Alberta Access to Information Requests: ATIA Deadlines, Fees, and Review Rights

Alberta no longer has a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act: since June 11, 2025, requests to Alberta public bodies go under a new Access to Information Act, which gives a public body 30 business days to respond, sets a $25 initial fee for a general access request, and lets a requester ask the Information and Privacy Commissioner for review within 60 business days.

Information last verified on 2026-09-24. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This article addresses Alberta's Access to Information Act, SA 2024, c A-1.4, which governs requests to Alberta public bodies for general government records. It does not cover the companion Protection of Privacy Act, SA 2024, c P-28.5, which governs Alberta's own privacy rules, including the right to ask a public body to correct your personal information; nor does it cover the federal Access to Information Act, Ontario's FIPPA and MFIPPA, British Columbia's FIPPA, or Quebec's access law, covered on the access to information hub and the federal ATIP page. A request to a private business for records it holds about you is a different matter under PIPEDA.

FOIP Is Repealed: Two New Acts Replaced It

Alberta's old Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act no longer exists as a single statute. It was replaced by two separate Acts, both in force since June 11, 2025: the Access to Information Act (ATIA), SA 2024, c A-1.4, and the Protection of Privacy Act (POPA), SA 2024, c P-28.5. The Alberta government's own guide to the new law uses these exact titles, not FOIP.

A request for access to your own personal information is still made under the Access to Information Act. Section 6(1) gives a right of access to any record in a public body's custody or control, "including a record containing personal information about the applicant." The same 30 business day deadline applies, no initial fee is charged, and section 96(2) of the Act and section 14 of the regulation limit charges to the cost of producing a copy, and only where that cost is expected to exceed $10. POPA is where you go to correct your personal information: its section 7 sets out the right to request correction.

The 30 Business Day Response Deadline

The government's official guide to the Act states the deadline directly:

"A public body has 30 business days to respond to the request unless time is extended under section 16." (Access to Information Act, SA 2024, c A-1.4, s.13, as described in the Government of Alberta's Access to Information Act Guide)

In the Act itself, section 13(1) runs the 30 business days from when the requirements of section 7(2) have been met, which include a written request with enough detail to identify the record and any required fee.

This is a genuine change from the old FOIP Act, which counted 30 calendar days. Section 1(c) of the new Act defines a business day as a day other than a Saturday, a holiday, or a day when Government of Alberta offices are closed as part of the Christmas closure, so a 30 business day window runs longer in real time than a 30 calendar day window of the same number. A reader carrying forward pre-2025 Alberta content should not treat the two as equivalent.

Extensions Under Section 16

Section 16(1) allows a public body to extend the response time by up to 30 more business days if the applicant agrees, if a large number of records are requested and more time is required to process the request, or if more time is needed to consult with a third party, another public body, or another entity before deciding whether to grant access. The grounds do not stack freely. The government's guide states: "Under section 16(1), a public body can only apply one subsection to an access to information request, not multiples." So a public body that has taken an extension because the applicant agreed cannot then take another for volume.

Section 16(2) allows additional reasonable periods in any of the same three circumstances, and section 16(3) allows an extension where the same applicant, or applicants who work for the same organization or in association with each other, have made multiple concurrent requests. For an extension under section 16(1) to (4), section 16(5) requires the public body to tell you the reason, when to expect a response, and that you may ask the Commissioner to review the extension; the guide says the OIPC handles that review as an expedited inquiry. Section 16(9) extends the time automatically during an emergency, disaster, or other unforeseen event that results in an unplanned operational closure or interruption.

Fees Under the Access to Information Act Regulation

Alberta's fee structure is set out in the Access to Information Act Regulation, Alta Reg 133/2025, and described in the government's own fee fact sheet:

"Section 13 of the Access to Information Regulation, requires payment of a $25.00 initial fee when an applicant is requesting access to information that is not their own personal information otherwise known as a general access request." (Government of Alberta, Access to Information Act Fact Sheet: Fees)

The fact sheet also states that a continuing access request, one that covers records created over a period of time rather than a single point-in-time request, carries a $50 initial fee. Requesting your own personal information has no initial fee at all, and in that case a public body may only charge for producing a copy of the record, and only if the cost is expected to exceed $10.

For a general access request, additional fees beyond the initial $25 may apply once the estimated cost of processing the request exceeds $150. An applicant has 30 business days from the date of a fee estimate notice to accept it or modify the request; if you do not respond within that window, the public body may treat the request as abandoned. Once a fee estimate is accepted, the public body may require a deposit of 50% of the estimate before processing continues.

A fee may be waived on financial hardship grounds, though the fact sheet notes that simply asserting an inability to pay is rarely enough on its own without supporting evidence, on fairness grounds such as the public body's own delay, or where the record is a matter of public interest, including the environment or public health and safety.

Alberta's $25 fee is the highest of the five jurisdictions this cluster covers in depth (Nunavut's base fee for a general request is also $25, per Government of Nunavut guidance). BC charges $10, and the federal government and Ontario each charge $5. Quebec charges no application fee at all. A comparison across provinces should treat these as genuinely different figures, not near-equivalents.

Exemptions: Mandatory and Discretionary

Like other access laws, ATIA does not give a public body unlimited discretion to withhold records. The government's guide describes two categories. A small number of exemptions are mandatory, meaning the public body must refuse disclosure: harm to a third party's business interests (section 19), harm to personal privacy (section 20), and Cabinet and Treasury Board confidences (section 27), along with a handful of mandatory subsections nested inside otherwise discretionary sections. A larger group of exemptions is discretionary, meaning the public body may refuse disclosure and must exercise its discretion. Some exceptions, mandatory and discretionary alike, turn on harm; for those, the guide points to the Commissioner's established three-part harms test, which asks whether there is a reasonable expectation of probable harm, whether it amounts to damage or detriment rather than mere inconvenience, and whether there is a causal connection between disclosure and that harm. Discretionary grounds include law enforcement, workplace investigations, advice from officials, and several others.

Do not reuse an old FOIP section number for an ATIA exemption. The government's guide itself notes that the current law enforcement exemption at section 23 was formerly section 20 under FOIP; the recodification renumbered the exemption sections, so a pre-2025 Alberta citation does not point to the same topic under the current Act.

Requesting a Review

Section 59 gives an applicant 60 business days from receiving a notice to submit a request for review to both the head of the public body and the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the same regulator that oversaw FOIP before the recodification. The Commissioner may allow any longer period of up to 30 additional business days under section 59(2)(a)(ii). If a public body fails to respond in time, section 13(2) treats that as a refusal of access, and section 59(3) provides that the 60-day limit does not apply to a review of it. Disputes over an abandoned request or a time extension are handled by the OIPC as an expedited inquiry rather than the standard review process. Sixty business days is double British Columbia's 30-day review window; a reader should not assume Canadian provinces converge on one review deadline any more than they converge on one fee.

Government Records Versus Business Records

ATIA only reaches Alberta public bodies. A request to a private business, such as a bank, retailer, or employer, for the personal information it holds about you is a different matter under the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, commonly called PIPEDA, or Alberta's own private-sector Personal Information Protection Act. See PIPEDA access requests for that separate process.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information about Alberta's Access to Information Act, SA 2024, c A-1.4, and its regulation, current as of September 2026. It is not legal advice. It does not independently confirm the exact text of section 90 on proactive disclosure, or the full royal assent history of the Act. Consult the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta or a lawyer licensed in your province for advice on your specific situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Alberta still call its access law FOIP?

No. FOIP was fully repealed and replaced by two new Acts in force since June 11, 2025: the Access to Information Act, SA 2024, c A-1.4, and the Protection of Privacy Act, SA 2024, c P-28.5. A reference to Alberta FOIP is citing a repealed name.

How long does an Alberta public body have to respond to an access request?

Section 13 of the Access to Information Act gives a public body 30 business days, unless the time is extended under section 16. This replaced FOIP's 30 calendar day deadline, so the current window runs longer in real time for the same number of days.

How much does an access to information request cost in Alberta?

A general access request carries a $25 initial fee under the Access to Information Act Regulation, Alta Reg 133/2025. A continuing access request costs $50 up front. Requesting your own personal information has no initial fee, and copying charges only apply if the cost is expected to exceed $10.

Can a public body extend the response deadline?

Yes. Section 16(1) allows up to 30 more business days if you agree, a large number of records is requested and more time is needed to process it, or more time is needed to consult a third party or another body, and the government's guide says only one of those grounds can be applied to a request. Section 16(2) allows further reasonable periods on the same grounds, section 16(3) covers multiple concurrent requests, and section 16(9) extends the time automatically during an emergency, disaster, or other unforeseen closure.

What can I do if a public body refuses my request?

Section 59 lets you ask the Information and Privacy Commissioner, the same regulator that previously oversaw FOIP, for a review within 60 business days of the notice. That review window is double British Columbia's 30 days, and the Commissioner may allow up to 30 additional business days.

Are old Alberta FOIP section numbers still accurate?

No. The recodification renumbered the exemption sections. The government's own guide notes that the current law enforcement exemption at section 23 was formerly section 20 under FOIP, so a pre-2025 citation does not reliably point to the same topic today.