Privacy Notice

The Government of Canada, the Privy Council Office (PCO), which administers the Impact Canada Initiative (ICI) challenge platform (referred herein as “the challenge platform”), and the departments which post challenges to the challenge platform (referred herein as “sponsoring departments”), are committed to providing visitors with a website that respects their privacy. This page summarizes the privacy policy and practices on the challenge platform. Be aware that the challenge platform may provide links to external sites that are not covered by this privacy policy.

By accessing and using the challenge platform, you agree that you are using it entirely at your own risk and accept that the Government of Canada is not liable for events outside of its control.

The collection, use and disclosure of personal information by the Government of Canada, PCO, and the sponsoring departments on the challenge platform are in accordance with the federal Privacy Act. This means that you will be informed of the purpose for which your personal information is being collected and how to exercise your right of access to, and the ability to edit, that information.

Your Privacy and the Internet

Specific personal information, such as your name, phone number or email address, is not automatically gathered. PCO would only obtain this type of information if you supply it by email or by registering in a secure portion of the site for a program or service (e.g. personal information provided voluntarily when you complete an online form or submission). 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.

Personal Information – Signing up for an account:

Signing up for an account on the challenge platform requires you to provide the Government of Canada with personal information limited to your name and email address. This personal information you provide will be used to create and validate your account on the challenge platform.

By signing up for an account on the challenge platform, you are confirming that you have read and understood this privacy statement and the terms of use. You are also confirming that you agree with the terms of use for access to, and use of, the challenge platform; and that you are voluntarily providing your personal information in accordance with this privacy statement and the terms of use.

You may change your mind and decide to delete your account. If you would like us to delete any remaining personal information, please send us an email at iiu-uii@pco-bcp.gc.ca, with the subject line: Delete.

Personal Information – Following a challenge:

Following a challenge allows you to receive information on a particular challenge on an ongoing basis. In order to receive these updates, you must provide the Government of Canada with your email address.

By following a challenge, you are confirming that you have read and understood this privacy statement and the terms of use. You are also confirming that you agree with the terms of use for access to, and use of the challenge platform; and that you are voluntarily providing your email address in accordance with this privacy statement and the terms of use.

Personal Information – Entering a submission:

For a specific challenge, the sponsoring department will specify the personal information (e.g. name, address including postal code, and email address) that is required in order to submit a solution to the challenge. This information can be found on the respective challenge page. By entering a submission to a challenge, you are confirming that you agree with the terms of use for access to, and use of, the challenge platform; and that you are voluntarily providing your personal and/or organizational information in accordance with this privacy statement and the terms of use.

By entering a submission to a specific challenge, you are agreeing that the sponsoring department may disclose any information in the submission within its own department and the Government of Canada or to outside consultants/experts working with the sponsoring department for the following purposes:

  1. To reach a decision on a submission;
  2. To administer and monitor the implementation of the initiative or program; and/or
  3. To evaluate the results of the initiative or program.

You may change your mind and decide to withdraw a submission to a challenge before completing it. This can be done by selecting the “Withdraw” button as indicated. If you would like us to delete any remaining personal information, please send us an email at iiu-uii@pco-bcp.gc.ca, with the subject line: Delete.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act

Submissions to the challenge platform are subject to the Government of Canada Access to Information Act and Privacy Act. You should be aware that information in your submission (including supporting material) will be disclosed in response to a request under either of those Acts subject to any applicable exemptions. To the extent that you consider certain portions of your completed submission to be confidential or to contain confidential information regarding a third party, you must clearly identify in writing the material considered confidential. However, you should be aware that information you have identified as being confidential may not be considered confidential under the requirements of the Access to Information Act and may still be subject to release upon request under that Act.

Proactive Disclosure

Where funding is approved, the amount of funding, the purpose for which the funds were granted and the name of the organization receiving the funding are considered public information and will be published on the Proactive Disclosure section of the sponsoring department’s website.

Communicating with the Government of Canada

If you choose to send PCO or sponsoring departments an email or complete a contact form on this website, your personal information will be used in order to respond to your inquiry. The information you provide will only be shared with another government institution if your inquiry relates to that institution. The information provided is not used to create individual profiles nor is the information disclosed 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 subsection 8(2) of 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 Privacy Act. Such information may be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes and is included in Personal Information Bank Outreach Activities (PSU 938)

Third-Party Social Media

Use of social media on the challenge platform 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 PCO or sponsoring departments 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: FacebookTwitterYouTube.

Personal information that you provide to the Government of Canada via social media account(s) is collected under the authority of the Privacy Act. This information is collected to capture conversations (e.g. questions and answers, comments, "likes", retweets) between you and PCO or the sponsoring department. 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 Outreach Activities (PSU 938).

Improving your Experience on Government of Canada Websites

Digital Markers (including cookies)

A digital marker is a resource created by the visitors' browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for the Web server to reference during the same or subsequent visit 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.

PCO uses digital markers on some portions of its website. During your on-line visit, your browser exchanges data with PCO's Web server. The digital markers used do not allow PCO to identify individuals.

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 PCO's 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 PCO's website.

PCO uses Google Analytics and log file analysis to improve its web site. When your computer requests a PCO Web page, our institution collects the following types of information for Web analytics:

  • IP address of the device that has contacted the Canada.ca website (which is not stored or retained in a format that can be used to identify a visitor) the date and time of the request
  • the type of browser used
  • the page(s) visited

PCO uses Google Analytics and the information collected is disclosed to Google, an external third party service provider. Your IP address is anonymized prior to being stored on the service provider's servers in order to help safeguard your privacy.

Data collected for Web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to the United States of America (USA) and may be subject to the governing legislation of that country, including the USA Patriot Act. Google 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 the country where it is processed.

Information used for the purpose of Web analytics may be used for communications and information technology statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. For more information on how your privacy is safeguarded in relation to web analytics, see the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics.

Protecting the Security of Government of Canada Websites

PCO employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the IP address of the computer that has contacted our website, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected.

This information is collected pursuant to section 161 of the Financial Administration Act. The information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected criminal activities are detected. Such information may be used for network security related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting and is included in Personal Information Bank Security Incidents (PSU 939).

Inquiring about these Practices

Any questions, comments, concerns or complaints you may have regarding the administration of the Privacy Act and privacy policies may be directed to our Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator by email to atip-aiprp@pco-bcp.gc.ca, by calling (613) 957-5228 or writing to:

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Privy Council Office
Room 1500, 55 Metcalfe Street
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0A3

If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.