Canada. Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada : The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) is an independent public body created by the Privacy Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. P-21). The position of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada was created by the Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977.
The Privacy Commissioner is mandated to oversee compliance with both the Privacy Act, which covers the personal information-handling practices of federal government departments and agencies, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Canada's private-sector privacy law. The role of the Privacy Commissioner is modelled on that of an ombudsperson: the Commissioner may not order that a complaint be resolved in a particular way. However, when it comes to compelling evidence in the course of his or her investigation of a complaint, the Privacy Commissioner has powers similar to a judge. If the Commissioner finds that a complaint has merit, he or she will try to mediate a resolution. If a mediated resolution is not reached, the Commissioner sends a report and recommendations to the Minister or the head of the institution. The Privacy Commissioner may ask the Federal Court to deal with the complaint.
The Governor-in-Council appoints the Privacy Commissioner after both houses of Parliament have been consulted and a resolution passed. The Commissioner is appointed for a term of seven years. The Commissioner reports directly to Parliament, and he or she holds the rank and powers of a deputy head of a department. The first Privacy Commissioner was Inger Hansen (1977-1983), followed by John Grace (1983-1990), Bruce Phillips (1991-2000), George Radwanski (Acting, 2000), George Radwanski (2000-2003), Robert Marleau (Acting, 2003), Jennifer Stoddart (2003-2013), Chantal Bernier (Acting, 2013-2014) and Daniel Therrien (2014-Present). [Current to October 2018]
The OPC supports the work of the Privacy Commissioner. The OPC first opened on July 1, 1983; for the first decade, the OPC and the Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada were located in the same physical space and shared administrative support services. Activities of the staff of the OPC include complaint investigation, research, policy development, public outreach and legal advice. The role of the OPC expanded in April 2000, when the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (S.C. 2000, c. 5) received Royal Assent. The Act deals with privacy issues in the private sector.
The Federal Accountability Act received Royal Assent on December 12, 2006. Under the Act, an additional 70 institutions became subject to the Access to Information Act as of April 1, 2007, bringing the total to 250. At the same time, the OPC itself also became subject to the Access to Information Act. As the OPC could not plausibly investigate complaints brought against itself, the new position of Privacy Commissioner, Ad Hoc was created to receive and investigate complaints about the OPC under the Access to Information Act.
As of 2018, the OPC's organizational structure comprises 12 directorates and three sectors.
The Compliance Sector includes two directorates: the Privacy Act Compliance Directorate (public sector); and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act Compliance Directorate (private sector).
The Policy and Promotion Sector includes five directorates: the Government Advisory Directorate; the Business Advisory Directorate; the Policy, Research and Parliamentary Affairs Directorate; the Technology Analysis Directorate; and the Communications Directorate.
The Corporate Management Sector includes four directorates: the Human Resources Directorate; the Finance and Administration Directorate; the Information Management/information Technology Directorate; and the Business Planning, Performance, Audit and Evaluation Directorate.
Finally, the Legal Services Directorate is outside the above-mentioned three sectors; it reports directly to the Privacy Commissioner.
