TORONTO, June 19, 2026 – Canada's federal government has once again been selected as this year's recipient of the federal Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievements in Government Secrecy. The award follows statistics showing federal institutions delivered the worst on-time performance ever for timely response to access to information requests in 2024-2025.
Record-Breaking Delays
According to the Treasury Board Secretariat's annual Access to Information and Privacy statistical report, more than 35 percent of all requests were delivered after legislated deadlines during Ottawa's 2024-2025 fiscal year. This marks the lowest rate of completion based on published government-wide statistics.
“These statistics, which are used to assess the Government of Canada's own performance, paint an absolutely abysmal picture about the current state of access to information in Canada,” said Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ). “Despite pouring record amounts of money into the system, and countless promises of reform, the system continues to decline.”
Declining Performance Over a Decade
The percentage of requests responded to within legislated timelines has dropped precipitously over the past decade. In 2014-2015, about 82 percent of requests received responses on time. By 2023-2024, that figure had fallen to approximately 70 percent. The latest data shows a further decline.
Last year, The Globe and Mail reported that the federal government had launched another internal review of its access to information law. The previous review began in 2020, took longer than promised to complete, and delivered no recommendations for improvement or reform.
“Access delayed is access denied,” Jolly said.
Dis-Honourable Mentions
In addition to recognizing the federal government's disreputable progress on access to information, this year's Code of Silence Award jury bestowed dis-honourable mentions on two other federal agencies.
Library and Archives Canada is being recognized after it declined to release a 40-year-old list of suspected Nazis admitted to Canada after the Second World War. The agency refused to release the list of 700 names, claiming it could interfere with international relations.
The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages was also awarded a dis-honourable mention after a ruling effectively shut down transparency projects at both the National Capital Commission and the CBC. The commissioner ruled that the proactive posting of documents must include translations into the other official language, thereby halting the much-needed public sharing of records released under the access to information law.
About the Awards
The Code of Silence Awards are presented annually by the CAJ, the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto Metropolitan University (CFE), and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). The awards call public attention to government or publicly-funded agencies that work hard to hide information to which the public has a right under access to information legislation.
