OPC Financial Information

Resource Implications of C-27

Key Messages

• C-27 expands existing responsibilities for the OPC and introduces new ones while also granting some discretion in how they are exercised.
• Funding was assigned to the OPC in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement for former Bill C-11, and more recently, Budget 2023 included crucial temporary funding of $15M over five years for the ramping up phase of Bill C-27.
• These funds will help us to prepare for the coming-into-force of the legislation and deliver on our new responsibilities but are insufficient to deal with the full volume/complexity of issues emerging which significantly impact the privacy rights of Canadians.
• The OPC estimates the full implementation of Bill C-27 will require an additional permanent annual funding of approximately $25 million. At this time, the Government has allocated less than half of this amount.

Background

• The 2020 Fall Economic Update allocated the following total funding for the OPC to “support the implementation and enforcement of private sector legislation”:

  (Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)
  (Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)	(Redacted)

• Budget 2023 set aside additional temporary funding meant to support our Office in implementing new mandate obligations in the first few years of the new law.

  2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27	2027-28
  2M	4M	4M	3M	2M

• Our current estimate for the total implementation cost of Bill C-27, including addressing existing underfunding, is approximately $25 Million (excluding the Employee Benefit Plan) in additional funding. The current OPC funding to deliver on its existing PIPEDA obligations is estimated at $20M (68%).

Prepared by: Corporate

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Does the OPC have enough money?

• The sheer number of privacy issues for which businesses and individuals require our advice and guidance are multiplying at a rapid pace.
• Our organization is facing significant challenges due to the rapid pace of technological changes, increased investigation complexity, and a more litigious environment and underfunded mandates such as mandatory breaches reporting.
• Budget 2023 provided 20$ million in temporary funding over 5 years to help the OPC with the ramping up phase of Bill C-27, to increase the number of breaches investigations and address our compliant backlog. This temporary funding will make an important difference in addressing our immediate challenges.
• Without permanent funding we will continue facing serious resource constraints that limit our ability to effectively carry out our mission and keep pace with technological developments.

How much more money would the OPC need?

• To effectively carry out our mandate, we require several key forms of funding. Firstly, we need permanent funding to address breaches. This funding would help individuals and organizations affected by these incidents.
• Secondly, we require additional funding so that we can keep pace with emerging privacy issues and provide proactive guidance to industry and individuals. This approach would allow us to stay ahead of emerging technology and trends, rather than simply reacting to compliance issues as they arise. With sufficient funding in this area, we would be better equipped to support the public and industry in meeting their privacy obligations.
• Finally, we need sufficient funding to pursue enforcement through the courts. As we wait for law reform, this is an essential aspect of our mandate, and it requires significant resources to carry out effectively. With proper funding, we would be able to ensure that privacy laws are being followed and enforced, which would ultimately lead to greater trust and confidence in the digital economy.
• In summary, to carry out our mandate effectively, we require permanent funding for breaches, additional funding for proactive guidance, and sufficient funding to pursue enforcement through the courts. This could be in the order of at 50% of our current budget to address the chronic underfunding and deliver our current responsibilities, pre-law reform.

Our budget is $29.5M right now representing 207 number of FTEs.

With changes in C-27, we will need $25M more permanent funding year over year (which mainly represents additional FTEs).