Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 8 April 2024. 177 structure, process, equipment or thing. Finally, technical information must be given a meaning separate from scientific information.638 2. Was the information obtained through research conducted by an employee of the government institution? Obtained means to acquire in any way; to get possession of; to procure or to get a hold of by effort.639 Research is defined as a systematic investigation designed to develop or establish principles, facts or generalized knowledge, or any combination of them, and includes the development, testing and evaluation of research.640 Examples include scientific and technical research carried out at research institutes or universities; historical research connected with the designation or preservation of historical or archaeological resources; and epidemiological and other medical studies carried out in health care bodies. A government institution would have to be able to provide some proof that publication is expected to result from the research or that similar research in the past has resulted in publication.641 In order to apply this provision, the research must refer to specific, identifiable research projects conducted by a specific employee of the government institution. 3. Could disclosure reasonably be expected to deprive the employee of priority publication? For this exemption to be invoked, the employee must be actively engaged in the research with a reasonable expectation of publication.642 638 Definition originated from ON IPC including Order PO-1806-F. Adopted in SK OIPC Review Report F-2005-003 at [26]. Definition endorsed in Consumers’ Co-operative Refineries Limited v Regina (City), 2016 SKQB 335 (CanLII) at [20]. 639 Originated from Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, Adopted by AB IPC in Order 2000-021 at [26]. Adopted in SK OIPC Review Report F-2006-001 at [58] and [59]. Also, found in SK OIPC Review Report F-2006-002 at [39]. 640 ON IPC Order PO-2693 at pp. 7 and 8. Definition originates from Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) at section 2. 641 Service Alberta, FOIP Guidelines and Practices: 2009 Edition, Chapter 4 at p. 193. 642 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Access to Information Manual, Chapter 11.11.3. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/accessinformation/access-information-manual.html#cha11_11. Accessed July 17, 2019.
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