Private-Sector Information Provided To Government At Risk Of Disclosure

Private-sector entities regularly provide confidential information to government for a host of reasons – regulatory filings, responses to requests for proposals, contractual negotiations and others. But across Canada, government institutions have obligations to disclose records pursuant to freedom of information (FOI) legislation. When does a company need to be concerned about the security of its information? The risk of disclosure is something that should be kept in mind before information is provided to government.

OVERVIEW OF FOI LEGISLATION

The federal and all provincial governments in Canada have enacted FOI legislation. In Dagg v. Canada (Minister of Finance), the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) confirmed that the purpose of this legislation is to facilitate democracy by ensuring that information required for meaningful participation by citizens is available and ensure that public office holders are accountable.