CONTENTS

Purposes

1. The purposes of this Act are,

(a) to provide a right of access to information under the control of institutions in accordance with the principles that,

(i) information should be available to the public,

(ii) necessary exemptions from the right of access should be limited and specific, and

(iii) decisions on the disclosure of information should be reviewed independently of the institution controlling the information; and

(b) to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by institutions and to provide individuals with a right of access to that information. [R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56, s. 1.]

Definitions

2. (1) In this Act,

"head", in respect of an institution,

means the individual or body determined to be head under section 3;
("personne responsable")

"Information and Privacy Commissioner" and "Commissioner"

mean the Commissioner appointed under subsection 4(1) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act ;
("commissaire à l'information et à la protection de la vie privée", "commissaire")

"institution"

means,

(a) a municipal corporation, including a metropolitan, district or regional municipality or the County of Oxford,

(b) a school board, public utilities commission, hydro-electric commission, transit commission, suburban roads commission, public library board, board of health, police commission, conservation authority, district welfare administration board, local services board, planning board, local roads board, police village or joint committee of management or joint board of management established under the Municipal Act,

(c) any agency, board, commission, corporation or other body designated as an institution in the regulations;
("institution")

"law enforcement"

means,

(a) policing,

(b) investigations or inspections that lead or could lead to proceedings in a court or tribunal if a penalty or sanction could be imposed in those proceedings, and

(c) the conduct of proceedings referred to in clause (b);
("exécution de la loi")

"Minister"

means the Chairman of the Management Board of Cabinet;
("ministre")

"personal information"

means recorded information about an identifiable individual, including,

(a) information relating to the race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status of the individual,

(b) information relating to the education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history of the individual or information relating to financial transactions in which the individual has been involved,

(c) any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned to the individual,

(d) the address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type of the individual,

(e) the personal opinions or views of the individual except if they relate to another individual,

(f) correspondence sent to an institution by the individual that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature, and replies to that correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence,

(g) the views or opinions of another individual about the individual, and

(h) the individual's name if it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual;
("renseignements personnels")

"personal information bank"

means a collection of personal information that is organized and capable of being retrieved using an individual's name or an identifying number or particular assigned to the individual;
("banque de renseignements personnels")

"record"

means any record of information however recorded, whether in printed form, on film, by electronic means or otherwise, and includes,

(a) correspondence, a memorandum, a book, a plan, a map, a drawing, a diagram, a pictorial or graphic work, a photograph, a film, a microfilm, a sound recording, a videotape, a machine readable record, any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy thereof, and

(b) subject to the regulations, any record that is capable of being produced from a machine readable record under the control of an institution by means of computer hardware and software or any other information storage equipment and technical expertise normally used by the institution;
("document")

"regulations"

means the regulations made under this Act. ("règlements")

Personal information

(2) Personal information does not include information about an individual who has been dead for more than thirty years.

Bodies considered part of municipal corporation

(3) Every agency, board, commission, corporation or other body not mentioned in clause (b) of the definition of "institution" in subsection (1) or designated under clause (c) of the definition of "institution" in subsection (1) is deemed to be a part of the municipal corporation for the purposes of this Act if all of its members or officers are appointed or chosen by or under the authority of the council of the municipal corporation. [R.S.O. 1990, c.M.56, s.2.]

Designation of head

3. (1) The members of the council of a municipal corporation may by by-law designate from among themselves an individual or a committee of the council to act as head of the municipal corporation for the purposes of this Act.

Idem

(2) The members elected or appointed to the board, commission or other body that is an institution other than a municipal corporation may designate in writing from among themselves an individual or a committee of the body to act as head of the institution for the purposes of this Act.

If no designation

(3) If no person is designated as head under this section, the head shall be,

(a) the council, in the case of a municipal corporation; and

(b) the members elected or appointed to the board, commission or other body in the case of an institution other than a municipal corporation. [R.S.O. 1990, c.M.56, s.3.]