Online complaint form

Privacy notice

All personal information collected by the Commissioner of Canada Elections in the online complaint form is protected under the Canada Elections Act, the Privacy Act, and the Access to Information Act. You also have a right to access and correct your personal information. This means that you will be informed of the purposes for which personal information is being collected and how to exercise your right of access to that information. You will be asked for your consent where appropriate.

Consult the Personal Information Bank “Commissioner of Canada Elections” (PPU 015) for information about the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ collection, use, retention, and disposition of personal information submitted with complaints and received during reviews or investigations.

Why and how your information is collected

When you email us or fill out an electronic form, such as a complaint, sent through this Web site, you are providing personal information. The information provided is collected under the authority of the Canada Elections Act and the Privacy Act to process your complaint.

How your information is used

The information provided may be used to prepare a reply, or review or investigate potential contraventions under the Canada Elections Act, the Referendum Act and offences under other federal legislation if these offences are committed in connection with offences under the Canada Elections or the Referendum Act.

It may be used for formal or informal compliance and enforcement measures under the Canada Elections Act or the Referendum Act such as compliance agreements, undertakings, administrative monetary penalties, caution letters, information letters and instituting prosecutions and/or laying charges, depending on the case. Information may also be used in:

• statistics used for reporting, including for parliamentary appearances, and managing compliance and enforcement programs;
• quality control to ensure consistency in reviews or investigations;
• training materials for investigators or other Commissioner of Canada Elections personnel;
• research, including for recommendations for legislative amendments, and litigation.

If you do not provide all the information required on the complaint form, such as contact information, it may make it impossible to process your complaint. Should you wish to submit a complaint anonymously, it is essential that provide a detailed description of the allegations and provide all available information, as we will be unable to contact you.

When your information is disclosed

Personal information submitted in a complaint form that relates to any subject-matter that falls exclusively within the authority of Elections Canada may be transferred to them for action. If we have information relating to the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules or Voter Contact Registry, we may share it with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. We may also disclose information on related to contraventions of other federal, provincial or territorial laws to their corresponding law enforcement authorities.

The Act confirms the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of the Commissioner’s investigations. Subsection 510.1(1) prohibits the Commissioner and persons acting under her direction from disclosing details of an investigation, including the identity of the complainant, the object of the complaint or any witness. Your personal information may be disclosed by the Commissioner under limited specific exceptions to the confidentiality requirements stated in the Canada Elections Act, and with the Commissioner’s authorization. For further information, please consult our Compliance and Enforcement Policy.

Finally, there are certain limited publication requirements for those that contravene the Canada Elections Act: when the Commissioner enters into a compliance agreement or the Commissioner, or her delegate, accepts an undertaking or imposes an administrative monetary penalty. We also usually publish certain information after charges have been laid and the prosecution begins, and on the outcome of court cases.

For compliance agreements, to ensure the transparency of the process, and as required by the Canada Elections Act, the Commissioner publishes on her Web site at www.cef-cce.ca a notice that sets out the contracting party’s name, the act or omission in question and the text of the compliance agreement, except the parties’ signatures. Similarly, the Commissioner publishes on her Web site a notice that sets out the name of the person or entity that provided the undertaking, along with the text of the undertaking, except the parties’ signatures and witness signatures. For administrative monetary penalties (AMPs), once a person or entity is deemed to have committed a violation, the Commissioner must publish a notice that sets out the name of the person or entity, identifies the act, omission or the failure to comply to which the violation relates and sets out the amount of the AMP. We will also publish key facts of the violation.

How your information is protected

We are committed to protecting the privacy of individuals. The personal information you provide in the online complaint form is protected by the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act and is subject to the strict confidentiality requirements for the Commissioner’s investigations under the Canada Elections Act.

Unless otherwise specified, email inquiries are not sent through a secure channel. You should not include sensitive personal information, such as your social insurance number or date of birth, in your message or in the form. The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ (OCCE) Web site is hosted by an external internet service provider.

Privacy inquiries

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or complaints regarding the OCCE’s administration of the Privacy Act or the Access to Information Act, or if you wish to make an access request, please contact the Access to Information and Privacy Assistant Director:

• by email at aiprp-atip@elections.ca
• by phone: 873-416-2444
• by mail:
  Access to Information and Privacy
  Elections Canada
  30 Victoria Street
  Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 0M6

If you are not satisfied with the response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by using their online information request form or by calling 1-800-282-1376. You also have a right to file a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada regarding the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ handling of your personal information.

Code of Communications

We are committed to engaging in respectful, professional and courteous communications with all Canadians who interact with our Office.

We expect the same from you.

Abusive behaviour or communications directed towards our personnel will not be tolerated. This includes threats, harassment, yelling, and sexist, obscene or discriminatory comments.

Individuals who choose not to observe this Code of Communications may receive only written correspondence from our Office. Abusive behaviour may result in a decision to terminate future interactions with you.

We have adopted these rules because, by law, we have to provide our personnel with a safe, healthy, and violence-free work environment.