If you need to make an FOI request for student academic or educational records, UBC will consider this request to be for the student transcript, which contains the complete academic history of a student. Student transcripts are routinely available for a fee from Enrolment Services. For more information visit https://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/records/ordering-transcript.

If you require any records in addition to the student transcript, you must request them from the Office of the University Counsel by providing the following details:

• the specific additional records that you are requesting about the student and, if possible, the department in which those records are located
• the student’s complete legal name, and any alternate forms of the name that may appear in UBC’s files
• UBC Student ID number
• date of birth
• an authorization signed by the student (if applicable)

Most patient health records at UBC may be requested directly from the health unit or clinic involved. The UBC Hospital is not part of UBC; its health records may be requested from the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. 

Faculty and staff members can make a routine access request to review their personnel files at Faculty Relations or at Human Resources. If you need to request employment records through the FOI process, provide the following details:

• the employee’s complete legal name, and any alternate forms of the name that may appear in UBC’s files
• UBC Employee ID number
• date of birth
• for student employment records, the job program under which the job placement was made
• an authorization signed by the employee (if applicable)

If the individual you are requesting information on behalf of is a young minor, incapacitated adult, or deceased individual, you must provide proof of your authority to act on their behalf as set out here: Privacy Fact Page. You may contact access.and.privacy@ubc.ca to learn about the requirements to access these records.

As UBC is authorized to recover costs for the time taken in the search and in the reproduction of non-personal records, it is to your advantage to make a request as specific and concise as possible. You should identify the individuals and/or offices where you believe the requested records are held. If possible, you should also provide the type of records you are seeking, as well as a date range.

While FIPPA gives individuals a right of access to many records in UBC’s custody or control, some categories of records are excluded from the scope of FOI or from the scope of FIPPA entirely. Below are some records excluded from FOI that are commonly relevant in a university setting: 

• Teaching materials — lecture notes, course materials, and related instructional content of a person teaching at the university (s. 3(3)(i)).
• Research materials — research records of a person carrying out research at the university, including REB materials and dissertations/theses (s. 3(3)(i)).
• Rubrics and evaluation tools — grading rubrics, test questions, and similar assessment resources (s. 3(3)(h)).
• Student Transcripts and Diplomas — records available for purchase (s. 3(5)(a)).
• Metadata — electronically generated information describing an individual’s interaction with an electronic system (s. 3(5)(c)).
• Personal use records — documents created for personal use, including all emails in a student’s email account and personal use emails in a staff or faculty member’s FASmail account (s. 3(1)).
• Records unrelated to university business — (s. 3(5)(b))
• Personal notes, communications, or draft decisions of a person acting in a quasi-judicial capacity - such as draft rulings of a Senate Appeals Committees (s. 3(3)(e)).

Request for personal information

• Request is received by the Office of the University Counsel (OUC).
• Request is entered into the FOI Requests database and assigned a file number.
• Acknowledgement is sent to the applicant.
• Requests for clarification or additional information are also sent at this stage and the file is placed on hold. If no additional information is received within 10 business days, the request is considered abandoned.
• UBC does not charge cost recovery fees for FOIs for an applicant’s own personal information.
• A Retrieval of Records email is sent to the various unit(s) identified to search, prepare, and send the requested records to the OUC.
• Once the unit(s) have completed their search, all records are forwarded to the Office of the University Counsel.
• Upon receiving the records, an FOI Specialist reviews the records and determines if any third party notification letters have to be sent out and if any information should be redacted (black out) from the records in accordance with the FIPPA.
• Once all records have been reviewed, the material is prepared for release.
• A response letter is sent to the applicant, along with copies of any releasable records.
• After receiving a response letter, an applicant has 30 days in which to request a review of UBC’s decisions by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

Request for non-personal information

• Request is received by the Office of the University Counsel (OUC).
• Request is entered into the FOI Requests database and assigned a file number.
• Acknowledgement is sent to the applicant along with a link to a website where the applicant can pay the $10 application fee. If the application fee is not received within 10 days, the request will be considered abandoned.
• If you are unable to pay this fee by credit card, you may contact us to make arrangements to pay by cheque or bank draft. Our online payment portal also accepts Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit, Diner's Card and Union Pay.
• Requests for clarification or additional information are also sent at this stage and the file is placed on hold. If no additional information is received within 10 business days, the request is considered abandoned.
• A Retrieval of Records email is sent to the various unit(s) identified to provide estimates of how long it will take to locate, compile, and organize the requested records and how many pages they anticipate the records will comprise.
• Once the area(s) have provided their estimates to the Office of the University Counsel, the FOI Specialist prepares an aggregate fee estimate of the partial cost recovery fee and mails it to the applicant. The file is placed on hold until payment of the partial cost recovery fee is received.
• FIPPA exempts from any recovery fee the first three hours spent during a record search. Consequently, if the total aggregate is three hours or less, no fee is involved.
• Upon receiving payment of the fee estimate, A Retrieval of Records email is sent out to the various unit(s) identified to search, prepare, and send the requested records to the OUC.
• Upon receiving the records, the FOI Specialist reviews the records and determines if any third party notification letters have to be sent out and if any information should be removed from the records in accordance with the Act.
• Once all records have been reviewed, the material is prepared for release.
• A response letter is sent to the applicant, along with copies of any releasable records.
• After receiving a response letter, an applicant has 30 days in which to request a review of the UBC’s decisions by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.