizes, promotes, and protects the fundamental right to privacy.
United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2023-24, our office will develop its sustainable development strategy and will strive to implement the contributions it is responsible for under the 2022-26 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS), taking into account our mandate and size.
Innovation
To thrive in these increasingly uncertain and fiscally challenging times, our office seeks to prioritize innovation over the status quo. We will continue to foster a culture that embraces experimentation and innovation and will assess whether tools, techniques and practices remain relevant to our new challenges. We will continue our migration to the cloud to make communication and collaboration more efficient and to offer access to innovative tools. We will also continue to champion Beyond 2020 initiatives to innovate wherever possible and explore solutions to enhance our capacity within our limited resources.
Key Risks
The OPC’s ability to effectively prepare for and implement its new mandate obligations rests on obtaining timely and adequate resources. As a small organization, the OPC must reconcile providing services under existing laws while concurrently planning for the implementation of our potential new responsibilities within a context of financial constraints and a growing complexity and volume of work. In the coming year our office will continue to engage with government officials to raise awareness of our office’s funding needs.
Employee engagement and well-being are key to the office’s ability to carry out its mandate. The pandemic has affected all Canadians, including OPC employees and their families. OPC employees will undergo a period of transition in the coming year, with the uncertainties brought about by the legislative reform, adapting to the arrival of a new commissioner, and having to adapt to a new hybrid work environment. Employees’ mental health and wellness in these times of change are top priorities for us. Over the next year, we will monitor the well-being of our employees and will support them by, among other things, investing in change management capability, responding concretely to the 2022 Public Service Employee Survey results, and by adopting a human approach to change initiatives and consulting employees in a meaningful way on issues that affect them the most.
Planned results for the Protection of Privacy Rights
The following table shows, for the Protection of Privacy Rights, the planned results, the result indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2023-24, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.
| Departmental result | Departmental result indicator |
Target | Date to achieve target |
2019-20 actual result |
2020-21 actual result |
2021-22 actual result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Privacy rights are respected and obligations are met. | Percentage of Canadians who feel that businesses respect their privacy rights. | 90% | March 31, 2025 | Not a survey year | 45% | Not a survey year |
| Percentage of Canadians who feel that the federal government respects their privacy rights. | 90% | March 31, 2025 | Not a survey year | 63% | Not a survey year | |
| Percentage of complaints responded to within service standards. | 75% | March 31, 2024 | 61% | 44%Footnote 1 | 47% | |
| Percentage of formal OPC recommendations implemented by departments and organizations. | 85% | March 31, 2024 | 80% | 75% | 86% | |
| Canadians are empowered to exercise their privacy rights. | Percentage of Canadians who feel they know about their privacy rights. | 70% | March 31, 2025 | Not a survey year | 64% | Not a survey year |
| Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of information to Canadians on how to exercise their privacy rights. | No target set for 2023-24 | No target set for 2023-24 | 27% (8/30 specified pieces of guidance done) | 30% (9/30 specified pieces of guidance done) | n/aFootnote 2 | |
| Percentage of Canadians who read OPC information and find it useful. | 70% | March 31, 2024 | 71% | 74% | 73% | |
| Parliamentarians, and public- and private-sector organizations are informed and guided to protect Canadians’ privacy rights. | Percentage of OPC recommendations on privacy-relevant bills and studies that have been adopted. | 60% | March 31, 2024 | 68% (28 recs made, 19 adopted) | n/aFootnote 3 | n/aFootnote 4 |
| Percentage of private-sector organizations that have good or excellent knowledge of their privacy obligations. | 85% | March 31, 2024 | 85% | Not a survey year | 86% | |
| Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of guidance to organizations on how to comply with their privacy responsibilities. | No target set for 2023-24 | No target set for 2023-24 | 27% (8/30 specified pieces of guidance done) | 30% (9/30 specified pieces of guidance done) | n/aFootnote 5 | |
| Percentage of federal and private-sector organizations that find OPC’s advice and guidance to be useful in reaching compliance. | 70% | March 31, 2024 | 71% | 70% | 76% |
The financial, human resources and performance information for the OPC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
Planned budgetary spending for Protection of Privacy Rights
The following table shows, for the Protection of Privacy Rights, budgetary spending for 2023-24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.
| 2023-24 Budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) |
2023-24 planned spending |
2024-25 planned spending |
2025-26 planned spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 |
Financial, human resources and performance information for the OPC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
Planned human resources for Protection of Privacy Rights
The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to fulfill this core responsibility for 2023-24 and for each of the next two fiscal years.
| 2023-24 planned full-time equivalents |
2024-25 planned full-time equivalents |
2025-26 planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| 153 | 153 | 153 |
Financial, human resources and performance information for the OPC’s program inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.
Internal Services: planned results
Description
Internal services are the services that are provided within a department so that it can meet its corporate obligations and deliver its programs. There are 10 categories of internal services:
- management and oversight services
- communications services
- legal services
- human resources management services
- financial management services
- information management services
- information technology services
- real property management services
- materiel management services
- acquisition management services.
At the OPC, communications services are an integral part of our education and outreach mandate. As such, these services are included in the promotion program. Similarly, the OPC’s legal services are an integral part of the delivery of compliance activities and are therefore included in the compliance program.
Planning highlights
While all areas of internal services continue to evolve and adapt with the changing needs and context of the office, we will continue to focus broadly on organizational change and adaptation, including to support a healthy and resilient workforce. We will also seize opportunities in new modes of working to provide a high level of service in terms of addressing privacy matters of greatest risk to Canadians.
We will continue to strengthen our culture of respect, inclusion and accessibility to leverage the full potential of our employees and produce better results for Canadians. We are committed to supporting, engaging and enabling our employees in a time of transformation as we fully transition to a hybrid model, through effective communication, innovation, workplace modernization and flexibility. We will also continue our efforts to optimize employee experience to attract, retain and develop talent, by investing in employee well-being, talent management, engagement initiatives and flexible work arrangements.
To support program delivery, we will undertake the following initiatives:
- Implement the office’s hybrid work model designed with a view to promote greater collaboration and provide employees with the necessary support and equipment they need to optimize services to Canadians.
- Provide support to the organization as required, to allow the office to effectively advance its priorities and to prepare to carry out new expanded mandate obligations. This includes reviewing organizational structures and, recruitment and attraction practices in order to meet the requirements of the evolving mandate and changing environment.
- Continue carrying out our digital transformation by upgrading processes, infrastructure and tools to optimize service delivery and accessibility, and promote employee mobility, especially by continuing to migrate OPC’s information technology systems to the cloud.
- Commence review of the office's Departmental Results Framework to reflect new mandate obligations and to ensure better measurement of our office’s contributions to its desired outcomes.
- Continue to implement the priorities and activities of the office’s Security Plan to comply with the requirements of the Policy on Government Security and achieve security objectives set out in the plan.
- Continue to maintain collaboration and business partnerships with other small and medium-sized organizations and agents of Parliament, in order to gain effectiveness, share tools and resources, and implement best practices in areas such as information technology, administrative services, finance, internal audit, people management and human resources programs.
Planning for Contracts Awarded to Indigenous Businesses
The office will implement measures to achieve the mandatory 5% target by 2024-25 as required by the directive. Our office is transitioning its business processes to incorporate Indigenous procurement methods in the planning stages. We will continue to award contracts to Indigenous businesses mainly through prequalified vendors when using various standing offers and other government procurement tools. Our plan is to increase voluntary set-asides when Indigenous capacity exists and operational requirements, best value, prudence, probity, and sound contracting management can be assured.
Planned budgetary spending for Internal Services
The following table shows, for internal services, budgetary spending for 2023-24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.
| 2023-24 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) |
2023-24 planned spending |
2024-25 planned spending |
2025-26 planned spending |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7,760,707 | 7,760,707 | 7,760,707 | 7,760,707 |
Planned human resources for Internal Services
The following table shows, in full-time equivalents, the human resources the department will need to carry out its internal services for 2023-24 and for each of the next two fiscal years.
| 2023-24 planned full-time equivalents |
2024-25 planned full-time equivalents |
2025-26 planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|
| 54 | 54 | 54 |
Planned Spending and human resources
This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2023-24 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.
Planned spending
Departmental spending 2020-21 to 2025-26
The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.
* Amounts are net of Vote Netted Revenue authority (VNR) of $200,000 for internal support services to other government organizations, pursuant to section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act.
Text version of Figure 1
| 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statutory | 3,310,829 | 3,155,678 | 3,141,436 | 3,209,550 | 3,209,550 | 3,209,550 |
| Voted | 28,500,006 | 27,588,703 | 28,471,898 | 26,250,549 | 26,250,549 | 26,250,549 |
| Total * | 31,810,835 | 30,744,381 | 31,613,334 | 29,460,099 | 29,460,099 | 29,460,099 |
| * Amounts are net of Vote Netted Revenue authority (VNR) of $200,000 for internal support services to other government organizations, pursuant to section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act. | ||||||
The above graph illustrates the OPC’s spending trend over a six-year period from 2020-21 to 2025-26.
Statutory spending covers annual costs for employee benefits. Such costs may vary from year to year and are set by the Treasury Board Secretariat based on calculated expenses and forecasts.
The figures for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 fiscal years reflect the organization’s actual expenditures, as reported in the public accounts. The figures for the 2022-23 to 2025-26 fiscal years represent planned spending.
Budgetary planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars)
The following table shows information on spending for each of the OPC’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2023-24 and other relevant fiscal years.
| Core responsibility and internal services |
2020-21 actual expenditures |
2021-22 actual expenditures |
2022-23 forecast spending |
2023-24 budgetary spending (as indicated in Main Estimates) |
2023-24 planned spending |
2024-25 planned spending |
2025-26 planned spending |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protection of privacy rights |
23,003,685 | 22,571,738 | 23,264,794 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 |
| Subtotal | 23,003,685 | 22,571,738 | 23,264,794 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 | 21,699,392 |
| Internal Services |
8,807,150 | 8,172,643 | 8,348,540 | 7,760,707 | 7,760,707 | 7,760,707 | 7,760,707 |
| Total | 31,810,835 | 30,744,381 | 31,613,334 | 29,460,099 | 29,460,099 | 29,460,099 | 29,460,099 |
Analysis of the spending trend
For the 2020-21 and 2021-22 fiscal years, actual spending represents the actual expenditures as reported in the Public Accounts of Canada. The year 2021-22 was the last year of the sunset funding received in Budget 2019 to reduce the backlog of privacy complaints older than one year and provide Canadians with more timely resolution of their complaints.
Forecast spending for the 2022-23 fiscal year and budgetary spending for the 2023-24 fiscal year correspond to the office’s planned spending. The forecast spending for 2022-23 includes funding received for the collective agreements, the inclusion of the operating budget carry-forward from 2021-22 to 2022-23 and a re-profiling to meet non-discretionary obligations to offset anticipated future pressures related to compensation adjustments. The planned spending for 2023-24 and future years remains stable at $29.5 M.
Planned human resources
The following table shows information on human resources, in full-time equivalents (FTEs), for each of the OPC’s core responsibilities and for its internal services for 2023-24 and the other relevant years.
Human resources planning summary for core responsibilities and internal services
| Core Responsibility and internal services | 2020-21 actual full-time equivalents |
2021-22 actual full-time equivalents |
2022-23 forecast full-time equivalents |
2023-24 planned full-time equivalents |
2024-25 planned full-time equivalents |
2025-26 planned full-time equivalents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protection of privacy rights | 158 | 163 | 153 | 153 | 153 | 153 |
| Subtotal | 158 | 163 | 153 | 153 | 153 | 153 |
| Internal Services | 54 | 52 | 54 | 54 | 54 | 54 |
| Total | 212 | 215 | 207 | 207 | 207 | 207 |
Starting in fiscal year 2022-23, there is a decrease compared to previous years in the OPC’s human resources due to the sunset funding received in Budget 2019 to reduce the backlog of privacy complaints older than one year.
Estimates by vote
Information on the OPC’s organizational appropriations is available in the 2023-24 Main Estimates.Future-oriented condensed statement of operations
The future-oriented condensed statement of operations provides an overview of the OPC’s operations for 2022-23 to 2023-24.
The forecast and planned amounts in this statement of operations were prepared on an accrual basis. The forecast and planned amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan were prepared on an expenditure basis. Amounts may therefore differ.
A more detailed future-oriented statement of operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations with the requested authorities, are available on the OPC’s website.
Future-oriented condensed statement of operations for the year ending March 31, 2024 (dollars)
| Financial information | 2022-23 forecast results |
2023-24 planned results |
Difference (2023-24 planned results minus 2022-23 forecast results) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total expenses | 34,768,000 | 34,196,000 | 572,000 |
| Total revenues | 209,000 | 200,000 | (9,000) |
| Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers |
34,559,000 | 33,996,000 | 563,000 |
The net cost of operations before government funding and transfers for the 2023-24 planned results is expected to decrease by $563,000 when compared with the net cost of operations before government funding and transfers for the 2022-2023 forecast results.
This decrease is mainly due to the inclusion of operating budget carry-forward and funding received to offset the cost of collective agreements implementation in forecasted results of 2022-23. Total revenues include a recovery from another organization for costs associated with the provision of internal services.
Corporate information
Organizational profile
Appropriate minister(s)Footnote 6: David Lametti
Institutional head: Philippe Dufresne
Ministerial portfolioFootnote 7: Department of Justice Canada
Enabling instrument(s): Privacy Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. P-21; Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, S.C. 2000, c. 5
Year of incorporation / commencement: 1982
Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do
Information on the OPC’s raison d’être, mandate and role is available on the OPC’s website.Operating context
Information on the operating context is available on the OPC’s website.Reporting framework
The OPC’s approved departmental results framework and program inventory for 2023-24 are as follows.
| Departmental Results Framework | Departmental Result: Privacy rights are respected and obligations are met |
Indicator: Percentage of Canadians who feel that businesses respect their privacy rights Indicator: Percentage of Canadians who feel that the federal government respects their privacy rights Indicator: Percentage of complaints responded to within service standards Indicator: Percentage of formal OPC recommendations implemented by departments and organizations |
Internal Services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departmental Result: Canadians are empowered to exercise their privacy rights |
Indicator: Percentage of Canadians who feel they know about their privacy rights Indicator: Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of information to Canadians on how to exercise their privacy rights Indicator: Percentage of Canadians who read OPC information and find it useful |
||
| Departmental Result: Parliamentarians, and federal and private-sector organizations are informed and guided to protect Canadians’ privacy rights |
Indicator: Percentage of OPC recommendations on privacy-relevant bills and studies that have been adopted Indicator: Percentage of private-sector organizations that have a good or excellent knowledge of their privacy obligations Indicator: Percentage of key privacy issues that are the subject of guidance to organizations on how to comply with their privacy responsibilities Indicator: Percentage of federal and private-sector organizations that find OPC’s advice and guidance to be useful in reaching compliance |
||
| Program Inventory |
Compliance Program Promotion Program |
||
To fulfil our core responsibility, our work falls into one of two program areas – compliance or promotion. Activities related to addressing existing compliance issues fall under the compliance program, while activities to bring departments and organizations towards compliance with the law fall under the promotion program.
Supporting information on the program inventory
Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the OPC’s program inventory is available on GC InfoBase.
Supplementary information tables
The following supplementary information tables are available on the OPC’s website:
- Details on transfer payment programs
- Gender-based analysis plus
Federal tax expenditures
The OPC’s Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.
Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government-wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis.
Organizational contact information
Mailing address
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street, 1st Floor
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3
Canada
Telephone: 819-994-5444
Toll-free number: 1-800-282-1376
Fax: 819-994-5424
TTYFootnote 8: 819-994-6591
OPC Website: www.priv.gc.ca
Appendix: definitions
- appropriation (crédit)
- Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
- budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
- Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.
- core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
- An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.
- Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
- A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three-year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.
- departmental result (résultat ministériel)
- A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.
- departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
- A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.
- departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
- A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.
- Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
- A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.
- full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
- A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. Full-time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.
- gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
- An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.
- government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
- For the purpose of the 2023-24 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world.
- high impact innovation (innovation à impact élevé)
- High impact innovation varies per organizational context. In some cases, it could mean trying something significantly new or different from the status quo. In other cases, it might mean making incremental improvements that relate to a high-spending area or addressing problems faced by a significant number of Canadians or public servants.
- horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
- An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.
- non-budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
- Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.
- performance (rendement)
- What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.
- plan (plan)
- The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.
- planned spending (dépenses prévues)
- For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.
A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports. - program (programme)
- Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.
- program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
- An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.
- result (résultat)
- An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.
- statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
- Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.
- target (cible)
- A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.
- voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
- Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.
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