Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 3, Access to Records. Updated 5 May 2023. 81 (ii) Pro Bono Law Saskatchewan; (iii) Community Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City Inc. (CLASSIC). This provision allows a government institution to waive the payment of fees if payment would cause substantial financial hardship for the applicant and giving access is in the public interest. Subsection 9(2) of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Regulations includes additional circumstances under which substantial financial hardship can exist. See Subsection 9(2) FOIP Regulations, later in this Chapter. Applicants must establish that payment of the fee would cause substantial financial hardship. Government institutions should have established criteria to apply for determining when payment of fees may be waived (i.e., policy or form to be completed by applicants). Government institutions should only collect what information is necessary and destroy it when no longer needed. Substantial financial hardship is where any money spent outside of life sustaining requirements (food, water, clothing and shelter) is cause for financial difficulties.127 For example, one can consider whether an applicant’s expenses exceed their income and the value of their assets. Two overriding principles and a non-exhaustive list of criteria have been established to help assess whether records relate to a matter of public interest in the context of a fee waiver. The two principles are: 1) the Act was intended to foster open, transparent and accountable government, subject to the limits contained in the Act; and 2) the Act contains the principle that the user seeking records should pay. The criteria are:128 1. Will the records contribute to the public understanding of, or to debate on or resolution of, a matter or issue that is of concern to the public or a sector of the public, or that would be if the public knew about it. The following may be relevant: • Have others besides the applicant sought or expressed an interest in the records. • Are there other indicators that the public has or would have an interest in the records. 127 ON IPC Order PO-2464 at p. 10. 128 AB IPC originally relied on 13 criteria when assessing public interest when reviewing a fee waiver decision. The 13 criteria originate from AB IPC Order 96-002 at pp. 16-17. Due to repetition and overlap of some of the criteria, AB IPC condensed them in Order 2006-032 at [42] and [43]. The condensed criteria are reflected in this Guide. These criteria were adopted in SK OIPC Review Report 145-2014 at [12] and [13].
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