Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act Request

​The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, Chapter F-25 (often referred to as the FOIP Act) is a provincial Act that applies to all public bodies in the province of Alberta. The Medicine Hat Police Service is a public body within the province of Alberta.

The FOIP Act has five purposes:

1. A right of access to records held by a public body, subject to limited and specific exceptions.
2. A right of access to one’s own personal information held by a public body.
3. A right to request the correction of one’s personal information held by a public body.
4. The protection of personal information held by a public body.
5. Independent review of a public body’s decisions by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

This means anyone has a right to ask for any information held by the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS), who must then review the request and determine if you are entitled to receive the related records.

Submitting an Access Request

If you are requesting your personal information, you must complete the applicable form (link provided below).  We require you to provide enough information (dates, times, locations etc.) to be able to identify the requested records. If we are unsure of what you are asking for, we will contact you to clarify your request or request further information. Any request for non-personal information must be accompanied by a cheque for $25, payable to the Medicine Hat Police Service, before the request will be processed. In addition, the FOIP Act prescribes a fee schedule that we may charge for both personal and general information but if any further fees are required, you will be contacted by the Information Coordinator prior to the request being processed to ensure you accept the fee estimate. 

Depending on the manner in which you would like to receive the information, you can expect to be contacted by the Information Coordinator, to verify your identity.

How long will it take for you to respond to my Access Request? Under the FOIP Act, we have up to 30 days to respond to your request; we may extend that time if the request is particularly complex or involves an extremely large number of records. We will do our best to provide your records as quickly as possible. 

What requests are not processed through a FOIP Access Request?

1. Requests for collision reports:These are processed by the Information Coordinator upon payment of fees. A driver or registered owner of a vehicle involved in an accident (or their lawyer or insurance company) will receive a copy of the police report, drivers’ statements and any witness statements where the witness has indicated a willingness to have their statement provided to the drivers.
2. Media requests for information:Although members of the media have the right to request information through the FOIP Act, often their inquiries (which may be complex) can be best facilitated through the Media Relations contact.
3. Request for police information checks (security clearances):These are processed through the MHPS Police Information Check process (either online or walk-in).

Request to access information form: click here

Contact us:

Email: police.info@mhps.ca
Phone: 403-502-8916
Mailing address:

Medicine Hat Police Service
Attn: Information Coordinator
884 2 Street SE
Medicine Hat, AB 
T1A 8H2​