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Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner says the government is increasingly failing to comply with its freedom of information orders, and the office lacks court enforcement powers to stop it.
Ontario's transparency watchdog is warning that the government is increasingly dodging its legal orders, including orders that would shed light on how a multi-billion dollar fund pushed grants to supporters.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner said it is powerless to stop the evasion of its legal orders. Unlike in other provinces, the office said it cannot take government agencies to court for failing to comply with freedom of information orders. A spokesperson for the Information and Privacy Commissioner told CTV News that non-compliance has grown compared with historic trends.
Recently and very unfortunately, our office has been seeing an increase of institutions' non-compliance with our orders compared to historic trends, the spokesperson said. In one example, Ontario's Ministry of Labour was ordered to respond by August 21 to nine freedom of information requests from CTV News about the operation of the Skills Development Fund. Those requests were initially filed in September 2025. The ministry has not responded.
Skills Development Fund Spending Controversy
That is the same fund where recent reporting revealed troubling spending. The province sent over $100 million to clients of a lobbyist who managed Doug Ford's campaign, millions to a company connected to the Ford family's dentist, and $10 million to train workers at an adult entertainment club. The administration of the fund was found to be not fair, transparent, or accountable by Ontario's auditor general.
One grant went to a company whose director was seen at a hockey game with then-labour minister David Piccini, prompting an investigation by Ontario's Integrity Commissioner that is still ongoing. At his first news conference as the new labour minister, Trevor Jones said the government had implemented recommendations from the auditor general and planned to keep spending on skills development. We're going to make sure we invest appropriately and that every dollar is accounted for.
Every taxpayer dollar is respected, Jones said. When asked about the evaded orders, the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery sent an unsigned statement. The government will continue to comply with our obligations under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the statement read. James Turk, director of the Centre for Free Expression at Toronto's Metropolitan University, said those statements do not match what the government is doing.
Experts Condemn Government Transparency Evasion
How can they say they're complying with the law? It's preposterous, Turk said in an interview. Turk called it a boldly anti-democratic move. He said the foundation of democracy is that the electorate can hold the government accountable, but only if it has access to information.
That is why access to information laws exist, he said. CTV News is not the only media outlet that has requested records related to the Skills Development Fund. Political news outlet The Trillium reported that it has spent $4,000 in fees and deposits required by the ministry to process its requests. The Trillium said it obtained a legal order from the Information and Privacy Commissioner in July, which the ministry has not followed.
The IPC said in a statement that it can go to court if an order is not followed on personal health information or information about child service providers. But the office said it does not have the same authority for freedom of information requests. That is not the case in several other provinces, such as British Columbia, where the watchdog can go to court.
IPC Enforcement Limits and Legal Changes
The IPC statement added that even without explicit statutory enforcement power, it is an offence for institutions or their delegates to wilfully fail to comply with an order of the IPC. The office said this provides a strong incentive for institutions to meet their compliance obligations. The enforcement issue is separate from a bill in April that retroactively gutted several provisions of Ontario's freedom of information laws.
That bill excluded the premier and political staff from their obligation to disclose records. That change followed an order by the IPC to disclose records related to the Premier's government phone use. The order was upheld after challenges in the courts. Reached this week, opposition leaders said there was a common thread between each issue.
Opposition Leaders Criticize Lack of Accountability
Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said the government has been hiding from accountability and transparency from day one when it was elected. Ontario Liberal interim leader John Fraser said the news is bad for the government and that is why it wants to hide it.
The warnings come as the province continues to face scrutiny over the fund and over access to government records, with the Ontario Auditor General's bombshell report on misappropriated funds and unfilled FOI requests keeping the media out of the loop.
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CP24:Ontario transparency watchdog warns government is dodging its orders 
CTVNews:Ontario transparency watchdog warns government is dodging its orders 
CTVToronto:Ontario transparency watchdog warns government is dodging its ordersThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Ontario Transparency Information And Privacy Commissioner Skills Development Fund Freedom Of Information Government Non-Compliance Ontario Information And Privacy Commissioner Ontario Government Transparency Doug Ford Freedom Of Information Orders Government Transparency Ontario Ministry Of Labour Non-Compliance
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