Town of Claresholm to close office for information, privacy training

By Rob Vogt
Claresholm town council has approved closing the town office for information and privacy training on Monday, Nov. 2 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The decision came at council’s Oct. 13 meeting, after they reviewed a report from administration.
That report explained that as of June 11, 2025, Alberta’s Access to Information Act and Protection of Privacy Act officially replaced the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
The Access to Information Act and Protection of Privacy Act apply to all public bodies, including the Town of Claresholm and all its departments.
To ensure compliance with this legislation, administration determined an information and privacy training session is required for staff of all departments who handle people’s personal information.
This training session is planned for Nov. 2 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. As all administration staff will be attending, there will be no coverage for the front desk during this period and will require the office to be closed for half the day.
Advance notice of the closure will be provided to residents, including information regarding the purpose of the closure.
Further background information explained the Protection of Privacy Act and Access to Information Act legislate how the town must collect, manage, and protect personal information as a public body.
Because the Town of Claresholm has a significant number of staff who deal with personal information on a regular basis, proper staff training is required.
This training session will ensure the town has done its due diligence in upholding the Access to Information Act and Protection of Privacy Act legislation while providing staff with a comprehensive learning experience.
In addition, cuncil approved the privacy management policy on June 8. The policy requires all staff members who have access to personal information records to complete, at a minimum, an approved access to information for public bodies training course.
The policy also requires the town’s privacy head, who is the chief administrative officer, or privacy access coordinator to lead training on the Access to Information Act and Protection of Privacy Act.
The policy states “employees are responsible for participating in access and privacy training to understand appropriate collection, use, protection, management, disclosure, correction, and disposition of personal information as required by their job duties and responsibilities.”