British Columbia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act allows you access to information held by the City of Vancouver. You have the right to request any record in the custody or control of the City of Vancouver. This includes records containing your personal information.

Start with an informal request

The information you want may already be publicly available, so phone 3-1-1 for help accessing it. Your informal request may be free of charge, or come at a cost, depending on the department that manages the information you want.

Make a Freedom of Information request

If 3-1-1 or a City department cannot or will not provide you with the information, then file a formal request with the City’s Freedom of Information office.

The Act requires the City to respond to your FOI request within 30 days of receiving it. If your request is complex, we may extend this time within what the Act allows, but will inform you of this within the 30 days.

The Act allows us to withhold information if the release would be an invasion of privacy or cause harm by one of the means listed in the Act, such as harming a law enforcement investigation or threatening anyone’s health or safety. Only in exceptional situations can you get access to someone else’s personal information.

Make an FOI request