Privacy - Canada.ca Skip to main content Skip to "About government" Language selection Français fr / Gouvernement du Canada Search Search Canada.ca Search Menu Main Menu Jobs and the workplace Immigration and citizenship Travel and tourism Business and industry Benefits Health Taxes Environment and natural resources National security and defence Culture, history and sport Policing, justice and emergencies Transport and infrastructure Canada and the world Money and finances Science and innovation Manage life events Sign in Sign inSign in You are here: Canada.ca Privacy Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) is responsible for the administration of the Government of Canada website, Canada.ca, and for providing related services to the federal departments and agencies that publish their content to Canada.ca, as described by subsection 5.1 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act (DESDA). ESDC is committed to respecting the privacy and protecting the information of all visitors to Canada.ca. ESDC’s administration of Canada.ca includes various activities that may require the collection of personal information for both administrativefootnote 1 and non-administrativeFootnote 2 purposes. All personal information collected by ESDC from visitors to Canada.ca is authorized under legislation and is done in compliance with the Privacy Act. This means that you will be notified when your personal information may be required, the purpose for which it is collected, and how to exercise your right of access to that information. While visiting Canada.ca, you may be directed to websites controlled by other Government of Canada institutions or a third-party, or to third-party social media platforms. When visiting a website outside of Canada.ca or a social media platform, personal information will be subject to the terms, conditions, and privacy policies of that other institution or third-party. In these cases, we strongly encourage you to take the time to read the specific privacy notices or statements that describe their specific terms, conditions, and policies. If you have any questions, comments, concerns or complaints about the activities of ESDC in administering the Canada.ca website as they relate to the Privacy Act, the Department of Employment and Social Development Act, and privacy policies regarding Canada.ca, you can contact the ESDC Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator. In addition, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada regarding ESDC’s handling of your personal information. Web Analytics and Cookies As part of the administration of Canada.ca, ESDC is also responsible for the tools used by the Government of Canada for web analytics. Web analytics is the collection, analysis, and reporting of web traffic data. It is used to help determine how Canada.ca and other Government of Canada websites can be improved to better serve Canadians and other visitors. We use Adobe Analytics to provide web analytics services for Canada.ca and Coveo Usage Analytics for the Government of Canada search engine. For the purpose of performing web analytics, certain types of information are collected during visits to Canada.ca. Date and time of website visits Type of browser, operating system and device used How you arrived at the website Pages visited and buttons/links clicked Terms entered into our search engine How long it took to do certain tasks We make sure you cannot be directly identified by web analytics data. We do this by ensuring any personal data found on the pages you visit is not collected, this includes names, addresses, and account information. The IP address of the device accessing the web page is used to determine the geographic location of visitors (city/province/country), but IP addresses are never stored in a format that can be used to identify an individual. We also use Adobe Target to test and optimize the experience that you receive on the site. Adobe Target uses data collected by Adobe Analytics to display content that we think is relevant to you or would improve your experience on the website. Adobe Analytics and Adobe Target are part of the Adobe Experience Cloud. The web analytics information collected by Adobe is stored in the United States. This means that it could be shared if required by American law. Web analytics information is kept for a maximum period of 37 months. Privacy information for the Adobe Experience Cloud can be found on the following link: Adobe Experience Cloud Privacy Privacy information for Coveo can be found on the following link: Privacy Notice | Legal | Coveo Adobe Analytics, Adobe Target and Coveo use digital markers, also known as cookies, to track visits to Canada.ca. Cookies are also used to improve user experience by remembering preferences and settings of a particular website. You can manage your cookie settings within your browser. If you change your browser settings to refuse cookies, no information will be collected but you may limit the functionality of Government of Canada and third-party websites. If you wish, you may opt-out of having your visit tracked by using the following links to download opt-out cookies. If you choose the opt-out cookies from Adobe, your experience on Canada.ca will not be affected. Adobe Analytics opt-out Adobe Target opt-out Public Communications on Canada.ca ESDC is responsible for the Government of Canada website, Canada.ca, as described under Orders in Council 2005-1637 and 2014-0349. This includes engaging in general communications with visitors to the Canada.ca website under the authority of section 5 of the Department of Employment and Social Development Act. Canada.ca includes a general communications section called “Questions and comments form”, which allows visitors to send questions and comments. When a question or comment is about a specific activity, program, or service, it may be forwarded to the appropriate responsible officers at ESDC or at another government institution to prepare a reply. When you use the “General enquiries by email” feature, you are required to provide your email address. ESDC does not ask for or intend to use any other personal information for this activity. IP addresses are collected incidentally as they are a part of any Internet communication. Consequently, ESDC does not intend or try to associate you to an IP address for this activity, or to create a profile about you. When you use the “General enquiries by email” feature, please do not include any sensitive personal information in the questions/comments box, such as your social insurance number, date of birth, personal finance data, and medical or work history. A description of the information provided in the questions and comments form can be found in the Personal Information Bank entitled Public Communications (PSU 914) or in Executive Correspondence (PSU 902). Security Monitoring and Incidents ESDC is responsible for the Government of Canada website, Canada.ca, as described under Orders in Council 2005-1637 and 2014-0349. This includes using software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records information including, but not limited to: IP address of the device that has contacted the Canada.ca websiteFootnote 3 name of the domain used to access the Internet type of browser used type of operating system used the date and time of the visit pages visited and documents downloaded IP address of the website that linked directly to Canada.ca ESDC will not attempt to link these IP addresses with the identity of visitors to the Canada.ca website unless an attempt to damage the site is detected or otherwise in accordance with Canadian law or the law of the provinces. ESDC engages in security monitoring and investigation of the Canada.ca website under the authority of section 161 of the Financial Administration Act. Personal information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected criminal activities are detected, in accordance with lawful authorities. It may also be used for network security-related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning, and reporting. Personal information for this activity is described in the Personal Information Bank Security Incidents and Privacy Breaches (PSU 939). Footnote 1 The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Policy on Privacy Protection defines administrative purpose as the use of personal information about an individual "in a decision making process that directly affects that individual". This includes all uses of personal information for confirming identity (i.e. authentication and verification purposes) and for determining eligibility of individuals for government programs. Return to footnote1 referrer Footnote 2 The Policy on Privacy Protection defines non-administrative purpose as the use of personal information for a purpose that is not related to any decision-making process that directly affects the individual. This includes the use of personal information for research, statistical, audit and evaluation purposes. Return to footnote2 referrer Footnote 3 The nature of the Internet is such that 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, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the co-operation of an ISP for example, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. This would only happen in accordance with law, such as in response to a warrant or pursuant to another lawful authority. 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