Additional processing fees may be charged only if the estimated cost of processing exceeds $150, based on activities such as searching for records, preparing records for disclosure, copying, and shipping. [alberta.ca], [foip.alber...ervices.ca]
You may have seen reports of a $15,000 fee estimate on a particular request. Public bodies can issue large fee estimates for exceptionally broad or complex requests because the law allows recovery of certain processing costs. However, that is not a province-wide filing fee or mandatory charge for all requests. Applicants can also ask for a review of fees by Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner.
The reason you're not 'entitled' to anything in this case is clearly listed.
I'd be more interested in seeing how you worded your request in such a way as to precipitate a 13K bill. What did you ask for and how? details. Maybe you can reword the request to narrow scope of the request.
Generally, you take a bit more care in actually knowing what you are asking for. You need to actually know the right question before you get the right answer. Even if they gave you the entirety of the 12,000 pages of information you requested, you would have no idea where in those 12,000 pages you would find the information you want.
Do a bit more research and narrow down your question, and you will narrow down the search results to a manageable level.
You are entitled to ask for the information, but nothing is free.
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u/pr0cyn1c 13h ago
your story smells like bullshit. Here's why:
You may have seen reports of a $15,000 fee estimate on a particular request. Public bodies can issue large fee estimates for exceptionally broad or complex requests because the law allows recovery of certain processing costs. However, that is not a province-wide filing fee or mandatory charge for all requests. Applicants can also ask for a review of fees by Alberta's Information and Privacy Commissioner.