Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to LA FOIP, Chapter 4, Exemptions from the Right of Access. Updated 24 July 2025. 220 • Provide facts to support the assertions made.734 Prejudice in this context refers to detriment to the use or to the results of tests or audits.735 The provision may apply where there is an intention to use the testing or auditing procedure in the future, and disclosure would result in unreliable results being obtained and the test or the audit having to be abandoned as a result. Test questions that are regularly used – for example, in making staffing decisions - may qualify.736 For subsection 19(a) of LA FOIP, the provision primarily protects testing or auditing procedures and techniques; the testing/auditing mechanism, not the content.737 The exemption does not cover the results of tests or audits.738 IPC Findings In Review Report F-2010-001, the Commissioner considered the equivalent provision in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), (subsection 20(a)). An applicant made an access to information request to the Ministry of Health for information related to the inclusion and interpretation of section 57 of The Health Information Protection Act (HIPA), policy rationale related to proposed HIPA Regulations covering 12 years. The applicant also requested information pertaining to submissions received during the public consultation for the HIPA Regulations. The Ministry withheld portions of the records pursuant to several provisions of FOIP including subsection 20(a). Upon review, the Commissioner found that a privacy impact assessment (PIA) qualified as an audit for purposes of subsection 20(a) of FOIP. However, the provision was found not to apply, as a PIA was a fact-finding exercise where the questions remained constant. The responses change with the circumstances. The exemption was intended to primarily protect procedures and techniques: the testing mechanism and not the content. As such, the Commissioner found that subsection 20(a) of FOIP did not apply. The Commissioner recommended release of the PIA. In Review Report 145-2015, the Commissioner considered the equivalent provision in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), (subsection 20(a)). An applicant 734 Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Access to Information Manual, Chapter 11.14.4. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/accessinformation/access-information-manual.html#cha11_14. Accessed August 29, 2019. 735 Adapted from Service Alberta, FOIP Guidelines and Practices: 2009 Edition, Chapter 4, p. 149. 736 Service Alberta, FOIP Guidelines and Practices: 2009 Edition, Chapter 4, p. 195. 737 SK OIPC Review Report F-2010-001 at [102]. 738 Canada (Information Commissioner) v. Ponts Jacques Cartier & Champlain Inc. (2000), 8 C.P.R. (4th) 536 (Fed. T.D.) at 543-545.
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