Canada Case Law

Vancouver (City) v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The Court found two aspects of the adjudicator's decision unreasonable: (1) it was unreasonable to conclude the City did not need case study addresses to scrutinize Coriolis' financial modelling given the adjudicator accepted Coriolis would cease providing addresses; and (2) it was unreasonable to conclude the pro formas and addresses were not information "about" the owners of the case study properties under s.21(1). The Court set aside the adjudicator's decision in part and remitted the matter to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner to reconsider and complete the analyses u…

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• S.17 fippa economic harm
• S.21 fippa third party information
• Standard of review (reasonableness)
• Remittal to statutory decision-maker

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S.F.M. v. Nova Scotia (Minister of Opportunities and Social Development)

Court

Supreme Court of Nova Scotia

The court found the Department conducted a reasonable search and the majority of redactions made under s.20(1) were justified given the files' child‑welfare context and third‑party privacy interests; limited disclosure was required — the recorded birthdate on page 1 and the birthdate referenced on page 1399 must be disclosed — and several specific documents were mischaracterized as privileged or exempt and must be unredacted, while other documents were properly withheld under s.16 (privilege), s.14(1) (advice) or s.4(2)(b) (public record/duplicates). The appeal is allowed in part and dismisse…

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• Foipop act
• Third party personal privacy
• Reasonable search
• Solicitor-client privilege
• Public record exception
• Procedural fairness

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Hart v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court allowed an ATIA application, held the RCMP’s discretionary withholding decision was unreasonable, and remitted the request for redetermination.

• Section 16(1)(a)(ii) atia - law enforcement exemption
• Section 19(1) atia - personal information exemption
• Section 25 atia - severability
• Discretionary exercise of exemptions
• Standard of review (vavilov)
• Access-to-information

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Utano v. Canada (Public Safety)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court dismissed Antonio Utano’s judicial review of a CBSA grievance decision, finding the process reasonably addressed bias, fairness, and disclosure concerns.

• Judicial review
• Procedural fairness
• Conflict of interest
• Institutional bias
• Disclosure obligations
• Admissibility of new evidence

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Choi v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court dismissed two judicial review applications by Munchang Choi concerning DFO recruitment processes and a Public Service Commission refusal to investigate.

• Prematurity and exhaustion of remedies
• Procedural fairness
• Reasonableness review
• Atip disclosure
• Duty to accommodate
• Merit principle

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Seo v. Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner)

Court

Court of Appeal for Ontario

The Court of Appeal dismissed Ian Seo’s appeal for lack of jurisdiction, holding there was no appeal as of right from a single-judge Divisional Court direction.

• Jurisdiction
• Abuse of process
• Appealability
• Leave to appeal
• Divisional court procedure
• Abuse-of-process

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Biogénie Canada Inc. c. Canada (Agence d'inspection des aliments)

Court

Federal Court

La Cour fédérale accueille en partie la révision judiciaire et fixe au 30 septembre 2026 le délai pour répondre au second volet de la demande d’accès de Biogénie.

• Extension of time under s.9(1)
• Judicial review de novo under s.44.1
• Privilege and solicitor-client confidentiality
• Consultations with department of justice
• Procedural requirements for prorogation
• Allocation of resources

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Barnes v. Canada (Prime Minister)

Court

Federal Court

The Federal Court partly allowed an ATIA application over historic intelligence records, ordered disclosure of several pages, remitted one discretion issue, and awarded costs.

• Subsection 13(1) atia
• Subsection 13(2) discretion
• Subsection 15(1) injury‑based exemption
• De novo review
• Reasonableness review of discretion
• Oic recommendations

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TPG Technology Consulting Ltd. v. Canada (Attorney General)

Court

Federal Court

Federal Court partly upheld TPG’s withholding objections under the ATIA, protecting pricing references and some subcontractor information, but not publicly identifiable profiles.

• S.20(1)(b) atia - third‑party commercial/financial information
• S.20(1)(c) atia - prejudice to competitive position/financial loss
• S.20(1)(d) atia - interference with negotiations
• Confidentiality expectations
• Redaction and disclosure obligations
• Costs

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Pyne v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner)

Court

Supreme Court of British Columbia

The court upheld an OIPC ruling that Derek Pyne abused FIPPA processes through repeated, duplicative requests and grievance-driven submissions, and rejected his fairness and reasonableness challenges.

• Abuse of process
• Fippa
• Procedural fairness
• Reasonableness review
• Ex proprio motu proceedings
• Vexatious litigant

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