The Information Commissioner of Canada is an independent ombudsman and an officer of parliament of Canada who reports directly to the House of Commons of Canada and the Senate of Canada.[1]
The commissioner's work is supported by the Office of the Information Commissioner, which was established in 1983 under the Access to Information Act (ATIA) – Canada's freedom of information legislation.[1] The office assists individuals and organizations who believe that federal institutions have not respected their rights under the ATIA. More specifically, the Office of the Information Commissioner:
The information commissioner provides arms-length oversight of the federal government's access to information practices. The commissioner encourages and assists federal institutions to adopt approaches to information-sharing that meet the objectives of the ATIA, and advocates for greater access to information in Canada.[1]
Whenever possible, the commissioner relies on persuasion to solve disputes, asking for a federal court review only if an individual has been improperly denied access and a negotiated solution has proved impossible.
Caroline Maynard is the current information commissioner, appointed, for a seven-year term, on March 1, 2018.[2]
There have been six information commissioners since the office was established in 1983. They hold office for seven-year terms (Access to Information Act, s. 54).
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