Jun 2019
An Act to amend the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts
Parliament of Canada
June 21, 2019
Bill C-58 received royal assent on June 21, 2019. It amended the Access to Information Act. In the amended act, no provision is made to make government data open by default in digital formats. In fact, section 34 of the bill further stipulates that the Governor in Council may prescribe limitations with regards to the format in which records are to be provided.
May 2016
Liberals scrap most Access to Information fees, issue openness directive
CBC News
May 05, 2016
The Liberal government is immediately waiving all fees associated with access to information requests - apart from the $5 application charge.
It is also telling federal agencies to make information available in the format of the requester's choice, such as handy data spreadsheets, wherever possible.
The measures are included in an interim directive on openness from Treasury Board President Scott Brison. He said the openness directive is guided by the principle that government information belongs to the people it serves and should be open by default.
The Access to Information Act hasn't been amended yet, although this interim directive denotes progress on that front.
