Municipal Freedom of Information / Record request
The Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) came into effect on January 1, 1991. The legislation provides access to information rights balanced with privacy protection. It applies to all municipalities in Ontario and to various other local government institutions.
The Act does not apply to private companies, court records, records in archives, credit bureaus, hospitals, doctors' records or to federal government institutions. There is a separate act that applies to Ontario's Provincial Ministries and agencies.
You can find the MFIPPA legislation and regulations here.
Submitting a request
Submit a letter or email a letter stating that you are asking for information under the MFIPPA. Provide as much detail as possible about the requested records. Specify the time period for the records as precisely as possible, for example, from January 1, 2025 to July 1, 2025.
Include the mandatory $5 application fee. Cheques should be made payable to "the Township of Ear Falls." Additional fees may be charged. Please do not send cash.
Requests can be submitted in person to the Municipal Office, to the Clerk, during business hours.
Fees
If you request information under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, you may be required to pay certain fees.
Rules about fees are set out in the Act and its regulations.
Where anticipated fees are $25 or more, you will be given a fee estimate. If the estimate of fees to be paid is $100 or more, you may be required to pay a 50 percent deposit before your request is processed.
What happens after I submit my request?
Requested records are located (should they exist) and within 30 days of the application, staff will make a decision to either release the records entirely or in part or to deny the request.
This decision is based on the provisions of the Act and on relevant Orders that have been issued by the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC).
If additional time is needed to locate records, staff will contact you to advise of the delayed response time.