The terms we work on, in plain words

What we do

• We prepare the documents listed in your quote, from the information and records you give us. That list is the whole scope; anything else needs a written agreement and a price first.
• We prepare. You decide, sign and file. We never sign, file, submit or speak for you, and we never contact the IPC or any other regulator for you.
• We are an independent contractor, not your employee, agent or representative.

What you do

• Give us accurate and complete information on time, and answer our questions. We rely on what you give us.
• Make the decisions the law gives to your institution, get any approvals your institution needs, meet your own deadlines, and sign and file.
• Review what we deliver, and tell us within 10 business days if anything is wrong or missing. We correct it at no charge.
• Never send us passwords or logins. We never ask for them.

No legal advice

We prepare documents and records. We do not give legal advice, and nothing we deliver is a legal opinion or an audit. Where a question needs one, we say so and you take it to your own lawyer. We do not promise any result from a regulator, such as a finding that you meet a rule. Each assessment records the legal authority you cite; your solicitor or clerk confirms it.

The certified privacy professional

A certified privacy professional checks every judgment call in the pack before it reaches you, as an independent professional, under a written confidentiality agreement. The reviewer checks privacy practice, not legal conclusions, signs only their own review, and does not represent you before the IPC.

Confidentiality and your records

• We keep your information confidential and use it only for your work. We disclose it only to the people working on it, the reviewer, the providers that hold it for us, or where the law requires, and we tell you first unless the law forbids it.
• We never name you as a client without your written permission.
• Before any paid work starts, we tell you in writing which providers will hold or process your documents and in which countries. If you need a particular country, tell us first; if we cannot do it, you may end the agreement with a full refund.
• Working files with your information are returned or securely deleted within 30 days after the work ends. We keep what we delivered and our business records for six years, as the Canada Revenue Agency requires.
• If a breach of our safeguards affects your information, we tell you as soon as we know.

Fees and payment

• The price is the fixed price in your quote: no hourly billing and no added expenses. The reviewer’s fee is included.
• We invoice after delivery and you pay within 30 days, in Canadian dollars, by EFT or cheque, plus any GST/HST that applies.
• If an invoice is unpaid 30 days after it is due, we may pause any work still open after telling you in writing.

Free fixes inside our scope

If the IPC finds that a document we prepared is missing content the Act requires, for a reason inside our scope, we fix it free and quickly. Send us what you received; we tell you within 2 business days whether the reason is inside our scope. Outside it: information that was wrong or incomplete when you gave it, facts or rules that changed after delivery, anything the quote excludes, and decisions that were yours. We quote that work first.

Rule changes and ending the work

• If a rule changes before we deliver and alters what the documents must say, we update them at no extra charge within the same scope.
• If a change removes the need for the work before it starts, either side may end the agreement with a full refund.
• Either side may end the agreement before work starts, by email, with a full refund. Work starts on the day we tell you by email that we have begun.
• After work starts, you may end it at any time; you pay for the work done to that day, never more than the quoted price, and we deliver what is done.

Liability

Our total liability for all claims connected with the agreement is capped at the fees you paid us under it. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as fines, penalties or lost funding, or for losses caused by information you gave us, a decision that was yours, or a filing made late or not made. Nothing limits liability the law does not allow to be limited.

Ownership, law and disputes

• You own what we deliver once it is paid for, and may use and change it as you like. We keep our templates and methods, without your information in them.
• The laws of British Columbia, and the federal laws of Canada that apply there, govern the agreement, and the courts of British Columbia decide any dispute.
• Before going to court, either side writes to the other setting out the problem, and both try in good faith to settle it within 30 days.

This website

The information on this site is general information about Ontario’s MFIPPA, current on the dates shown, and is not legal advice. Laws, regulations and IPC guidance change; check the sources we link before relying on anything here. The site collects nothing about you; see our privacy notice.

Maple Privacy Desk is a service of 1414618 B.C. Ltd., British Columbia, Canada. Questions about these terms: hello@mapleprivacydesk.ca.