Managing Contracts under the foip act

2.11
Grant Agreements

A grant is a disbursement of money made by the Government as a gift, transfer or payment with no exchange of goods or services. The purpose and terms and conditions of the grant may be set out in the regulation or in a written grant agreement.

The public body normally has very little control of the day-to-day operations of the person or program funded by the grant. The grant recipient may be subject to reporting and auditing requirements, as specified in the regulation or the grant agreement.

Access and privacy implications

The regulation or grant agreement may provide that the Minister responsible for the public body or the Auditor General has the right to examine and take copies of any records necessary for accountability within the grant program. This would typically include reports, financial statements, receipts, invoices, and other records that are required to be submitted to the Minister or Auditor General.

The grant recipient should acknowledge that the FOIP Act applies to records submitted by the recipient to the public body, including the grant application, and that the records may be disclosed in response to an access request under the FOIP Act, subject to any applicable exceptions to disclosure under the Act.

A public body may provide a grant to a person to purchase goods or services from a private-sector provider approved by the public body. In these cases, records relating to payments made by the public body to the provider that are in the control of the public body would be subject to the FOIP Act. Transactions between the private-sector provider and the grant recipient would not be subject to the FOIP Act (unless for some reason the information was in the custody of the public body). Personal information collected, used or disclosed for the purpose of providing the services may be subject to private-sector legislation. The public body should clarify its responsibilities in this regard in its notice to the grant recipient.

3.
Interaction between the FOIP Act
and Other Legislation

3.1
Overview

The most important general points to bear in mind when entering into an agreement with a body that is not subject to the FOIP Act are as follows.

• 
  Each party to the agreement must comply with the legislation that governs that party with respect to the transaction – parties cannot “contract out” of their governing legislation.
  
• 
  Where the legislation that governs the other party provides for a lower standard than the FOIP Act with respect to access or the protection of personal information (as applicable), the agreement should, if possible, include clauses that require the other party to meet the higher standard.
  
• 
  The contracting process should provide clarity regarding the obligations of the parties; it is generally preferable to state what those obligations are rather than to include clauses that merely require the parties to comply with legislation that would not otherwise apply.
  

Since January 1, 2004, all private-sector organizations in Canada have also been subject to privacy legislation. The federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) applies to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by federally regulated organizations regardless of where the collection, use or disclosure occurs within Canada. PIPEDA also applies to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by organizations in provinces that do not have their own provincial legislation. In Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec, all of which have legislation that is substantially similar to the federal Act, PIPEDA applies only to an organization’s disclosure of personal information outside the province.

Although this range of legislation may appear complex, the various Acts are largely based on common principles. This chapter will provide a brief overview of how Alberta’s FOIP Act interacts with some of this other legislation. Topics covered include:

• 
  the paramountcy of the FOIP Act over other Alberta legislation,
  
• 
  Alberta’s Health Information Act (HIA),
  
• 
  Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA),
  
• 
  the paramountcy of federal legislation over provincial legislation,
  
• 
  the federal Access to Information Act and Privacy Act,
  
• 
  the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA),
  
• 
  United States legislation,
  
• 
  extra-territorial application of foreign law, and
  
• 
  jurisdictions with no privacy legislation.
  

Directory: foip -> documents
documents -> Privacy Impact Assessment (pia) Questionnaire to assess the protection of privacy as per Part 2 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (foip act) pia: {pia name or Number}
foip -> Ms. Sharon Pollyck Mgr of Leg. Serv. & Corp. Comm. City of Airdrie 400 Main Street se

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