Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, CHAPTER 5, Third Party Information. Updated 9 March 2023. 56 Subsection 19(3) Third party information 19(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; a third party. Subsection 19(3) of FOIP is a discretionary provision for the release of third party information in circumstances where the head of the government institution forms the opinion that disclosure “could reasonably be in the public interest as it relates to public health, public safety or protection of the environment”. A government institution should consider subsection 19(3) when dealing with third party information. A government institution should first determine that the information is indeed third party information pursuant to one of the subsections outlined at subsection 19(1) of FOIP. If it is, then consider subsection 19(3). To properly apply the provision, government institutions should do the following:129 i) Determine whether the information qualifies or might qualify for exemption pursuant to subsection 19(1). The public interest “override” comes into play only when all or part of a record falls within one or more of the classes of records described in subsection 19(1). 129 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Access to Information Manual, Chapter 11.14.11. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/accessinformation/access-information-manual.html#cha11_14. Accessed September 4, 2019.
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