Terms and conditions Skip to main content Skip to "About this site" Language selection WxT Language switcher Françaisfr / Gouvernement du Canada WxT Search form Search Search Menu Main Menu Home You are here Canada.ca Terms and conditions From: Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Privacy notice Protecting the security of Government of Canada websites Using files located on non-Government of Canada Servers Providing content in our official languages Linking to non-Government of Canada websites Ownership and usage of content provided on this site Reproduction of government symbols Trademark notice Our commitment to accessibility Interacting with us on social media Questions and media requests Privacy notice The Government of Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada are committed to providing websites that respect the privacy of visitors. This privacy notice summarizes the privacy practices for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's online activities. All personal information collected by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is protected by the Privacy Act, and unless otherwise indicated, is collected pursuant to the Department of Industry Act. Your privacy and the Internet 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 cooperation of an ISP for example, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, the Government of Canada considers 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. In cases where services are provided by organizations outside of the Government of Canada, such as social media platforms or mobile applications, IP addresses may be recorded by the web server of the third-party service provider. Unless otherwise noted, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada does not automatically gather any specific information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada would obtain this type of information only if you supply it to us, for example, by email or by filling in a contact form. In such cases, how your personal information is handled will be provided in a Personal Information Collection Statement. Communicating with the Government of Canada If you choose to send Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada an email or complete a feedback form online, your personal information is used by the department to respond to your inquiry. The information you provide will only be shared with another government institution if your inquiry relates to that institution. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada does not use the information to create individual profiles nor does it disclose the information to anyone other than to those in the federal government who need to provide you with a response. Any disclosure of your personal information is in accordance with the Privacy Act. Emails and other electronic methods used to communicate with the Government of Canada are not secure unless it is specifically stated on a web page. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not send sensitive personal information, such as your Social Insurance Number or your date of birth, through non-secure electronic means. Personal information from emails or completed feedback forms is collected pursuant to the provision in Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's enabling statutes. Such information may be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes and is included in Personal Information Bank PSU 914—Public Communications. Survey respondents Provision of the information collected in surveys conducted by and for Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is voluntary. The collection and use of your personal information is authorized by section 7 of the Financial Administration Act and is protected under the provisions of the federal Privacy Act. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's commitment to keeping the confidentiality of the information obtained from the Canadian public is enshrined in the Privacy Act. All information provided to Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada through surveys is confidential. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada does not release any information that identifies an individual or group without prior consent. Any personal information that may be collected is described in the Standard Personal Information Bank entitled Public Communications, PSU 914, which can be found on Canada.ca. The personal information collected will only be kept by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for a period of five years of the completion of a survey after which all personal information will be deleted. Under the Privacy Act, you have the right of access to, and correction of, your personal information, if you have provided any. Note however, that to exercise this right, you must make a request for access to your personal information before the retention period has expired. If you wish to avail yourself of this right or require clarification about this Statement, you may make a privacy inquiry. For more information on privacy issues and the Privacy Act in general, consult the Office of the Privacy Commissioner website or call 1-800-282-1376. Third-party social media Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the Web. Social media account(s) are public and are not hosted on Government of Canada servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications you use to access them. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada uses Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube (language selection is available at the bottom of the page on the YouTube site). Personal information that you provide to the Government of Canada via social media account(s) is collected under the authority of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's enabling statutes. This information is collected to capture conversations (e.g. questions and answers, comments, "likes", retweets) between you and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. It may be used to respond to inquiries, or for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. Comments posted that violate Canadian law will be deleted and disclosed to law enforcement authorities. Comments that violate our rules of engagement will also be deleted. The personal information is included in Personal Information Bank PSU 914—Public Communications and PSU 938—Outreach Activities. Improving your experience on Government of Canada websites Chatbot A chatbot is a software application used to conduct an artificial on-line chat conversation via text or text-to-speech. Our chatbot is called Business Assistant. We may store your questions in order to improve our chatbot's interactivity. However, we do not store or use your profile information to train the chatbot. The information you provide while using our chatbot will be used to provide you with information regarding the government programs and services you have interest in. When you connect to a live agent, the personal information collected will also be used to improve your ongoing user experience and call centre experience. This information is collected under the authority of the Department of Industry Act, and is contained in Personal Information Bank No. PSU 912 – Public Communications. Any disclosures of your personal information beyond those described are governed by the Privacy Act. You have the right to refuse to provide your personal information. If you choose not to provide this information, then you will not be able to subscribe to information updates, though you will still be able to access and use the application to obtain information on programs and services. You have the right of protection of your personal information under the control of the Government of Canada. You also have the right of access to and correction of that information. Such enquiries should be directed to: Director, Access to Information and Privacy Services Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada Access to Information and Privacy Services 235 Queen St., 2nd Floor OTTAWA ON K1A 0H5 You have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada regarding the handling of your personal information. Such complaints should be directed to: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 30 Victoria St. GATINEAU QC K1A 1H3 Digital markers (including cookies) A digital marker is a resource created by the visitor's browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for the web server to reference during the same or subsequent visits to the website. Examples of digital markers are "cookies" or HTML5 web storage. 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. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada uses sessional and/or persistent digital markers on some portions of its website. During your online visit, your browser exchanges data with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's web server. The digital markers used do not allow Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to identify individuals. The provision of personal information for communications and information technology web analytics purposes is optional. You may refuse the installation of or delete the digital markers used by our web analytics tools from your device through the settings of your web browser (more information). This will not affect the website's performance or restrict your ability to access information from our website. Web analytics Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement and reporting of data about web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of web analytics to remember your online interactions with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's website. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada uses Site Improve on its website. When your computer requests an Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada web page, the department collects the following types of information for web analytics: the originating IP address the date and time of the request the type of browser used the page(s) visited Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada uses Site Improve internally and retains information collected for web analytics for a maximum period of 18 months. After this period, the information must be disposed of in accordance with the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics and as authorized by the Librarian and Archivist of Canada. The information is not disclosed to an external third-party service provider. The web analytics data collected by SiteImprove will flow from the visitor to the AWS data centers in Frankfurt, Germany. Data centers in the EU will be used per default. Privacy information for SiteImprove can be found …