Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, CHAPTER 5, Third Party Information. Updated 9 March 2023. 40 In Review Report 236-2017, the Commissioner considered subsection 19(1)(c) of FOIP. An applicant made an access to information request to the Water Security Agency (WSA) for copies of a report of the standing of each firm who submitted quotes to WSA in response to a Request for Quotes. Upon review, the WSA asserted that if the quotes were released to the applicant, it would result in financial loss for the third parties and result in a competitive advantage. Relying on Review Reports 007-2015 and 195-2015 and 196-2015, the Commissioner found that the risk of being underbid by competitors for future contracts did not meet the threshold for this provision. Releasing costs would increase the chances that the public body would obtain fair bids and a competitive bidding process. Subsection 19(1)(c)(iii) Third party information 19(1) Subject to Part V and this section, a head shall refuse to give access to a record that contains: … (c) information, the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to: … (iii) interfere with the contractual or other negotiations of; a third party; … (2) A head may give access to a record that contains information described in subsection (1) with the written consent of the third party to whom the information relates. (3) Subject to Part V, a head may give access to a record that contains information described in subsection (1) if: (a) disclosure of that information could reasonably be expected to be in the public interest as it relates to public health, public safety or protection of the environment; and (b) the public interest in disclosure could reasonably be expected to clearly outweigh in importance any: (i) financial loss or gain to; (ii) prejudice to the competitive position of; or (iii) interference with contractual or other negotiations of;
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTgwMjYzOA==