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Archived - Proposed Open and Transparent Agency Policy

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This document was part of the consultation on Enhancing Openness and Transparency at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). This consultation ran from June 20 to August 2, 2018.

The Open and Transparent Agency Policy is now available.

On this page

  1. Background
  2. Policy Statement
  3. Objectives
  4. Scope
  5. Authorities
  6. Guiding Principles
  7. Requirements
  8. Exceptions
  9. Roles and Responsibilities
  10. References
  11. Monitoring and Reporting
  12. Inquiries
  13. Effective Date
  14. Annex 1: Definitions

1. Background

2. Policy Statement

The CFIA is open by design and will proactively release records about its regulatory and scientific activities, decisions, programs and services in useful, timely, and accessible formats.

3. Objectives

The objectives of this policy are to:

4. Scope

This policy applies to the following:

5. Authorities

This policy supports CFIA compliance with mandatory Government of Canada requirements issued by TBS under section 7 of the Financial Administration Act.

Relevant legislation relating to release of Government records are as follows:

6. Guiding Principles

Openness and transparency are foundational to how the CFIA delivers its mandate. The following guiding principles act as the basis for further integrating these elements into the way the Agency does business.

7. Requirements

8. Exceptions

The CFIA may not disclose records that contain personal and/or confidential information. These include records containing information that:

9. Roles and Responsibilities

10. References

10.1 Related policies and direction

Government of Canada

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

10.2 Related Resources for CFIA employees

11. Monitoring and Reporting

12. Inquiries

Send questions or comments about this policy

13. Effective Date

This policy replaces the CFIA's 2013 policy on Transparency in Regulatory Decision Making and comes into effect <insert date here>

Approval

This policy has been approved by the [Position Title, Branch].

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Signature

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Date

Annex 1: Definitions

Confidential Business Information:
As defined in section 20 of the Access to Information Act.
Data:
Reinterpretable representations of information in a formalized manner suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing. Footnote 1
Information:
Digital information that is often created in free-form text using common desktop applications such as e-mail, word processing, or presentation applications.
Open by default:
An organizational culture that favours disclosure over non-disclosure - A broad principle that favours releasing government records of value to Canadians, with records being withheld only for necessary privacy, confidentiality and security reasons.
Open by design:
Refers to strategies that are used to ensure that openness and transparency considerations are deliberately and thoughtfully hard-wired into the design phase of all CFIA programs and services, and integrated when improvements are made to existing ones.
Open government:
A governing culture that holds that the public has the right to access the documents and proceedings of government to allow for greater openness, accountability, and engagement. Footnote 2
Open science:
A commitment related to Open Government that seeks to maximize access to federally funded scientific research to encourage greater collaboration and engagement with the scientific community, the private sector, and the public. Footnote 3
Openness:
Receptive to free exchange of information, communications, change and new ideas as part of seeking excellence and continual improvement in design and delivery of programs and services.
Personal information:
As defined in section 3 of the Privacy Act.
Plain language:
Writing that is clear, concise, well-organized and formatted in a way that maximizes the chance that the reader will quickly find the information they need, understand it the first time they read it, and then be able to take any appropriate action based on that understanding.
Record:
Any recorded information created, generated, collected, or received related to government business. A record can be in any format or physical (including electronic) medium such as paper, maps, diagrams, electronic documents, databases, datasets, communications and messages (including e-mail).
Release:
Make publicly available online in an accessible format. Footnote 4
Timely:
Records are made available within a timeframe that will maximize its usefulness to users.
Transparency:
Proactively providing useful, timely and accessible information to the public to demonstrate accountability for delivery of programs and services, as part of supporting the right of Canadians to government records.
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