Investigation Report 23-01: Access application fee six-month review

A preliminary review of the impact of BC’s application fee for freedom of information requests reveals limited payment options, a lack of criteria among public bodies for not charging or for refunding the fee when fairness warrants, and mixed findings about the initial impact on applicants.

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC’s investigation report, Access application fee six-month review, examined the number of access requests made to the BC Government in the first six months of the fee’s implementation, from November 30, 2021 to May 30, 2022. The data was compared against the same period for the previous two years. The report also considered how the fee is administered by public bodies in BC.

To view the full report: https://www.oipc.bc.ca/investigation-reports/3744

To read the news release: https://www.oipc.bc.ca/news-releases/3743

To view a video on this report: https://youtu.be/pRHyQckx81E

Check out a two-page overview of the report: https://www.oipc.bc.ca/media/17490/fees-fact-sheet.pdf