Municipal Personal Information Banks required in Ontario

Section 34 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) requires municipalities to keep an updated Personal Information Bank and to make it available for the public to view.

In Ontario, every individual has a right of access to, and correction of:

• any personal information about the individual contained in a personal information bank in the custody or under the control of an institution
• any other personal information about the individual in the custody or under the control of an institution with respect to which the individual is able to provide sufficiently specific information to render it reasonably retrievable by the institution.

This index must be available to the public so that they can refer to it when exercising their right to access or correct their own personal information, and to better understand how their personal information is stored and used by their government institutions.

What is a Personal Information Bank Index?

A Personal Information Bank (PIB) is personal information under a municipalities control that can be retrieved using an individual’s name or identifier, such as

A PIB index or register is a list of databases that include records maintained by a municipality for the purposes of supporting programs and activities that contain this personal information about one or more individuals. The index or register is often organized by department or activity and must include the following details for each database:

• Name
• Where it is located
• Type(s) of personal information maintained
• How it is used
• Who is it disclosed to
• The legal authority for its collection
• How long it is retained

For example, see Durham Region’s Directory of Records and Personal Information Banks (PIBs).

The purpose of the PIB index is to help residents understand what records are held by their municipality and what personal information they include, which helps residents keep that information up-to-date and be more specific when accessing it via a Freedom of Information Act request.

Canadian citizens and permanent residents have a right to request information from public-sector institutions in Ontario including provincial ministries, agencies, boards, commissions, and hospitals and personal information is frequently requested as can be seen in the requests databases of Toronto, Kingston and Burlington.

Documents commonly requested include:

• Property records, such as building records, plans and permits (available to the property owner or their legal representative)
• Ambulance call reports (records are made available to the patient or their legal representative)
• Court records
• Social services files
• Investigator/inspector notes
• Noise complaint records
• Animal control files

What is personal information?

As defined in the Act, personal information is recorded information about an identifiable individual, including:

• race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation or marital or family status
• education or the medical, psychiatric, psychological, criminal or employment history
• financial transactions in which the individual has been involved
• any identifying number, symbol or other particular assigned
• address, telephone number, fingerprints or blood type
• the personal opinions or views of the individual except if they relate to another individual
• correspondence sent to an institution by the individual that is implicitly or explicitly of a private or confidential nature, and replies to that correspondence that would reveal the contents of the original correspondence
• the views or opinions of another individual about the individual
• the individual’s name if it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual

Examples of Personal Information Bank Indexes in Ontario

Here are municipal PIBs I could find that are easily accessible online:

• Belleville
• Brampton
• Burlington
• Kitchener
• Peterborough
• Oshawa
• Ottawa
• Oro-Medonte

Ontario’s directory of personal information banks (PIBs) lists the collections of personal information held by public provincial institutions.

What if my municipality doesn’t have a Personal Information Bank Index?

If you can’t find a copy of your municipality’s Personal Information Bank, contact your members of council and/or municipal clerk and politely ask where you might access the Personal Information Bank Index and if does not exist, noting that it is required under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

If they do not produce one, the next step is to submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request under MFIPPA for a copy of the Personal Information Bank Index and your own personal information records.

See: What to do if your municipality won’t provide a document required by law