TORONTO, July 3, 2026 – Ontario’s freedom of information system changed on July 1, extending the standard response period for new requests submitted to provincial and municipal public institutions from 30 calendar days to 45 business days. Under the new rules, residents seeking government-held property, planning, enforcement, police or personal records should generally allow about nine weeks. Requests involving large volumes of records, several departments or third-party consultations may take even longer.
The new deadline applies to requests received on or after July 1. Requests submitted before that date will continue to be processed under the previous 30-calendar-day standard. The City of Toronto has also updated its application information and reminds applicants that a formal freedom of information request requires a non-refundable $5 application fee.
Freedom of information requests are mainly used to obtain documents, data or personal records already held by a government institution. They are not intended to require a department to answer general questions or create a new analysis. The City of Toronto also cannot process records held by other organizations through its own system. For example, documents held by police services, school boards or the provincial government generally need to be requested directly from the institution that has the records.
Before submitting a formal request, residents can check whether the information is already publicly available or can be obtained directly from the responsible department. Some property, building, planning and municipal records are available through regular inquiry channels and may not require the freedom of information process. Obtaining records directly from a department may avoid the application fee and will not be subject to the standard 45-business-day processing period.
Requests that are too broad can also increase processing time and costs. When seeking records related to a property, applicants should provide the full address, the type of documents requested and the relevant date range. For enforcement or complaint records, they can include the date, location and responsible department. The City of Toronto generally requires a separate property-record request for each municipal address.
The new rules also allow public institutions to extend the processing deadline a second time in certain circumstances. If substantially more records are found than originally expected, additional consultations are required, or staff familiar with the matter are temporarily unavailable, the institution may extend the deadline further when legal requirements are met and the applicant is notified.
For broad requests or those involving many documents, an institution may also propose a staged disclosure plan. The plan can identify which records will be processed first, which departments will conduct searches and the estimated timeline for each stage. Applicants have 30 business days to respond in writing. They may accept the plan, request changes, narrow the scope of the request or appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. If no response is received by the deadline, the request may be treated as abandoned.
Processing fees may also affect the timeline. In addition to the initial application fee, charges may apply for searching, preparing, copying or producing records. If the estimated fee exceeds $25, the institution must issue a fee estimate and advise the applicant that a full or partial fee waiver may be requested. The processing clock may be paused between the date the fee notice is issued and the completion of payment or a fee-waiver decision.
People who need government records for property disputes, insurance claims, legal proceedings or other time-sensitive matters should not treat 45 business days as a guaranteed delivery date. After submitting a request, applicants should keep a copy of the application, proof of payment, the confirmation number and all correspondence with the institution, while allowing additional time for possible extensions and requests for further information.
If the legal deadline has passed without a decision, or if the applicant disagrees with a refusal, fee, search result or extension, they may appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. Beginning July 1, the general appeal period has also changed from 30 calendar days to 30 business days after receiving the decision.（LJI by Yuanyuan）
