Barbara McIsaac, Q.C. of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP writes:
The Ontario Legislature recently passed amendments to Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”) and the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“MFIPPA”) that will impact the records retention policies of covered provincial and municipal institutions and make it an offence to alter, conceal or destroy a record with the intention of denying a right under either Act to access a record or information it contains.
A new section 10.1 – measures to ensure preservation of records – is added to FIPPA and provides that:
every head of an institution shall ensure that reasonable measures respecting the records in the custody or under the control of the institution are developed, documented and put into place to preserve the records in accordance with any recordkeeping or records retention requirements, rules or policies, whether established under an Act or otherwise, that apply to the institution.
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