How to ask Vancouver City Hall for its records: a freedom of information guide

Any person can ask the City of Vancouver for a copy of its records. The right comes from BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which the City calls FIPPA. A request under it is an FOI request. The Act defines a record widely: documents, letters, maps, photographs and anything else stored on paper or electronically, including records about you. This guide explains how to ask, what it costs, how long it takes, and what to do if you disagree with the answer.

Check first: the record may already be public

The City posts many records without a request. Its FOI page links to a catalogue of routinely available records, open data, Council and Park Board meeting records, and the City Manager's memos to Council.

The City also posts past FOI answers. Its release page says that since 2016 it has posted all FOI responses except those with personal, third-party or confidential City information, and it updates the list monthly. Someone may already have asked your question.

Step 1: write the request

Section 5 of the Act says a request must be in writing. It must give enough detail for "an experienced employee of the public body, with a reasonable effort" to find the record, and it goes to the public body you believe holds it.

The City takes requests through an online form or by email to its FOI office. If you need help with access, or have no email, the City says to phone 3-1-1 (604-873-7000).

The City sorts requests into two kinds:

• personal: information about you or another identifiable person, and
• general: everything else, such as policies, reports, contracts or statistics.

The City's advice is to keep the request "simple, clear, and focused". A request for "any and all" records can produce large numbers of pages and larger fees. Give a date range, name the department if you know it, and describe the record as exactly as you can.

Step 2: the fees

The City of Vancouver charges a $10 application fee for a general request. The fee is non-refundable. A request for your own personal information has no application fee.

The province set that amount. Section 13(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Regulation says the application fee under section 75(1)(a) of the Act is $10. Section 75 lets a public body charge it, and CTV News reported on December 9, 2025 that Vancouver City Council had voted to start charging it for non-personal requests.

Other fees can apply to large requests. The City does not charge for:

• the first 3 hours spent finding and retrieving records, or
• time spent removing protected information.

If the work will take longer than 3 hours, the City sends a fee estimate. You then pay a 50% deposit, or narrow the request. The provincial regulation caps these fees. For a non-commercial applicant, the maximum for locating and retrieving records is $7.50 per quarter hour after the first 3 hours.

Section 75(5) lets you ask in writing for a fee to be excused. The City may agree if you cannot afford it, or if the record relates to a matter of public interest, such as the environment or public health. It must answer within 20 days.

Step 3: the clock

Section 7 of the Act gives the City 30 days to respond. The Act's definition of a "day" leaves out Saturdays and holidays, so the City describes the limit as 30 business days. The City says it acknowledges a request within 24 to 48 hours, weekends and holidays aside.

The limit can be extended. Section 10 allows up to 30 more days when a request lacks detail, covers a large number of records, or needs consultation with another body. The City says requests involving a third party's records can take an extra 50 business days under sections 23 and 24. The clock also pauses while a fee is unpaid.

Step 4: what can be held back

The Act starts from a right of access, then lists exceptions in sections 12 to 22.1. Some are mandatory, meaning the City must hold the information back. Others are optional, meaning the City may choose to release it. The main ones:

• Personal privacy (section 22). The City must withhold personal information when release would be an "unreasonable invasion" of another person's privacy.
• Closed meetings (section 12(3)). The City may withhold draft by-laws and the substance of discussions at meetings the law allows to be held without the public. That protection ends once the matter is considered in an open meeting, or once the record is 15 years old.
• Advice (section 13). The City may withhold advice or recommendations. It must still release facts, polls, statistical surveys, appraisals and final audit reports.
• Legal advice (section 14). The City may withhold information covered by solicitor-client privilege: private communication between the City and its lawyers.
• Money and business (sections 17 and 21). The City may withhold information that could harm its own finances. It must withhold certain trade secrets and business information of a third party.

Section 4(2) says that if protected information can be removed, you get the rest of the record. The City covers removed parts with a grey box and marks each one with the section that allows it.

Section 25 works in the other direction. The City must release, without delay, information about a risk of significant harm to the environment or public safety, or information whose release is clearly in the public interest.

Step 5: asking for a review

If you disagree with the answer, you can ask the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC to review it. The City describes the Commissioner as an independent official who monitors and enforces the province's privacy and freedom of information laws.

The office says:

• you have 30 business days from the date of the response,
• the request must be in writing, by its form, webform, letter or email,
• you must include your original request and the response, and
• there is no fee.

If the City does not answer in time, section 53(3) treats that as a refusal, and the 30 day limit to ask for a review does not apply. Section 52(1) lets you ask for a review of almost any decision about your request, with one exception: the application fee itself.

The office says an investigator first tries to settle the matter by mediation. If the investigator thinks more should be released and the public body disagrees, the file can go to a formal inquiry, which can end in a legally binding order.

The Park Board

The Act lists the Park Board as its own public body. In practice, the City's FOI office handles its records: the City's 2026 list of released answers includes Park Board lease agreements and contracts. Use the City's form. Our Park Board guide explains what the board does.

The School Board

The Vancouver School Board runs its own FOI office. Its page says requests go by email to the address on that page, by mail, or by drop-off at 1580 West Broadway, to Risk Management and Privacy Compliance. It also charges a $10 non-refundable fee for general requests, with no fee for personal ones, and it will not start work until the fee is paid. Its page lists board minutes, budgets and policies as routinely available. Our School Board guide covers what trustees decide.

For other questions about local government, see our FAQ.

The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC are the authority on these rights. If anything here disagrees with them, they are correct.