About the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
The British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “FIPPA”) is provincial legislation that came into effect in October of 1993. In the fall of 1994, post-secondary institutions were added to the list of public bodies to which the FIPPA applies. The FIPPA has two main purposes:
- to make public bodies more open and accountable by providing the public with a right of access to records
- to protect personal information from unauthorized collection, use, or disclosure by public bodies.
The FIPPA applies to almost all records in the custody or under the control of the University. The FIPPA does not apply to a few categories of records, for example:
- a record containing information about a question that is to be used on an exam
- a record containing teaching materials or research information of University employees or other personas teaching or carrying out research at the University
- notes or draft decisions of a person acting in a judicial or quasi-judicial capacity
- materials placed in the archives of the University by or for a person or agency other than the University
- a record that is available for purchase by the public
Links to the FIPPA legislation and its regulations are available here: