Overview
The Access to Information Act (ATIA) provides access to records held by public bodies in Alberta. Individuals can also submit an ATI request to access their own personal information.
Public bodies under the ATIA include:
- agencies, boards and commissions
- government departments
- local public bodies
- other designated public bodies (by regulation)
Local public bodies administer their own records under the guidance of the ATIA. Some of these include:
- municipalities
- post-secondary educational institutions
- police services and commissions
- housing management bodies
- school boards
- regional health authorities, but health information has additional restrictions under the Health Information Act
Before submitting an ATI request
Do research and determine if you need to make an ATI request.
- Search publicly available government records at Transparency Alberta.
- Find more government records, data and publications through Alberta’s Open Government Program.
- Request from program areas or search public body websites.
If the information you want is not publicly available, you can make an ATI request. See the ATIA service fee estimates.
Use the Find an Access to Information Coordinator directory to ask for advice on the most appropriate method of obtaining access to the information you need or help you produce a description of the records for your request.
See the commonly requested records below for how to access those records.
Commonly requested records
Submit a request
Submit your request directly to the public body that has the records you are seeking.
Requests must be made in writing. Some public bodies provide an online service to make an access request. Public bodies will have 30 business days to respond to an access request and the timeline for response may be extended in certain circumstances.
If you are requesting access to your own personal information, no fee is required. However, if you are requesting access to records that are not your own personal information an initial application fee of $25 is required.