Important Notices

Privacy Notice

The Office of the Commissioner of Canada Elections (the “Commissioner of Canada Elections”) is committed to providing visitors with a website that respects their privacy. This Privacy Notice summarizes the privacy policy and practices related to the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ website.

All personal information is created, collected, used and held by the Commissioner of Canada Elections about visitors to its website in compliance with the Privacy Act. You also have a right to access and correct your personal information. This means that you will be informed when your personal information is involved, about the purpose for which it is 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 your information is collected

In the course of ensuring the compliance and enforcement of the law, through our website, we collect personal information for certain purposes. We use digital markers and web analytics to improve our site. We offer a number of online tools, such as forms for inquiries or complaints, to deliver our mandate. We also use certain software to ensure the security of our website. These uses are described in more detail in the sections below.

Web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor's Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, may not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the co-operation of an ISP, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, federal institutions, including the Commissioner of Canada Elections, consider the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when a visitor requests a Web page such as the page or pages visited, date and time of the visit.

Communicating with the Commissioner of Canada Elections

Unless otherwise noted, we do not automatically gather any specific personal information from you. The only way we would get this information is if you give it to us, for example, via our Online Complaint Form or Request for an Administrative Monetary Penalty Review Form or sending us an email. We have contact information on our site to help you interact with our Office. We only ask for the information that we need to address your request. Our Online Complaint Form and Request for an Administrative Monetary Penalty Review Form asks for more detailed personal information. As a result, they have their own privacy notices.

Unless otherwise specified, email inquiries or by online form 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 forms.

Personal information from emails is collected pursuant to the Canada Elections Act, and is used to respond to your inquiry. Such information may be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes and is included in Personal Information Bank Public Communications (PSU 914).

Protecting the security of our website

We use software programs to monitor network traffic to identify and investigate unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage to this website. This software receives and records the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the computer that has contacted this website, the type of browser used, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses to the identity of individuals visiting this website, unless an attempt to damage the website has been detected.

The information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected illegal activities are detected. Personal information will be accessible to the web hosting service provider used by the CCE. Information may also be used for network security related statistical purposes, auditing, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. It is included in Personal Information Bank PSU 939 Security Incidents and Privacy Breaches.

Digital Markers (including cookies)

This website uses Web analytics tools that place sessional and persistent digital markers (cookies) on the device you use to visit this website. A cookie is a small text file placed on the hard drive of your computer by a web page server. It is a unique identifying code for your computer and can only be read by the server that gave it to you. It allows the server to access information on your system so that you can better browse the Web pages. The cookies used do not allow us to identify you personally.

Some examples of what digital markers do are as follows:

• they allow a website to recognize a previous visit each time the visitor accesses the site;
• they track what information is viewed on a site which helps website administrators ensure visitors find what they are looking for.

We use sessional digital markers on this website. During your online visit, your browser exchanges data with our Web server.

You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies, if you so choose. However, it may affect your ability to interact with this website but it will not restrict your ability to access information from this website.

Web Analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about web traffic and visits. This data is used to improve our website. We collect this type of information as part of our mandate, as outlined in the Canada Elections Act and this information is treated as personal information pursuant to the Privacy Act.

When your computer or other device requests a cef-cce.ca web page, the following types of information are collected:

• the IP address of the device that has contacted the cef-cce.ca website (the IP address is not stored or retained in a format that can be used to identify the visitor)
• the date and time of the visit
• the type of operating system used
• the type of browser used
• the page(s) visited and documents downloaded

We may also use the personal information collected for non-administrative uses, such as communications and information technology statistical purposes, audit and evaluations, research, planning and reporting. This personal information is not used to make decisions about an individual or to profile individual visitors to cef-cce.ca.

We carry out web analytics using services from the third-party service provider Adobe Systems Inc. (Adobe Analytics). This service provider is based in the United States of America, which means that the personal information collected is transmitted outside Canada and may be subject to US laws, including the USA Patriot Act. In addition, Adobe operates servers in other countries on which the web analytics data may be processed; consequently, the data may be subject to the governing legislation of that country. For Adobe Analytics, the Government of Canada has specified that personal information may be stored only on servers in Canada, the United States, the European Union, Australia, Israel, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. Adobe's privacy policy can be found here.

For more information on how your privacy is safeguarded in relation to web analytics, see the Directive on Privacy Practices – Appendix E: Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics

Inquiring about our privacy practices

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or complaints regarding the administration of the Privacy Act and the Access to Information Act, 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 telephone at 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.

Official Languages Notice

The Commissioner of Canada Elections is bound by the Official Languages Act and relevant Treasury Board policies and is committed to ensuring that information that originates from the Commissioner of Canada Elections will be posted on this website simultaneously in both official languages. However, users should be aware that information provided by entities not subject to the Official Languages Act will only be available in the language in which it was provided.

Hyperlinking Notice

Links to websites not under the control of the Commissioner of Canada Elections are provided solely for the convenience of our website visitors. The Commissioner of Canada Elections is not responsible for the accuracy, reliability or currency of the information contained on external websites. The Commissioner of Canada Elections does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites or their content.

Should you follow any link to a page outside of this website, you should refer to that website's own privacy policy.

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce Notices

Materials on this website were produced and/or compiled by the Commissioner for Canada Elections for the purpose of providing Canadians with direct access to information about the programs and services offered by the Commissioner of Canada Elections. You may use and reproduce the materials as follows:

Non-commercial Reproduction

Unless otherwise specified, you may reproduce the materials in whole or in part for non-commercial purposes, and in any format, without charge or further permission from the Commissioner of Canada Elections, provided you do the following:

• Exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced;
• Indicate both the complete title of the materials reproduced, as well as the author (where available);
• Indicate that the reproduction is a copy of the version available at [URL where original document is available];
• Indicate that the reproduction is not represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor as having been made, in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Commissioner of Canada Elections; and
• Not use a method of downloading information that would place the Commissioner of Canada Election's network at risk. The Commissioner of Canada Elections will take all necessary steps to protect its information technology assets from those who extract content from this website in a manner that affects its performance or places it at risk.

Third-party Materials

Some of the materials and graphical elements found on this website are subject to copyrights held by other organizations. In such cases, some restrictions on the reproduction of materials or graphical elements may apply and it may be necessary to seek permission from the rights holder prior to reproducing the material.

Commercial Reproduction

To obtain permission to reproduce materials on this website for commercial purposes, or to obtain information concerning copyright ownership and restrictions on reproduction from this website, please contact the Commissioner of Canada Elections at:

Telephone: 1-855-759-6740
Fax: 819-939-1801
Email: info@cef-cce.ca

Accessibility

The Commissioner of Canada Elections website is compliant with the Standard on Web Accessibility, and is designed to facilitate accessibility and to ensure that all users can take advantage of its features. Despite every effort to ensure the material can be viewed by all types of devices or software, some difficulties may persist. Please contact us if you experience any difficulty with our web site.

External Service Providers

In order to effectively operate its website, the Commissioner of Canada Elections occasionally uses external service providers. Such service providers are bound by a contract with the Commissioner of Canada Elections to treat any personal information they receive in a manner consistent with the provisions of the Privacy Act.

Information Archived on the Web

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

Social Media

The Commissioner of Canada Elections' use of social media tools serves as an extension of our web presence and as an alternative method of sharing information. Social media accounts are public and are not hosted on our servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should review carefully the terms of service and privacy policies of these service providers and those of any applications used to access them.

Social Media Accounts

The Commissioner of Canada Elections has the following social media accounts:

• X English: @cef_cce
• X French: @cef_cce_f
• Facebook English: facebook.com/CEFCCE
• Facebook French: facebook.com/CEFCCE.F
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/cef-cce
• YouTube: youtube.com/@cefcce

Please note that the Commissioner of Canada Elections' social media accounts are not Government of Canada websites. X, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube are third party service providers. This means that when you use our social media accounts, you are also subject to the terms of use of the respective third party.

We encourage you to carefully review the terms of use of X, Facebook, LinkedInand YouTube.

Content

The Commissioner of Canada Elections' social media accounts are alternative methods of sharing information. The Commissioner of Canada Elections will read comments and participate in discussions when appropriate. We ask that comments be relevant and respectful. The Commissioner of Canada Elections reserves the right to delete comments that violate this notice, and the user may be blocked and reported to prevent further inappropriate or irrelevant comments.

The Commissioner of Canada Elections does not endorse any content that users post to our social media accounts. While the Commissioner of Canada Elections tries to ensure the accuracy of the content posted to its social media accounts, we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, efficacy, timeliness or reliability of the content posted by other users.

The Commissioner of Canada Elections cannot engage in issues or answer questions that break the rules of this notice. The Commissioner of Canada Elections cannot and will not comment in the case of ongoing investigations, complaints, ongoing legal proceedings or matters before Parliament. The Commissioner of Canada Elections will take seriously and report to the proper authorities any threats on its social media accounts to the organization or its employees.

Complaints

The Commissioner of Canada Elections' social media accounts are not channels for filing or responding to formal complaints. If you wish to submit a formal complaint, you may fill out our online complaint form or use one of the other means outlined in the “Contact Us” section of our website. Complaints posted on the Commissioner of Canada Elections' social media accounts will be removed.

Availability

Posts and comments are welcome on social media accounts at any time. The Commissioner of Canada Elections will exercise discretion regarding whether or not we will respond.

Social media accounts will be monitored and updated during regular business hours between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. Any monitoring or updating outside of these hours would likely be restricted to an emergency or to extended hours during an election period. The Commissioner of Canada Elections will monitor social media accounts on Election Day. However, in the event of a high volume of questions or comments the Commissioner of Canada Elections may not reply to all enquiries.

Because the servers of social media platforms used by the Commissioner of Canada Elections are managed by a third parties, our social media accounts may be subject to periods of inaccessibility that is outside our control. As such, the Commissioner accepts no responsibility for platforms becoming unresponsive or unavailable.

Following, “Favouriting” and Subscribing

The Commissioner of Canada Elections' decision to “follow”, “favourite” or “subscribe” to another social media account does not imply an endorsement of that account, channel, page or site. Likewise, sharing (re-tweeting, reposting or linking to) content from another user does not imply an endorsement of that content.

Unacceptable content

In all aspects of their work, the Commissioner and her staff are guided by the principles of independence, impartiality and fairness. To preserve this impartiality, posts on social media accounts must not contain content that is politically partisan. Content that suggests a political affiliation, bias or designation, or that favours one political party over another may be deemed unacceptable content. The Commissioner of Canada Elections will not respond to comments or questions that are partisan in nature and reserves the right to remove content that it deems unacceptable.

The term “post” includes questions, comments, “likes”, “retweets”, videos, articles, links to websites and other messages that provide feedback or content related to the social media accounts.

The Commissioner of Canada Elections reserves the right to block users and remove any content from its social media accounts that either violates the terms of use of X or is deemed unacceptable content as described in this notice.

Examples of unacceptable content may include, but are not limited to, content that:

• is politically partisan, such as content that suggests a political affiliation, bias or designation, or that favours one political party over another
• is racist, hateful, sexist, homophobic,  defamatory, insulting or threatening
• puts forward serious, unproven or inaccurate accusations against individuals or organizations or is otherwise defamatory
• is offensive, aggressive, vulgar, indecent, rude, abusive, coarse, violent, obscene or pornographic
• is posted by someone other than its author or is posted anonymously by a robot account
• is posted as a solicitation, advertisement or endorsement of any financial, commercial or non-governmental organization or any political party
• is posted for advertising, phishing or spamming purposes
• gives the impression that it originates from the Commissioner of Canada Elections
• impersonates any person or misrepresents its author's identity or affiliations
• contains personally identifiable information about others
• infringes a third party's copyright or trademark rights
• is unintelligible or irrelevant to the mandate of the Commissioner of Canada Elections
• encourages or suggests illegal activity
• is written in a language other than English or French

Use of Official Languages on Social Media

Many social media platforms have multiple language options and provide instructions on how the user can set their own preferences. In the event that the Commissioner of Canada Elections provides a response to comments, it will be in the official language in which they were posted. If we believe the response is a question of general public interest, we may respond in both official languages.

The Commissioner of Canada Elections may share links that direct users to sites of organizations or other entities that are not subject to the Official Languages Act and available only in the language in which they are written. When content is available in only one language, the Commissioner of Canada Elections will make an effort to provide similar content in the other official language.  

Media Inquiries

Reporters are asked to refrain from submitting questions to the Commissioner of Canada Elections’ social media accounts as comments. Reporters are asked to send questions to:

Media Relations
Email: communication@cef-cce.ca