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The information provided below summarizes how your personal information will be protected. This document was developed in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

Privacy of personal information is of the utmost importance. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the services we provide. We also try to be open and transparent in how we handle personal information. This document provides an overview of our privacy policies.

What is Personal Information?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to: an individual’s personal character (e.g., , gender, age, home address, phone number, family status); health (e.g., , health history, health conditions, health services received); or activities and views (e.g., , opinions).

Collection of Personal Information: Primary Purposes

As counsellors and consultants, we collect, use and disclose personal information for the primary purpose of serving our clients. In the course of providing psychological assessment, we may collect information about a client’s health history, including his/her counselling/psychotherapy family history, physical condition and function, and social situation. This information is used in order to help us assess what our clients’ needs are, to advise them of their options and to provide the interventions of their choice when requested. Information may also be collected to obtain a baseline of health and social information so that in providing ongoing health services it is possible to identify changes that occur over time. It would be extremely rare for us to collect any information without the client’s express consent, but this might occur if we were to believe the client would consent if asked and it is impractical to obtain consent (e.g., if a family member calls in with a change of address).

Collection of Personal Information: Related and Secondary Purposes

As counsellors, we collect, use and disclose information for purposes that are related, but are secondary, to our primary purposes. The most common examples of related secondary purposes are as follows:

To invoice clients for goods or services, to process credit card payments or to collect unpaid accounts.
Psychologists are regulated by The College of Psychologists of Ontario who may inspect our record and interview our staff as a part of their regulatory activities in the public interest. In addition, as professionals, we will report serious misconduct, incompetence or incapacity of other practitioners, whether they belong to other organizations or our own. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations.
The cost of some goods/services that we provide to clients is paid for by third parties (e.g., private insurance). These third-party payers often have your consent or legislative authority to direct us to collect and disclose to them certain information in order to demonstrate client entitlement to funding.
To provide notice of upcoming seminars, conferences and other consulting services to past consulting/training clients.

Protecting Personal Information

We understand the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:

Paper information is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area.
Electronic hardware is either supervised or secured in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, passwords are used on computers.
Paper information is transmitted through sealed, addressed envelopes or boxes by Canada Post or a courier. With consent, electronic information is sent via email or fax. Fax cover sheets identify the recipient, have a privacy clause and the fax number has been confirmed.
Staff are trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as necessary to fulfill their duties and in accordance with this privacy clause.
In cases where third parties (e.g., computer consultants, accountants) are granted access to personal information that we hold for administrative reasons, access is restricted to the maximum extent possible. In these cases, we also have their assurance that they follow appropriate privacy principles.

Retention and Destruction of Personal Information

We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions you might have about the services provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. In keeping with College standards, we keep client files for at least 10 years past the date of last contact for adults and, for child clients, 10 years past the date at which they would turn 18 years of age.

We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed.

You Can Look at Your Information

You have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. This information will have been provided to us by you or by guardian(s) directly. We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests and we will take the necessary steps to confirm your identity before providing you with access.

If you believe there is a mistake in the information we have, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions your we have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that a mistake has been made, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that a mistake has been made, we will agree to include in the file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.

Concerns

We will attempt to answer any questions or concerns you might have and we can be reached at:
1729 Bank Street, Suite 205
Ottawa, ON K1V 7Z5
(613) 737-5553

If you have any objections to our privacy practices, you may make it in writing to the Privacy Officer. She will acknowledge receipt of your objection, ensure that it is investigated promptly and that you are provided with a formal written decision with reasons.

This policy is made under the Personal Information and Electronic Documents Act. That is a complex Act and provides some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out above.

For general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the privacy legislation in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as a kind of ombudsman for privacy disputes. The Information and Privacy Commissioner can be reached at:
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3
Phone (613) 995-8210/800-282-1376 Fax: (613) 947-6850 TTY: (613) 992-9190
www.privcom.gc.ca