Freedom of Information

What do you need to know before making an FOI request?

1. Anyone can make a Freedom of Information request to access information kept by the Township of Southgate. However, the Township does routinely disclose information through our website or programs and services. Please check with relevant department before making the request.
2. Although the Township is responsible for most of the municipality services, Grey County does provide certain services for the entire county. If your request is about the following information, please make your request to Grey County directly.
   • Planning & patterns of development for the County
   • Environmental information
   • County roads and storm sewers
   • Social services
   • Home for the aged
   • Public health services
   • County museum
   • Industrial/commercial development
   • Tourism promotion
3. According to MFIPPA, the Township must respond within 30 days of the receipt of the request. However, if you are requesting records that contain third party information, the Township will notify the third party of the request within the 30-day timeframe. The third party then has 20 days to inform the Township whether he/she agrees or disagrees with the disclosure of his/her information.
4. Furthermore, MFIPPA contains mandatory and discretionary exemptions that a municipality may use to limit the disclosure of certain records, to ensure that privacy is protected. These exemptions only apply in specific instances, and will determine how much information will be provided in response to a request made under MFIPPA.
5. According to MFIPPA, you may also be asked to pay additional fee to cover some costs occurred when processing your request. Please reference to the “Fees” tab for the entire fee schedule.

To Place a FOI Request:

1. Please complete a Freedom of Information Request and return it to the Municipal Office with the $5 application fee. Please provide identification with a signature (such as a driver’s license) if you are requesting access to your own information.
2. If you are acting as an agent for someone else, please include a signed consent form with your request that states that the individual is authorizing you to act on his/her behalf, as well as a photocopy of a piece of his/her identification with a signature (such as a driver's license) for verification purposes. 

Someone who is given access to his/her own personal information may request that the Township make a correction to that information if he/she believes the information is incorrect. The Township will decide whether to make the correction or not. If the information is not corrected, the person may ask that a Statement of Disagreement be attached to the record to indicate that he/she does not believe that the information is accurate.

To request a correction of personal information

1. Please complete a Request to Correct Personal Information form.
2. Return it with a copy of your identification with a signature (such as driver’s license) to the Municipal Office.

In processing a request for information under MFIPPA, the Town incurs certain costs. MFIPPA sets out the following fees:

• $5 application fee must be enclosed with your request
• $7.50 per 15 minutes of search time (does not apply to requests for own personal information)
• $7.50 per 15 minutes to prepare the records for disclosure (does not apply to requests for own personal information)
• 20 ¢ per page for photocopies and/or computer printouts
• $15 per 15 minutes, if necessary to develop a computer program to retrieve information
• $10 for disks
• Shipping costs

If it costs less than $25 to process a request, the requester will not receive an estimate of fees. The requester will be notified of the fee amount in the decision letter. The Township may not release the records until the fee has been paid.

If it costs between $25 and $100 to process a request, the requester will be given an estimate of the fees required to be paid prior to the release of the records.

If it costs $100 or over to process a request, the requester will be given a fee estimate. The Township may require that a deposit of 50% of the estimated fee be made before the request will continue to be processed. The records will not be released until the full fee has been paid.

If you are not satisfied with the Township's response to your request or fee estimate, you may make an appeal to the Information & Privacy Commission (IPC) within 30 days of receipt of the decision letter or fee estimate. Further information regarding appeals can be found on the IPC's website.