Access to information and privacy

How to make a request under the Access to Information Act

The following requests should be made to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) under the Access to Information Act (ATI):

  • Requests that pertain to information about CIC;
  • Requests for information that would have been created by CIC;
  • Requests for personal information submitted by a representative where the client (with his/her authorization/consent) is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or present in Canada.

Formal requests under the Access to Information Act must:

  • Be made in writing;
  • Be signed and dated by the requester;
  • Include:
    • Name of the requester
    • Address of the requester
    • If possible, a telephone number and/or email address where the requester can be contacted between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays;
  • Include a $5.00 application fee, which entitles the requester to five hours of search and preparation time.

Requests in writing

Written requests may be submitted via:

Payment

Payment can be made by:

  • Cheque or money order made payable to the Receiver General for Canada
    OR
  • Credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express) using the online payment service.
Please note that the request will not be processed until the application fee is received.

Additional fees

There may be additional fees associated with processing requests made under the Access to Information Act. Additional fees may be incurred for search and preparation time in excess of five hours and release packages in alternative formats. These fees are charged in accordance with section 11 of the Access to Information Act and described in the Access to Information Regulations. CIC’s practice is to waive the reproduction fees and provide the release package on a CD when appropriate.

Please provide sufficient detail

Requests must include sufficient detail to enable an experienced employee of CIC, with a reasonable effort, to identify the records that are being requested. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • Time periods
  • File numbers
  • Client identifiers
  • File names
  • Report titles
  • Locations (office, or region/branch)
  • Names of individuals
  • Dates of birth (if requesting citizenship or immigration files)

Request for personal information about someone else

Requests for personal information not belonging to the requester must include signed, recent (less than one year old), written consent from the individual to whom the personal information belongs.

To facilitate processing requests for personal information, we also recommend that the consent of all individuals who may have personal information included in the records be obtained and provided with the request. For example, in the case of immigration records – consent should be obtained from the spouse, sponsor, adult children or any other person appearing in the records. Consent may be provided by completing the Authority to Release Personal Information to a Designated Individual Form (IMM 5475) or by way of a written statement indicating the name of the person giving the consent and to whom consent is being given.

Where to send requests

Requests made pursuant to the Access to Information Act must be sent to the ATIP Division at NHQ at the following address:

Access to Information and Privacy Division
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1

Or you may send your request by e-mail if you have:

  • Completed and signed your request;
  • Scanned your request; and
  • Paid the $5.00 application fee using the online payment service.

Your scanned request form and supporting documents (in JPG, TIFF or PDF format) should be sent to ATIP-AIPRP@cic.gc.ca.

Note: If paying the application fee by cheque or money order, you must send your request by regular mail.