{ "id": "ca-atia", "name": "Access to Information Act", "short_name": "ATIA", "citation": "R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1", "jurisdiction": "foreign", "state": null, "state_name": null, "country": "Canada", "country_code": "CA", "url": "https://aletheca.com/laws/ca-atia", "description": "Canada's federal access law, covering the Department of National Defence and Library and Archives Canada. Requests carry a $5 application fee.", "statutory_days": 30, "business_days": false, "statutory_text": "30 calendar days from receipt, extendable under s. 9 for volume or consultations — extensions of months are routine at defence and security institutions.", "appeal_deadline_days": 60, "appeal_basis": "calendar days from refusal to complain to the Information Commissioner", "appeal_process": "Complaint to the Information Commissioner of Canada within 60 days, then Federal Court review under s. 41.", "litigation": "Federal Court review after the Commissioner reports.", "fee_waiver_standard": "$5 application fee; all further fees for electronic records were dropped by directive in 2016, so the fee-waiver question mostly does not arise.", "expedited_criteria": [], "exemptions": [ "s.13 Received in confidence", "s.15 International affairs and defence", "s.16 Law enforcement", "s.19 Personal information", "s.69 Cabinet confidences" ], "portal": "https://atip-aiprp.tbs-sct.gc.ca", "turnaround_notes": "DND is among the slower institutions; s. 9 extensions of 90–365 days are common on operational records.", "quirks": "Canadians, permanent residents and persons present in Canada may file directly; others typically file through a Canadian agent.", "sources": [ { "label": "Justice Laws Website — Access to Information Act", "url": "https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/a-1/", "status": "verified", "checked_at": "2026-08-31" } ], "text": null, "text_note": null, "agencies": [ { "slug": "ca-dnd", "name": "Department of National Defence", "local_name": "Ministère de la Défense nationale", "abbr": "DND", "jurisdiction": "foreign", "state": null, "state_name": null, "country": "Canada", "country_code": "CA", "category": "defense", "agency_type": "ministry", "parent": null, "parent_name": null, "url": "https://aletheca.com/agencies/ca-dnd", "website": "https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence.html", "reading_room": null, "subject_to_foia": true, "law": { "id": "ca-atia", "citation": "R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1", "statutory_days": 30, "business_days": false, "appeal_deadline_days": 60 }, "intake": [ { "channel": "portal", "detail": "https://atip-aiprp.tbs-sct.gc.ca", "label": "ATIP Online (Treasury Board)", "verified": false, "verification": "unverified", "verification_source": null, "last_checked": null, "automatable": false, "preferred": false, "reliability": null, "instructions": null }, { "channel": "mail", "detail": "Directorate Access to Information and Privacy, National Defence Headquarters, 101 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa ON K1A 0K2", "label": "Postal mail", "verified": false, "verification": "unverified", "verification_source": null, "last_checked": null, "automatable": false, "preferred": false, "reliability": null, "instructions": null } ], "submission_readiness": null, "holdings": [ "CIRVIS 'vital intelligence sighting' reports under CFAO 71-1", "Post-1967 sighting correspondence routed to the National Research Council", "NORAD region radar incident records" ], "tips": [ "Historic UFO files — Project Magnet, Project Second Storey, sighting reports to 1967 — are at Library and Archives Canada and largely digitised; ask DND only for later or operational records.", "The $5 application fee must accompany the request; s. 9 extensions are routine, so ask in narrow batches." ], "tracking": "A-file number (A-YYYY-NNNNN) issued on acknowledgement.", "confidence": "high", "source": "Hand-compiled international layer. Bodies and statutes are real; contact routes are inferred unless marked verified, and none has yet been proven by a delivered letter." }, { "slug": "ca-lac", "name": "Library and Archives Canada", "local_name": "Bibliothèque et Archives Canada", "abbr": "LAC", "jurisdiction": "foreign", "state": null, "state_name": null, "country": "Canada", "country_code": "CA", "category": "general_government", "agency_type": "archive", "parent": null, "parent_name": null, "url": "https://aletheca.com/agencies/ca-lac", "website": "https://library-archives.canada.ca", "reading_room": null, "subject_to_foia": true, "law": { "id": "ca-atia", "citation": "R.S.C. 1985, c. A-1", "statutory_days": 30, "business_days": false, "appeal_deadline_days": 60 }, "intake": [ { "channel": "portal", "detail": "https://atip-aiprp.tbs-sct.gc.ca", "label": "ATIP Online (Treasury Board)", "verified": false, "verification": "unverified", "verification_source": null, "last_checked": null, "automatable": false, "preferred": false, "reliability": null, "instructions": null }, { "channel": "mail", "detail": "ATIP Office, Library and Archives Canada, 550 De la Cité Boulevard, Gatineau QC K1A 0N4", "label": "Postal mail", "verified": false, "verification": "unverified", "verification_source": null, "last_checked": null, "automatable": false, "preferred": false, "reliability": null, "instructions": null } ], "submission_readiness": null, "holdings": [ "'Canada's UFOs: the search for the unknown' — digitised files from DND, the National Research Council, Transport Canada and the RCMP", "Project Magnet (1950–54) and Project Second Storey (1952–54) records", "NRC 'non-meteoric sightings' files, to 1995" ], "tips": [ "Most of the historic UFO material is digitised and free — search the collection before filing; use ATIP only for what remains restricted.", "An archived federal record needs a formal access request only where a restriction is still marked on the file." ], "tracking": "A-file number issued on acknowledgement.", "confidence": "high", "source": "Hand-compiled international layer. Bodies and statutes are real; contact routes are inferred unless marked verified, and none has yet been proven by a delivered letter." } ] }