Routine Disclosure and Active Dissemination Guideline

1.1 The purpose of this policy is to:

1. Ensure a culture of open and transparent government; 
2. Ensure that information is available to residents in a timely and efficient manner;
3. Meet the Town’s legal obligations and requirements of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) in order to protect confidentiality and personal information and other legislation.

The main objective is to enable open access to public records while protecting the privacy of personal information, which are those records in the custody or under the control of the municipality. Routine access and active dissemination of information should satisfy most requests from the public and third parties and should be a standard practice.  Formal Freedom of Information (FOI) requests are the final step to seek access to records. This would be the case where third party notice is required, personal privacy may need to be protected or an individual department requires the records requested to be vetted  through the MFIPPA legislation and Clerk prior to release.  

Under this guidance, many Town records are available directly from division staff without the need for a formal FOI request.  The Town will continue to make efforts to identify information that to be routinely disclosed through the Town’s website, at Town offices and various other mediums on a regular basis. This policy provides a summary  of the types of records that may be routinely disclosed and those that require a formal information request.

2.1 This policy applies to all records under the Town’s custody or control.  This may include records created
      and/or held by Town employees, officers, contractors, agents, as well as members of Council if the records
      relate to business of the Town.   

3.1 Requests may be verbal or in writing. The Town reserves the right to require that a request be submitted
      in writing where the request is unclear or where the information being requested is of a personal,
      detailed or sizeable nature. 

3.2 Requests for records made under this guideline should be directed to the responsible division.
      Notwithstanding, the Town reserves the right to require at any time that requestors make their request
      through a single point of contact to facilitate a coordinated response. 

3.3 Repetitive requests by an individual or organization for significant volumes of records, the separation of
      a request into several small requests totaling a large volume, requests made to more than one
      department related to a specific subject or issue will be centrally coordinated and referred to the Clerk.

3.4 Requests determined to be frivolous or vexatious according to the Town policy and procedures may be
      refused by the department head.

3.5 Records and information identified in Appendix “A” will be provided or made available to any requester
      according to the noted conditions for releasing records. 

3.6 Records and information that are to be published will be made available in the appropriate formats and
      determined by the Department Head.

3.7 No records containing personal information will be disclosed to anyone other than the individual to
      whom the information pertains unless first severed; unless authorized by policy, bylaw or legislation.  

3.8 The Town will strive to routinely disclose documents at the time of the request.  Documents that can be
      obtained directly from departments, as outlined in this policy, will be made available to the requestor
      within 10 to 15 business days of the request.  An extension may be required if retrieval of the documents
      necessitates a search through a large number of records and meeting the time limit would unreasonably
      interfere with the operations of the department.   

Viewing Records

3.9 Copies of records may be prepared by staff for routine disclosure with redaction to protect personal
      information prior to viewing.

3.10 Staff must be present at all times when a requester is viewing an original record. 

3.11 The public may visit the Financial Services in person to view the assessment rolls. The public may
        transcribe information, but may not photocopy or take pictures of pages within the assessment roll, or
        use scanning technology.   

Creation of Records

3.12 The Town is not required to create records in response to a request, except where the record exists in
        a format that requires conversion before disclosure.  Example: The Town is not required to create a
        report outlining and analyzing the use of cell phones by council. The Town would be responsible for
        creating a transcription of a voicemail message.  

Fees and Charges

3.13 Fees will be charged for the reproduction of records in accordance with the Town’s current Fees and
        Charges By-law. 

4.1    Terms not defined in this document may be in the Town Glossary.

Terms and definitions:

      Active Dissemination: means the periodic release or publication of government records and information. 

• Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.56
• Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Request Form
• Records Management Policy
• Records Retention Schedule 
• Owner Authorization Form – Records Request 

6.1    Feedback may be provided about this document by emailing clerk@townofbwg.com

Stamp Sample Wording:

• The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury does not warrant the accuracy of these records.  Copyright Act applies to use and reproduction.
• The Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury does not warrant the accuracy or content of the survey.
• Copyright Act Applies