WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government has been taking longer to respond to freedom of information requests and collecting more money from people filing them, newly released figures show. Government departments and agencies fulfilled more than 1,200 freedom of information requests in the fiscal year that ended in March, said the government’s annual report on its freedom of information law, released last week. A little more than half — 55 per cent — were completed within the normal 45-day period required by law, or after more time under an allowable extension in cases involving a large volume of records or where other governments or people must be consulted. That on-time completion rate was down from 69 per cent the previous year and 70 per cent the year before. People seeking information paid more than $13,000 collectively — more than triple the amount in the previous year and more than 10 times the amount collected the year before that. One expert said higher fees could have a dampening effect on people who seek information from the provincial government and other public bodies covered under the law. “Higher fees could discourage requests from individuals who do not have access to discretionary income for such a purpose,” said Paul Thomas, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Manitoba. The NDP government, elected in October 2023, said the delays are driven partly by the recent centralization of the handling of information requests under the Finance department. “There’s some good work happening in that area to invest in training and staffing up, and I think we’re going to work our way through some of those timing delays in the near future,” Finance Minister Adrien Sala said in an interview. The higher fees are partly a result of that centralization, which has resulted in more standardized fee assessments, Sala added. There is no upfront fee to submit a freedom of information request in Manitoba, and each application gets two hours of free staff time to search and process records. Beyond that two hours, applicants are to be charged $15 for every half-hour of staff time. The hourly rate has not changed in recent memory. “So perhaps in the previous (years), in some departments, they would decide not to charge someone for a (request) that may require over two hours of work,” Sala said. “I think we’re seeing a more consistent application of the fees through that centralization.” The money collected last year was also driven up partly by requests that involved a large volume of records related to a proposed silica sand mine and the search of a landfill for the remains of murdered Indigenous women, Sala added. Some applications this year have been met with fee estimates of hundreds or thousands of dollars each. A recent application by The Canadian Press for records of communication between the premier’s office and representatives of the United States regarding the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, over a three-day period, was met with a fee estimate of $840. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives applied in the summer for all records related to the province’s public housing stock, on topics including repairs and vacancies, over a 15-month period and were met with a fee estimate of $15,190, documents provided by the Tory caucus show. The extra time and higher fee collection comes despite a long-term trend that has seen fewer freedom of information requests filed with the government. The number of applications varies from year to year, and there was an increase of 277 requests — or 17 per cent — last year over the year before. But even last year’s total was 1,000 less than the number filed in 2021, and several hundred below the number filed in 2022. Almost half of the requests filed in the last fiscal year came from individuals, while the bulk of the rest came from media outlets and political parties, the report said. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2025. Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
