Freedom of Information Requests

A Guide to Services Provided

The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA), is legislation that covers Ontario's municipalities and local boards, including police services.

Under MFIPPA, the "head" of theInstitution is responsible for overseeing the administration of the Act and decisions made under the legislation. The Regional Municipality of Niagara Police Services Board is the "head" as defined under the legislation and has delegated the responsibilities as head to the Chief of Police with respect to all records under the Chief's control, and to the Board's Executive Director with respect to all records under the control of the Board. The day to day administration of the Act is carried out by the Information and Privacy Unit.

The purposes of the Act are:

  1. To provide a right of access to information under the control of government organizations in accordance with the following principles:
    • information should be available to the public;
    • exemptions to the right of access should be limited and specific;
    • decisions on the disclosure of government information may be reviewed by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
  2. To protect personal information held by government organizations and to provide individuals with a right of access to their own personal information.

MFIPPA has a number of provisions dealing with the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. To access detailed information about exemptions, exclusions and procedures relating to the Act or its regulations, please refer to the Information and Privacy Commissioner's website.

AFreedom of Information:Access- CorrectionRequest Formis provided for your assistance and can be downloaded in PDF format. For an accessible version of the form please contact the Information and Privacy Unit.

You must provide enough detail in your request to assist us in identifying the record(s) you wish to access upon a reasonable effort. If you don't provide enough detail for us to locate the record(s) you wish to access, we will ask you for clarification. If clarification is not sufficient, we will not process your request.A record can be more easily located if you describe the information you want in as much detail as possible. For example, indicate the subject of the record, specific events, dates or locations which might be relevant. The Directory of Records and Personal Information Banks Index describes what records are created and maintained by the Niagara Regional Police Service.

If you are seeking access to your own personal information, and your personal information may be under a former name, please provide that name as well.

Once you complete this form, and any other appropriate documents, the application may be dropped off at any Niagara Regional Police Service District Front desk, or you may mail in your request with notarized copies of your identification.

Information and Privacy Unit
Niagara Regional Police Service
5700 Valley Way
Niagara Falls, Ont., L2E1X8

Phone: 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1024560

When you drop off your application at a District, you must pay the $5 legislatedrequest fee. A receipt will be provided. To confirm your identity, be prepared to show two pieces of government issued identification, one with a photo.Please do not send cash in the mail. We will accept cheques or money orders made payable to the Niagara Regional Police Service.

Please note that requests will not be accepted by fax or e-mail.

In addition to the $5legislated requestfee, the Act provides that costs are to be borne by those who request access to information, or in certain instances that fees can be waived (Section 45 MFIPPA).

The Act is not intended to replace the normal process of providing information. The Act should only be used by the public in cases where information is not available through the usual channels.

All cheques must be made payable to Niagara Regional Police Service.

Established by Ontario Regulation 823, applicable costs which can be charged to the requester are listed below. If it appears that the costs of processing the request will be over $25.00, the requester must be given a fee estimate before the head grants access to the records. If the cost estimate is $100.00 or more, the head may require the requester to pay a deposit equal to 50 per cent of the estimate before taking any further steps to respond to the request. (Please note the below fees apply to general requests. Search and preparation time fees do not apply to personal requests.)

Fee

Explanation

Rate

Search time/record preparation charges

A charge may be applied for every hour of manual search time needed to locate a record and/or the time involved in physically severing exempt material in preparation for disclosure.

$7.50 / 15 minutes / person

Computer and other costs

Includes costs incurred in locating, retrieving, processing and copying a record. If outside services are required, the invoiced cost is charged to the requester. Departments should ensure that the cost for using outside services is not greater than the cost of handling the matter internally.

CD-ROMs- $10 / disc

Computer printouts - $0.20 / page

Developing computer program $15 / 15 minutes / person

Photocopying charges

$0.20 / page

Shipping costs

Shipping charges such as postage or courier can be applied.

  • 1 District - 198 Welland Ave., St. Catharines (Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.)
  • 2 District - 5700 Valley Way, Niagara Falls (Records Counter Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
  • 2 District - 5700 Valley Way, Niagara Falls (Front Desk open 24/7)
  • 3 District - 5 Lincoln St., Welland (Monday to Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.)(As of June 9th, 3 District is closed to the public for renovations)
  • 5 District -650 GilmoreRd., Fort Erie (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
  • 6 District - 501 Fielden Ave., Port Colborne
  • 8 District - 45 Clarke St., Grimsby (Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.)

If you have been given access to your own personal information by a public institution, you are entitled to:

  • request correction of the personal information if there is an error or omission
  • require that a statement of disagreement be attached to the information reflecting any correction that was requested but not made
  • require that any person or body to whom the personal information has been disclosed, within the year before the time a correction is requested or a statement of disagreement, be notified of the correction or statement of disagreement

Requesters must complete a Freedom of Information: Access - Correction Request Form indicating the personal information that they wish to have corrected.

The Service decides whether the correction will be made. Once it has been decided whether or not the information is to be corrected,an FOI Analyst notifies the requester. These decisions may be appealed to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

An individual may appeal any decision made by the Service within30 calendar days of receiving the decision.

Appeals should be directed to:

Information and Privacy Commissioner
Suite 1400
2 Bloor Street East
Toronto, ON
M4W 1A8

Toll Free 1-800-387-0073

Visit theIPC website.

Police records relating to "Young Persons" are governed by theYouth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA). Release of records in which a young person has been dealt with under the YCJA is prohibited through a freedom of information request under MFIPPA. The YCJA does allow discretionary exemptions to this prohibition in specific circumstances, or where ordered released under a Youth Justice Court Order. A request for consideration to access records containing young person information may be directed to the Records Manager at:

Records and Information Management Unit
Niagara Regional Police Service
5700 Valley Way
Niagara Falls, Ont., L2E1X8

Phone: 905-688-4111, option 3, extension 1024566