Annual Report: 2006-2007

CHAPTER I:

Starting at Home

The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada is endeavoring to "practice what it preaches" when it comes to ensuring an effective human resources plan for recruiting, training, and retaining highly competent access to information investigators.

Recognizing the system-wide difficulties in recruiting experienced investigators (PM-05 level), this office has established a program to hire junior officers and provide them with a structured program of progression to middle and senior-level investigator positions. The program involves individual coaching, training, tutoring, developmental assignments, and testing, all designed to provide career progression from a PM-02 to PM-05 level without intervening competitions. Twelve to 18 months, approximately, will be required at each level. Before progression to the PM-05 level, investigator trainees must, as indicated previously, successfully complete the IAPP certificate program. A more detailed Investigator Training Program description is available from the Information Commissioner’s website.

This Commissioner urges the heads of other government institutions to consider a similar approach to "home growing" its ATIP administrators rather than continuing to tolerate the destructive practice of "poaching", along with the related practices of intentional over-classification, tolerance of inadequate knowledge and skills, and the excessive (and demoralizing) reliance on consultants.