PHOTO: Patricia Kosseim, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has highlighted the implementation of reforms to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in its 2025 annual report.
The changes to FIPPA were introduced through Bill 194, the Strengthening Cyber Security and Building Trust in the Public Sector Act. Institutions have been mandated to prepare privacy impact evaluations and report privacy violations; moreover, the reforms added to the IPC’s regulatory and oversight powers. The amendments boost privacy protections in Ontario’s provincial public sector.
Over 2025, the IPC developed guidance for institutions and modernized tribunal processes as well as the statistical reporting system. It also helped public sector stakeholders prepare for new requirements through extensive engagement.
This year, similar reforms were introduced for MFIPPA through Bill 97, A Plan to Protect Ontario Act (Budget Measures). This is in addition to amendments to Ontario’s access and privacy framework, which Kosseim indicated would be the focus of the 2026 annual report.
The IPC will interpret and apply the new provisions and track their practical impacts. It will also develop implementation guidance for institutions and public education materials.
Advisory bodies’ renewal
The IPC renewed membership for its Strategic Advisory Council, which currently consists of a mix of new and existing members serving another term. It also renewed its Youth Advisory Council, which comprises 10 Ontarian youth from varying backgrounds.
Democracy push
Kosseim also noted that Ontarians are leaning into democracy, as reflected in the 20 percent increase in FOI requests in the province.
Last year, FOI requests in Ontario hit 84,400. Over 33,200 access requests were directed to provincial institutions, representing a 17 percent uptick compared to 2024. Municipal institutions such as cities, towns, police services, and school boards logged over 51,100 FOI requests in 2025.
Kosseim said the IPC recorded a commensurate uptick in the volume of appeals of access decisions it received; last year, it opened nearly 2,300 access appeal files – a 32 percent increase from 2024.
“These aren’t just statistics. These numbers represent the tens of thousands of people who wanted answers from their government about decisions affecting their communities, their families, their health care, their environment, and their tax dollars,” Kosseim wrote in the report. “They’re highly interested in what their government is doing; they understand they have the right to access government-held information, and they are choosing to exercise that right.”