Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy

Welcome to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Office

Update regarding covid 19

The University is committed to the requirements of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), including access to information.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, non-essential University faculty and staff are working remotely to reduce the spread of the virus, and to protect employees’ own health and safety. This may affect the University’s ability to search for records responsive to your request. Some record holdings may not be remotely accessible. This is particularly so for paper and other physical records stored at the University.

Many University faculty and staff currently have exceptional demands upon their time due to the need to reconfigure and maintain the University’s critical operations during the pandemic. As such, University employees may have extremely limited time to process FIPPA access requests at this time. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC), which oversees information and privacy rights under FIPPA in Ontario, has closed its physical office and posted a detailed notice about the closure on its website.

The IPC expects institutions, such as the University, to comply with Ontario’s access law, including processing requests, but recognizes that this is an exceptional circumstance and understands that many organizations will be unable to meet the 30-day response requirement.

The University recognizes the timelines set out in FIPPA and remains committed to supporting access under FIPPA as effectively as possible in the current circumstances. However, please be aware that the timing and detailed processing of your request may be affected for the reasons set out above.

We encourage you to contact us and we will discuss these details with you as they pertain to your particular request.


general information

The University is covered by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), which supports protection of personal privacy, as well access to University records in support of transparency and accountability.

The University is committed to these principles and to the requirements of FIPPA.

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FIPP) Office oversees and supports access protection of privacy at the University, by:

  • protecting the personal privacy of students, faculty and staff,
  • processing access requests, and
  • leading and fostering excellent access and privacy practice