Access to Information and Privacy
Axcess1 Ontario
Access to Information and Privacy management, built around FIPPA and MFIPPA
Built around your law — not around generic case management.
Built around your law — not around generic case management
Many case-management products ask a public body to adapt its process to the software. Axcess1 is configured around the legislation, the procedures, the vocabulary and the reporting obligations of each jurisdiction. An organization chooses its Act once; every screen, deadline, letter and report then follows it.
Generic case management
The organization adapts to the software.
Axcess1
The software follows the legislation and the way government works.
Legislation supported
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31)
| What the Act requires | As configured in Axcess1 |
|---|---|
| Who it applies to | Ontario ministries; agencies, boards, commissions and corporations designated in the regulations; hospitals; universities and colleges of applied arts and technology; service provider organizations; the Assembly only for Opposition leaders' reviewable expense records (s. 1.1). |
| Time limit to respond | 45 working days (s. 26(1)). The due date is calculated when the request is entered, with the holidays of the jurisdiction. |
| Extensions | s. 27(1): a period reasonable in the circumstances (large volume of records or necessary outside consultations); no fixed maximum. s. 27(1.1): one further extension with the requester's consent, a significant increase in responsive records, or unforeseeable loss of knowledgeable staff or new consultations. Written notice under s. 27(2). The clock also stops from a fee estimate until payment or waiver (s. 57(3.2)) and from a staged access plan until the requester responds (s. 24.2(3)). (s. 27(1), (1.1)) |
| No answer in time | Treated as a refusal (s. 29(4)); overdue requests are flagged. |
| Third-party notice | Notice under s. 28(1); 20 days for the third party to respond; 30 days to seek review of the decision |
| Transfer to another body | s. 25(1), (2), within 15 days |
| Decision and reasons | The decision letter gives the reasons, the provision relied on and the right of review (s. 29(1)). |
| Fees | $5 application fee for general and own-personal-information requests; search and preparation fees cannot be charged for own personal information; an estimate is required over $25 and a 50% deposit may be required at $100 or more. |
| Review and complaints | Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario; 30 days to ask for a review (s. 50(2)) |
| Annual reporting | IPC Annual Statistical Report — FIPPA |
| Privacy breaches | Notification is mandatory; the incident register applies this jurisdiction's threshold, notices and time limits. |
Loaded for this Act
- 94 provisions (exemptions, exceptions and exclusions) ready to cite on a redaction, each with its section number.
- Request types: General records request (FIPPA s. 24); Own personal information request (FIPPA s. 48); Correction of personal information (FIPPA s. 47(2)).
- Statutory steps on the timeline: Extension under s. 27(1) — reasonable period, notice under s. 27(2); Second (final) extension under s. 27(1.1); Notice to affected person s. 28(1) — 20 business days for representations; notice of delay to requester s. 28(4); Decision after third-party representations s. 28(7) — within 10 business days; third party may appeal within 30 business days; Request forwarded or transferred to another institution s. 25 (within 15 business days); Fee estimate s. 57(3) — time limit stops until the fee is paid or waived (s. 57(3.2)); Staged access plan s. 24.1 — time limit stops until the requester responds (s. 24.2(3)); Appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner s. 50.
Checked against the published text on 2026-10-01. e-Laws — Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. F.31 (consolidated from September 15, 2026) · Lois-en-ligne — Loi sur l'accès à l'information et la protection de la vie privée, L.R.O. 1990, chap. F.31 · e-Laws — R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 460 (General) under FIPPA (application and appeal fees, fee schedule)
Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56)
| What the Act requires | As configured in Axcess1 |
|---|---|
| Who it applies to | Municipalities; school boards, police service boards, public library boards, boards of health, transit commissions, conservation authorities, district social services administration boards, local services boards and other local boards listed in s. 2(1); bodies designated in the regulations; bodies whose members are all appointed by council (s. 2(3)). |
| Time limit to respond | 45 working days (s. 19(1)). The due date is calculated when the request is entered, with the holidays of the jurisdiction. |
| Extensions | s. 20(1): a period reasonable in the circumstances (large volume of records or necessary outside consultations); no fixed maximum. s. 20(1.1): one further extension with the requester's consent, a significant increase in responsive records, or unforeseeable loss of knowledgeable staff or new consultations. Written notice under s. 20(2). The clock also stops from a fee estimate until payment or waiver (s. 45(3.2)) and from a staged access plan until the requester responds (s. 17.2(3)). (s. 20(1), (1.1)) |
| No answer in time | Treated as a refusal (s. 22(4)); overdue requests are flagged. |
| Third-party notice | Notice under s. 21(1); 20 days for the third party to respond; 30 days to seek review of the decision |
| Transfer to another body | s. 18(2), (3), within 15 days |
| Decision and reasons | The decision letter gives the reasons, the provision relied on and the right of review (s. 22(1)). |
| Fees | $5 application fee for general and own-personal-information requests; search and preparation fees cannot be charged for own personal information; an estimate is required over $25 and a 50% deposit may be required at $100 or more. |
| Review and complaints | Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario; 30 days to ask for a review (s. 39(2)) |
| Annual reporting | IPC Annual Statistical Report — MFIPPA |
| Privacy breaches | The incident register records each breach and what the rules of this jurisdiction require. |
Loaded for this Act
- 67 provisions (exemptions, exceptions and exclusions) ready to cite on a redaction, each with its section number.
- Request types: General records request (MFIPPA s. 17); Own personal information request (MFIPPA s. 37); Correction of personal information (MFIPPA s. 36(2)).
- Statutory steps on the timeline: Extension under s. 20(1) — reasonable period, notice under s. 20(2); Second (final) extension under s. 20(1.1); Notice to affected person s. 21(1) — 20 business days for representations; notice of delay to requester s. 21(4); Decision after third-party representations s. 21(7) — within 10 business days; third party may appeal within 30 business days; Request forwarded or transferred to another institution s. 18 (within 15 business days); Fee estimate s. 45(3) — time limit stops until the fee is paid or waived (s. 45(3.2)); Staged access plan s. 17.1 — time limit stops until the requester responds (s. 17.2(3)); Appeal to the Information and Privacy Commissioner s. 39.
Checked against the published text on 2026-10-01. e-Laws — Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56 (consolidated from July 1, 2026) · Lois-en-ligne — Loi sur l'accès à l'information municipale et la protection de la vie privée, L.R.O. 1990, chap. M.56 · e-Laws — R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 823 (General) under MFIPPA (application and appeal fees, fee schedule)
Legislation-to-feature matrix
| Legislative requirement | Axcess1 support |
|---|---|
| Statutory deadline | 45 working days (s. 26(1)): calculated automatically for each request; overdue and upcoming requests on the dashboard. |
| Extensions and holds | Recorded as events that move the due date, each tied to its section of the Act. |
| Exemptions and exclusions | The provisions of FIPPA and MFIPPA in the redaction editor, each with its section number. |
| Third parties and consultations | Notices, consultation packages and their due dates tracked on the request. |
| Fees | Fee notices and payments recorded on the request. |
| Reviews, appeals and complaints | Recorded on the request timeline with their dates and outcome. |
| Redaction | Done by the analyst in the built-in editor; optional AI suggestions that the analyst accepts or rejects. |
| Decision letters | Generated from templates for this Act, with the provisions cited. |
| Release | A release package built from the reviewed records; redactions are permanent in the released file. |
| Annual statistics | Annual access statistics for the period, with each figure traceable to its requests. |
| Audit trail | Every action on a request is recorded with the user and the time. |
From request to release
1Receive and validate
The request is entered with its type, requester and date received; a number is issued from your own numbering pattern.
2Calculate the deadline
The due date follows the Act: 45 working days (s. 26(1)). Holds and extensions move it and are recorded.
3Assign and search
The request is assigned to an officer; the units holding records are tasked and their answers tracked.
4Collect and review
Records are uploaded (PDF, Office files, scans with text recognition) and reviewed page by page.
5Apply the provisions and redact
The analyst marks a passage and picks the provision of this Act; the released copy shows the section relied on.
6Consult
Consultation packages are produced per party, with their due dates.
7Approve
The response goes to the approver's inbox for review and signature.
8Release
The release package and the decision letter are generated from the request.
9Report
Requests, processing times, decisions and provisions invoked are counted for the period you choose.
Agentic AI across the lifecycle
AI is switched off until your administrator turns it on, one capability at a time. AI assists. Authorized officials decide.
Intake agent
Proposes a new request from a message, the portal or a drop folder; an officer confirms it.
Document intelligence
Summarizes and classifies the records and finds the people and organizations named in them.
Responsiveness agent
Suggests which records answer the request.
Exemption assist
Proposes provisions of FIPPA with reasons; redaction candidates appear in the editor.
Consultation agent
Suggests who should be consulted and on which pages.
Quality assurance agent
Checks a package a second time before release.
Deadline watch
Lists the requests at risk of running late.
Copilot
Answers questions about a request, citing the records it used.
Migration
Case history, requesters and documents are brought over from the system you use today, so you do not start from an empty database.
Deployment
Hosted by SoftSim in Canada, on your own private cloud or servers, or standalone on a PC or Mac.
Security
Each organization's records are separate, access is controlled by role and every action is recorded. Run on your own servers, your records never leave your premises.
Try it free for 30 days
One licence, the full product, no obligation. Or see it first in a 30-minute demonstration.
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Axcess1 supports configurable workflows designed around the applicable legislation. Government organizations remain responsible for legal interpretation and statutory decisions. Summaries of the legislation are paraphrases prepared from the published text; they are not legal advice.