Simon's Legal Resources

FOI (Ont) - Deemed Refusal

. Askary v. Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, et al.

In Askary v. Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, et al. (Div Ct, 2026) the Divisional Court considered FIPPA access issues of 'deemed refusal':

[75] The IPC is responsible for overseeing the FIPPA.

[76] The crux of the dispute in this case turns on the fact that when a request for access to information is made, the FIPPA requires that the institution provide a response to the requester within 30 days[9] from the date the request is received, including advising whether access to the record, or part of it, will be given: see section 26 of the FIPPA. Section 27 allows an institution to extend the time to render a final decision in certain circumstances.

[77] If the institution does not provide its final decision within 30 days, or within any time extension claimed by it, then the institution will be in a “deemed refusal” situation, unless the time limit has been paused, for example by a request for clarification made by the institution to the requester: see section 29(4) of the FIPPA; see also Ontario (Health) (Re), 2024 CanLii 122371 (ON IPC) (Order PO-4579) ¶ 24. A requester can then commence an appeal to the IPC where they believe that there has been a deemed refusal. And that is what occurred here.

[78] If the IPC finds on such an appeal that there is a deemed refusal, it may order the institution, in appropriate circumstances, to issue a final decision by a certain deadline: see for example Ontario (Solicitor General) (Re), 2024 CanLii 76290 (ON IPC) (Order PO-4541) ¶ 20.

[79] The Applicant argues that what occurred here amounts to a deemed refusal.

[80] There are also broader policy objectives in the legislation at play. The FIPPA has two fundamental purposes: one purpose is to grant members of the public access to information under the custody or control of provincial institutions (which includes TMU); the other purpose is to protect the privacy of individuals with respect to their personal information held by these institutions: see section 1 of the FIPPA.