Health Canada registration of a claim for an exemption to disclose confidential business information for fees under the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act – subordinate remission policy for missed service standards

1. Effective date

2.1 This policy applies to remissions to a fee-payer of the portion of a fee paid for registering a claim for exemption under HMIRA to disclose confidential business information for which the department determines the service standard was not met.

3.1 The purpose of this policy is to establish the criteria for remitting a portion of a fee paid in relation to a service rendered under the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (HMIRA) by the Workplace Hazardous Materials Bureau (WHMB).
3.2 This policy is pursuant to the requirements of section 7 (Remissions) of the Service Fees Act (SFA), as well as section 4.2.4 of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities (the Directive), and Health Canada's Remission Policy For Missed Service Standards.

4.1 WHMB will remit 25% of the fee for registering a claim for exemption when its corresponding service standard is missed by one day or more, measured from the date of the receipt of a complete application, on a claim-by-claim basis and based on the fee paid for that claim.

5.1 When a service standard is missed, WHMB will take reasonable efforts to locate and notify the fee payer.
5.2 Remissions, whether in the form of a refund or credit, shall be issued by WHMB to the fee payer no later than June 30th of the following fiscal year in which the service standard was missed.
5.3 Interest will not be paid for any remissions pursuant to section 4.2.4.3 of the Directive.
5.4 Remissions will be granted to the fee payer in the form of a refund or credit pursuant to section 4.2.4.4 of the Directive.
5.5 The fee payer will have the option to decline a remission and allow WHMB to keep the remitted funds.
5.6 This policy will be published online and made available to the public.

6.1 The scope of this policy does not include other types of remissions, such as refunds for services not rendered or remissions awarded due to unfairness resulting from administrative errors.
6.2 In circumstances outside of the department's control that impact the ability to meet the service standard; WHMB reserves the right to cancel or reduce a remission.

7.1 If a fee payer wishes to dispute either the amount, form (i.e., refund vs credit) or cancellation/reduction of a remission, they can submit their dispute, and a summary of the reason for the dispute and any other relevant supporting documentation, to the program by e-mail at: hc.whmis.claim-demande.simdut.sc@canada.ca.
7.2 WHMB will conduct an internal review of the dispute and will acknowledge receipt of complaint in writing, no later than 10 business days after the complaint is received and will communicate the final decision to the fee payer, in writing within 30 business days.

8.1 WHMB will periodically review this remission policy for relevance and fairness in conjunction with its associated service standard.

9.1 For questions regarding this policy, contact hc.whmis.claim-demande.simdut.sc@canada.ca.

2023-02-10