Privacy Policy

The content of Credit Valley Conservation (CVC) email correspondence is confidential and intended only for the recipient(s) specified in each email message. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of a CVC email message with any third party, without express written consent of the person who sent the email.

If you have received a CVC email in error, please notify the sender and delete the email.

Credit Valley Conservation adheres to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) regarding both access to, and the privacy and protection of, CVC-held personal information. We take appropriate measures to protect the privacy of any personal information we collect, use or disclose while using our website(s) in accordance with the requirements of MFIPPA.

For the purposes of this Privacy Statement, “personal information” is defined as set out in MFIPPA as amended or replaced from time to time.

Personal information can include your name, address, telephone number, email address and other typical personal information. As of the effective date of this Privacy Statement “personal information” encompasses any recorded information relating to an identified or identifiable individual who is the subject of this information.

Within this Privacy Statement, our use of the word “website” and/or cvc.ca refers to our corporate website at cvc.ca, any websites of our associated corporate entities (e.g., Credit Valley Conservation Foundation, Credit Valley Trail and others) plus websites that may be created in the course of our operations.

By visiting cvc.ca, you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy Statement. CVC reserves the right to modify this Privacy Statement at any time. We encourage you to check back routinely to view the most up-to-date version of this Privacy Statement.

We collect, retain and use personal information only where we believe it is essential (and allowed by law) to administer our business and to provide products, services, and other opportunities requested by you.

CVC doesn’t automatically collect any personal information from you, such as your name, phone number, street or email address. We collect your personal information when you voluntarily provide it to us through contacting CVC via email or in online forms, or by setting up a user account in a secure location on CVC websites. This includes when you:

• Participate in an online forum, poll or survey.
• Fill in a feedback or contact form.
• Join an email subscription for CVC newsletters.
• Set-up a user account in a secure location on a CVC website.
• Request further information about a specific topic.
• Email CVC Staff

Personal information you provide to us will be only used to administer the programs and/or services to which you consent.

Sharing or Disclosing Your Personal Information

Your personal information will not be disclosed except to authorized individuals, including managers, elected officials, employees, Credit Valley Conservation Foundation (CVCF), program partners related to joint programs and services, contractors, vendors and subcontractors retained to provide services and/or goods to CVC.

This personal information will be provided for the purpose of addressing your feedback and to provide you with services you have registered for, including addressing issues with your user account(s). These individuals have been provided the requisite training regarding CVC and/or Ontario privacy policies and practices pertaining to Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA).

CVC does not trade, rent or sell your information to any outside company or organization. We will not reveal specific information about you to unaffiliated third parties for their independent use, except if required to do so by law.

Tracking Your Website Visit

When you visit cvc.ca, our web server will automatically collect a limited amount of standard information essential to the operation and evaluation of the CVC website. This includes information such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address, type of browser used, the date and time of the visit, and the IP address locations to which you linked during your visit. This information is strictly used for statistical reporting purposes.

Google Analytics and Cookies on Our Website

We use Google Analytics and cookies to understand how you use cvc.ca. Google Analytics is a web analytics tool that analyzes website traffic. All data provided by Google Analytics to CVC is anonymized (i.e., it isn’t possible to identify any individual website user from the data we receive).

The data provided by Google Analytics helps us understand:

How typical users navigate to our website.
The typical demographics of website users (specifically age, gender and interests).
How our website is typically used (specifically time spent on the website, pages visited and how users navigate through the website).
Google Analytics uses cookies which are temporary files that may be placed on your hard drive while you visit our website. CVC also uses cookies to optimize your browsing experience, collecting statistical information such as network speed, device type, browser type and screen size.

Cookies are used to track how visitors use cvc.ca, but we do not store personal information through cookies, nor do we collect personal information from you without your knowledge as you browse our website.

CVC also uses cookies for government to citizen claim-based authentication after you choose to register and sign into an account you’ve created with us. A cookie will be encrypted and will comply with strict security and encryption standards.

Information provided by Google Analytics and cookies helps us improve both our website and online services. The information we collect is strictly anonymous and is not disclosed to any third parties.

If you are concerned about our use of Google Analytics or cookies, you can:

• Opt-out of making your site activity available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on onto your device.
• Adjust your web browser to reject all cookies, understanding that this may impact your use of our website and services.

If you do not want to provide any personal information online at cvc.ca, please send us an email.

Google Translate

The CVC website can be translated into many languages using the Google Translate tool. This tool gives residents and visitors who speak other languages a way of accessing CVC information featured on the website.

Google Translate is a third-party automated translator and may make mistakes or have inconsistencies. CVC assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of translations performed using the Google Translate tool. By using the Google Translate tool, you agree that CVC, including its elected officials, staff, agents, representatives and service providers shall NOT be held responsible or liable for any damages or losses that may result from your reliance upon or use of the Google Translate tool.

The Google Translate tool is provided to you on an “as is” basis without any representations, warranties or indemnities of any kind. CVC does not warrant the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantable quality or fitness for a particular purpose of the Google Translate tool and any resulting translations.

If you have questions about the Google Translate tool, please click the following link: Google™ Translate Help.

Online Payment Transactions

You can pay for some CVC products and services on our website. We don’t process any payment transaction on CVC’s infrastructure. Rather, we redirect it to our transaction processor vendor who is compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). CVC does not retain your credit card or payment information after your transaction is complete.

Online Forms

CVC collects personal information through online forms in accordance with the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA). This Act requires government organizations to collect only the personal information necessary for administering a government program. You will be informed of the specific purpose for which CVC is collecting your information at the time we collect the information online.

E-Mail Newsletters

We comply with Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL) when you subscribe to our email newsletters. When you subscribe, you authorize us to collect information about yourself, to send you an email newsletter from time to time and for notification and/or account maintenance/recovery purposes. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email newsletter.

CVC uses third party vendors to provide us with technology infrastructure, systems and software to operate our website and several services. CVC requires these third-party vendors to use your personal information in accordance with policies and procedures, including this Privacy Statement.

This Privacy Policy only applies to CVC websites. At times, cvc.ca may contain links from and to sites operated by other independent third parties whose privacy practices may be different from ours.

Once you leave the CVC website and if you submit Personal Information to any of those sites, your information is governed by the privacy policies of those destination websites. Please review the linked websites and third-party content provider’s privacy policies. Do not use or further visit the sites if you do not agree with the terms of their policies.

CVC is not responsible for the privacy policies and practices or the contents of any linked site or subsequent links from that website.