Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy is based on the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). It specifically applies to those areas where the Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada (PLCAC), as a not-for-profit corporation constituted under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, and whose stakeholders engage in areas including federal works, undertakings and businesses (FWUB), conduct activities which the Office of the Privacy Commissioner considers commercial activities of a not-for-profit organization.

This policy governs the relationship between the PLCAC and individuals with whom we interact, such as our regular and associate Member representatives or employees or their family members, our trade union partners, career information seekers, or potential customers or contractors (“you”) as it pertains to areas of commercial activity within PLCAC operations.

At PLCAC, we are committed to ensuring that our relationship with you is conducted with integrity and in a responsible, fair, honest and ethical manner. Consistent with these objectives we maintain high standards of confidentiality with respect to the management of personal information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to access the personal information in our possession about you, please contact our Privacy Officer.

  • Collection, use and disclosure of personal information
  • Protecting your personal information
  • Your rights
  • Contact information and resources
  • Changes to this Privacy Policy
  • Visiting the PLCAC website
  • PLCAC’s commitment to the ten privacy principles
  • Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
What is Personal Information?

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization. Examples of personal information include your name, residential address, age, social insurance number, personal email address and other personal identification numbers or characteristics.

What Personal Information does PLCAC Collect and Use?

In the course of carrying on our business, it is necessary for PLCAC to collect and use information about a variety of individuals. The way this information is used is dependent upon the nature and sensitivity of the particular information. The PLCAC limits its collection, use and disclosure of your personal information to the purposes that we have identified to you. For example, PLCAC may collect personal information such as name, address and contact information in order to provide you with pipeline safety training information, pipeline career exploration opportunities in your area, or event or scholarship opportunities.

Purposes: Why do we Collect Personal Information?

The PLCAC collects and uses personal information for the purposes reasonably required to carry on our business, including the following:

To establish and maintain a responsible and effective working relationship with you in advancing the Canadian pipeline construction, maintenance and service sector, the PLCAC collects basic information from individuals working with its regular and associate Members and other individuals to confirm their identity and related contact information. This information is used to maintain an effective relationship with you.

To meet Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) requirements the PLCAC collects and uses personal information, such as fact-finding information gathered during grievance management processes, in order to meet our contractual obligations to you, and our legal and regulatory obligations to others.

To manage, develop and improve our operations the PLCAC collects and uses personal information to ensure the safe and efficient operation of our event and Annual Convention operations.

To understand your needs, from time to time the PLCAC may ask you to participate in surveys that provide us with important information about the effectiveness of our pipeline safety training, pipeline career information materials, or other communications produced by the PLCAC or our Regular or Associate Members and trade union and industry partners.

If we identify a new purpose for the personal information that we have collected from you, we will obtain your consent before using your personal information for the new purpose.

What Personal Information does the PLCAC Disclose?

The PLCAC may be required to disclose personal information about individuals in certain situations, including the following:

  • To an affiliated company or a third party service provider where the third party has agreed to handle the information in accordance with our policies and the applicable legislation (e.g., annual convention, Student Award Program, pipeline safety training, etc.).
  • To a person whom the PLCAC reasonably believes to be acting as the individual’s agent (e.g., designated trade union representative).
  • To a public authority, or its agent, to the extent required to comply with legal or regulatory requirements (e.g., labour relations regulator)
  • For the purpose of a proposed sale of materials or resources not covered in other scenarios described herein, in which case, PLCAC will obtain the agreement of third parties to protect the confidentiality of information disclosed.
Consent

Except in limited circumstances, the PLCAC will only collect, use or disclose your personal information with your consent. By your receipt of this Privacy Policy, the PLCAC will assume, unless we hear from you otherwise, that you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information by the PLCAC in accordance with this Policy.

You may withdraw or limit your consent to our collection, use or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to any legal or contractual restriction and reasonable notice.

Please note that the withdrawal of your consent may change the way in which the PLCAC is able to interact with you.

We will not use or disclose your personal information without your consent except in the following circumstances:

  • When required by law or for law enforcement or investigatory purposes
  • For an emergency that threatens life, health or security
  • For the purpose of collecting on a debt owed to the PLCAC
  • If the information is publicly available and specified in the applicable regulations
Protecting Your Personal Information

Keeping your personal information confidential and secure is a priority for us. In order to ensure protection of your personal information, we have developed security procedures to safeguard and protect your personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized disclosure, copying, and unauthorized use or modification, including:

  • Limiting the collection, use and disclosure of personal information to that reasonably required to carry on our business.
  • Ensuring that areas and documents are only accessible by authorized personnel on a need-to-know basis.
  • Protecting the confidential nature of personal information when dealing with other organizations and requiring them to meet the same standard as we do in handling personal information.
Your Rights

You are assured certain rights under PIPEDA and other substantially similar provincial laws as they apply, pertaining to the management of personal information, and the PLCAC is committed to aiding you in exercising your rights as they apply to the effective protection of personal information and privacy management.

Accessing your Personal Information

We will honour any reasonable requests you make to review, update or correct any of your personal information that is held by the PLCAC. We will respond to your request for access within 30 days of the request being made.

You could refuse to allow us to obtain, use or share your personal information or you could also withdraw a previously given consent at any time. However, by doing so, depending on the situation, you may be limiting or even preventing our ability to provide you with the service or product you desire.

Requesting an Update or Correction

If you believe that any of your personal information is inaccurate, you may ask us to correct it. We will respond to your request to update or correct your personal information within 30 days of the request being made.

Registering Complaints

In the event of any conflict or other concern regarding access to, or the accuracy or our use of, your personal information, you may register a question or complaint with our Privacy Officer.

Contact Information

If you wish to access your personal information, change your consent to the ways in which we may use your personal information, have a complaint about our Privacy Policy or the manner in which we may have handled your personal information, or if you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, please contact our Privacy Officer as follows:

Privacy Officer
Pipe Line Contractors Association of Canada (PLCAC)
Suite 201
1075 North Service Road West
Oakville, ON   L6M 2G2

or email plcac@pipeline.ca  with Attention: Privacy Officer in subject line.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

In order to ensure that our Privacy Policy is kept up to date, we reserve the right to change it from time to time. Notice of changes to the Privacy Policy may be posted on the PLCAC website at pipeline.ca.

Visiting the PLCAC Website

A visitor to the PLCAC website, www.pipeline.ca, is not required to reveal any personal information, such as name, address, or telephone number. Nor is such information collected passively by electronic means.

Your personal information is only collected when you voluntarily complete an online application, request form, or survey. Personal information collected during the online application is only used to respond to your inquires or requests and is not used for any other purposes. We will not send you any unsolicited electronic communication.

Our website does not collect visitor information in the form of the visitor’s domain or Internet Protocol (“IP”) address but does collect information regarding which pages are accessed. This information is used internally, only in aggregate form, to better serve you by helping us manage and improve the content of our website and to diagnose technical problems.

The PLCAC does not store ‘cookies’ on your computer when you visit our website.

The PLCAC Commitment to Current Guidance and the Canadian Model Principles

The overarching approach to the PLCAC Privacy Policy is informed by guidance issued by the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner and provincial counterparts as it may exist and is reviewed from time-to-time, case law and precedent as it evolves, and the ten principles for protection of personal information and privacy in the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (1996), upon which PIPEDA is founded.

Principle #1: Accountability – The PLCAC is responsible for personal information under its control and has designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable for PLCAC’s compliance with the ten privacy principles as they apply to PLCAC operations.

Principle #2: Identifying Purposes – The PLCAC shall identify the purposes for which personal information is collected at or before the time of collection, as applicable to PLCAC commercial activities.

Principle #3: Obtaining Consent – The knowledge and consent of an individual are required for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, except where inappropriate.

Principle #4: Limiting Collection – The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the PLCAC. Personal information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.

Principle #5: Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention – The PLCAC shall not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. The PLCAC shall retain personal information only for as long as necessary to achieve fulfillment of the identified purposes.

Principle #6: Keeping Personal Information Accurate – The PLCAC shall keep personal information as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

Principle #7: Safeguarding Personal Information – The PLCAC shall protect personal information by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

Principle #8: Openness Concerning PLCAC Privacy Practices – The PLCAC shall ensure that specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information is made readily available to individuals with whom it interacts.

Principle #9: Access to Information – The PLCAC shall, upon request, inform an individual of the existence, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall give such individual access to that information.

Principle #10: Challenging Compliance – An individual shall be able to address a challenge concerning PLCAC compliance with PIPEDA or where applicable