Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

Location information: with your permission, we access your device's approximate geolocation to match you to the nearest supported community. When you grant permission, your approximate coordinates are sent to our server once, solely to identify your nearest supported community; neither the coordinates nor the matched community is stored on our servers. The matched community is kept only in your browser for the duration of your session. If location access is declined or unavailable, you may enter a postal code instead.

Calculator inputs: figures you enter into our mortgage, affordability, and other financial calculators, used only to generate your result. Calculator figures are not stored and are not sent to our analytics provider; analytics records only that a calculator was completed and its type.

Newsletter and contact information: your email address, if you subscribe to our newsletter or otherwise ask to be contacted.

Professional directory information: for professionals who subscribe to be listed, we collect business contact details, licence information, photo, bio, and payment information (processed by our payment provider, described below).

Usage data: standard analytics data collected automatically when you browse the Site, via Google Analytics (GA4), once you have accepted analytics cookies.

Referral attribution: if you arrive at the Site via a professional's referral link, a cookie attributes your visit to that professional for up to 180 days. See our Cookie Policy for details.

2. How we use personal information

To operate the Site's core function: matching consumers with a verified local professional based on location and calculator activity.

To send you the email content you have expressly opted in to receive and, where you have separately agreed, other commercial electronic messages, in accordance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). Signup consent is collected through an unticked, affirmative action; you may withdraw consent at any time using the unsubscribe link in any message; and we keep a record of each consent, including when and how it was given.

To manage professional subscriptions, including billing, profile activation, and account communications.

Profile information that subscribing professionals provide for their listing, including name, photo, business contact details, and licence information, is published on the Site; that is the purpose for which it is collected.

To understand aggregate Site usage and improve content and functionality.

To meet legal and regulatory obligations, and to assess professionals against our verification standard.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information with third parties for their own independent marketing purposes.

3. Disclosure to third parties

We share personal information with the following service providers, solely to operate the Site:

• Supabase — database hosting and authentication, hosted in the Canada (Central) region (ca-central-1). Broker/subscriber account and profile data is stored on Canadian servers.
• Sanity — content management (editorial and professional profile content). Content is hosted in the European Union (Belgium).
• Stripe — payment processing for professional subscriptions. As a global payment processor, Stripe may process this data outside Canada, including in the United States. We do not store full card numbers. Stripe also processes certain information for its own regulatory and fraud prevention purposes as an independent organization, under its own privacy policy.
• Resend — transactional and newsletter email delivery. Account data is processed and stored in the United States.
• Vercel — website hosting. Processes data in the United States by default.
• OneSignal — push notification delivery, used only if you accept analytics cookies and then opt in to notifications. Processes data in the United States.
• Google Analytics (GA4) — website usage analytics. Google's infrastructure is global; data is not confined to Canada. Google retains analytics data for 14 months.

Professionals listed on the Site. We do not share your personal information with listed professionals. When you ask to be notified about a professional serving your community and a professional becomes available, we send you an email introducing that professional; they do not receive your contact details or any other information about you from us.

With the exception of our primary database (hosted in Canada via Supabase), some service providers process personal information outside Canada, including in the United States, where it may be subject to that jurisdiction's laws, including lawful access by government authorities. Each service provider processes personal information only to provide its service to us, and we use contractual and other safeguards to require a level of protection comparable to this Policy while information is in their hands.

4. Cookies

See our separate Cookie Policy for a full description of the cookies set on the Site, including the referral attribution cookie, analytics cookies, and their durations.

5. Retention

Geolocation data is cached only for the duration of your browsing session and is not retained afterward.

Broker and subscriber personal information is deleted or anonymized within 24 months after a subscription is cancelled. We retain information longer only where required to meet legal, tax, accounting, or audit obligations, or where it is subject to an outstanding access request, in which case it is retained until the request and any related recourse are resolved.

6. Your rights

Under PIPEDA, you may request access to the personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, and withdraw consent to certain uses (subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice). We respond to access requests within 30 days, or explain if a permitted extension or a legal exception applies. If we disagree that information is inaccurate, we will record your position on the file. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. To make a request, contact our Privacy Officer at privacy@financecanada.ca.

7. Security

We take reasonable administrative, technical, and physical measures to protect personal information against loss, theft, and unauthorized access, appropriate to the sensitivity of the information involved.

8. Children

The Site is not directed at, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from, individuals under the age of majority in their province of residence.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by an updated effective date at the top of this page.

10. Contact

We have designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable for our compliance with this Policy and PIPEDA. Questions, requests, or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy, or to exercise your rights under PIPEDA, may be directed to: Privacy Officer, ITA Media Group Inc., privacy@financecanada.ca, 20 Bay St, 11th Floor, Toronto, ON M5J 2N8.

11. Breach notification

If a breach of our security safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm to you, we will report the breach to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and notify you as soon as feasible, notify other organizations where doing so may reduce the risk of harm, and keep records of breaches as required by law.

12. Complaints

You may challenge our compliance with this Policy by contacting our Privacy Officer. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

13. Quebec

The Site is offered in English, is not directed at residents of Quebec, and we do not target marketing to Quebec.

14. Business transactions

If ITA Media Group Inc. or substantially all of its assets are involved in a prospective or completed business transaction, such as a merger, financing, or sale, personal information may be used and disclosed in connection with that transaction. The parties are required to protect the information and to use it only for purposes related to the transaction, and if the transaction completes, to continue using it only in ways consistent with this Policy. We will notify affected individuals of a completed transaction where required.