Freedom of Information Inquiries
How to make a Freedom of Information request?
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) is governed by the Province of Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act). Under the Act, you have the right to request any information held by OLG and the right to the protection of your personal information.
Please read on to find out how to make a freedom of information request and how OLG protects your personal information.
1. How do I request information?
Before you make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, you should find out if the information is already available. You can do this by checking our website, calling OLG's Support Centre at 1-800-387-0098 or emailing us.
If the information is not already available, you can make a request under the Act. Requests for OLG records or personal information should be made in writing and include the following:
- The request is being made under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
- Details about the records so we can easily locate them
- Your name, mailing address and telephone number so we can contact you if we have any questions
- A $5 application fee in the form of a cheque or money order payable to Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
- Copy of valid government-issued identification for personal information requests
For your convenience you can also submit your request using the FOI Request Form available on the Information and Privacy Commissioner's web site. Mail your request for OLG records or your personal information to the following address:
FOI Specialist
Freedom of Information Office
Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
4120 Yonge Street, Suite 600
Toronto, ON M2P 2B8
2. Are there any fees for processing my request?
In addition to the $5 application fee, the Act allows us to charge certain fees to process your request. Examples of these fees include:
- $30 per hour to search and prepare records
- $0.20 per page for photocopying.
- $60 per hour for computer programming to produce a record
If fees are going to be charged, we will send you a fee estimate before we proceed. This way you can decide whether you want to go ahead with the request or narrow its scope to reduce the fees.
3. What type of information can I request?
You have the right to request any records in the control or custody of OLG. You can also request access to your own personal information.
4. When and how will OLG respond to my request?
We are required to respond to your request within 30 calendar days of receiving it. However, the Act allows us to extend the time to respond under certain circumstances such as having to search through a large volume of records or if we need to seek consent to disclose information about a third party. We will notify you in writing if extra time is needed to complete your request.
OLG's response to your request for records will be sent to you in writing. Once you receive our response, you may find that you did not receive all of the information you requested. The Act allows us to withhold certain information. For example if the release of personal information is considered to be an invasion of privacy, this information will be withheld.
5. What if I don't receive the information that I want?
If access is denied to a record or any part of it, you have the right to ask for a review of our decision by Ontario's Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) which has independent oversight for Ontario's access and privacy laws. The IPC's website provides more details on how to file an appeal. This website also has many resources available to you about your right to access government-held information and your right to privacy protection.
6. What type of information does OLG routinely release?
The Public Disclosure page on our website provides access to financial and operational information such as OLG's Annual Report, travel expenses and salary disclosure as well as community investment, news releases and various fact sheets.
7. What is personal information?
Under the Act, personal information is defined as recorded information about an identifiable individual including (but not limited to) your name, home address, home telephone number, date of birth, email address or credit card information.
Business contact information related to an OLG employee such as their name, work address, title and position is not considered personal information.
8. How does OLG use my personal information?
At OLG we collect personal information for many purposes such as to provide a particular service or product. We can only collect personal information from you under a limited set of circumstances.
When we collect personal information we must:
- Notify you of our authority to collect your personal information
- Explain how your personal information will be used
- Provide contact information if you have any questions.
We can only use your personal information for the purpose provided to you when we collected the information or for a consistent purpose. Likewise, disclosure of your personal information is also limited.
Access to another person's records may also be provided if you have their written consent.
OLG's Privacy and Cookie Policy provides more information on how OLG collects, uses, and protects our customer's personal information.
9. How do I make a request for my personal information?
Please see question #1, "How do I request information?"
10. Tell me more about Ontario's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
You can review the latest version of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act on Service Ontario's e-laws web site.
11. Where can I find more information about records held by OLG?
The Directory of Records is required under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The Directory of Records contains a listing of the general type of records and personal information banks maintained by OLG. Open the attached document for the types of records and personal information banks maintained by OLG.