Privacy Policy

At Restaurants Canada (formerly Canadian Restaurant and Foodservice Association “CRFA”) we respect and are committed to protecting your privacy, and we support a general policy of openness about how we collect, use and disclose your personal information. Our policy complies with the requirements of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA“) of Canada and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information.

This Privacy Policy informs you how Restaurants Canada collects, uses and discloses the personal information that you provide to us through use of our Restaurants Canada Website (www.restaurantscanada.org, “Restaurants Canada Website“) or otherwise using any Restaurants Canada services or websites, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Policy.

This Privacy Policy also explains how you can contact us if you have a question about our Privacy Policy, want to change or update your personal information, or change your preferences concerning our use and disclosure of your personal information. By accessing and/or subscribing to the Restaurants Canada Website, or otherwise using any Restaurants Canada services, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Policy. In addition, we have appointed a Chief Privacy Officer who is accountable for Restaurants Canada’s compliance to this Privacy Policy.  You may contact the Chief Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@restaurantscanada.org.

We recommend that you take the time to read this Privacy Policy so that you understand how we handle and process your personal information. As we develop and expand our services, this Privacy Policy may also change. We will include a “last amended” date on the Policy as displayed on the website. We strongly encourage you to refer back to the Privacy Policy periodically.

For the purpose of this Privacy Statement, “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. Business contact information and certain publicly available information as published in telephone directories are not considered personal information. Information in the public domain is not subject to privacy legislation and as such, is not included in this policy. Restaurants Canada will not collect, use or disclose your personal information in a way that is incompatible with this Privacy Statement.

The Ten Principles of Privacy

The following ten principles govern our actions as they relate to the use of Personal Information:

Principle 1 – Accountability

A Chief Privacy Officer has been designated to control the personal information received by Restaurants Canada and is accountable for compliance with the terms and procedures of this Privacy Policy. Should any individual have any concerns or questions they may contact the Chief Privacy Officer.

Principle 2 – Identifying Purposes

Restaurants Canada informs individuals of the purposes for which it is collecting Personal information, before or at the time the information is collected and as indicated throughout this Privacy Policy.

Principle 3 – Consent

Restaurants Canada will obtain an individual’s consent before or when it collects, uses or discloses personal information. Restaurants Canada will use reasonable efforts to ensure that each individual is advised of the identified purpose for which Personal Information will be used or disclosed as indicated throughout this Privacy Policy. Consent will not be obtained through deception. Consent can be express, implied or given through an authorized representative; said consent can be withdrawn at any time upon reasonable notice to Restaurants Canada and subject to legal and contractual obligations.

Restaurants Canada may collect, use or disclose Personal Information without an individual’s knowledge or consent in exceptional circumstances where such collection, use or disclosure is permitted or required by law and as advised throughout this Privacy Policy.

Principle 4 – Limiting Collection

Information collected by Restaurants Canada will be limited to those details necessary for the purposes it has identified to the individual to perform the services requested and to facilitate use of the Restaurants Canada Website as indicated throughout this Privacy Policy. Please also refer to the ‘Cookies and Web Logs’ section of this Privacy Policy to understand how anonymous information is collected and used by Restaurants Canada.

Restaurants Canada collects and uses Personal Information in order to provide the products and services requested. Restaurants Canada may also use Personal Information to update our services and to offer additional products or services that our customers may be interested in and as indicated throughout this Privacy Policy.

Principle 5 – Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

Personal Information will only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which it was collected or received unless the individual has otherwise consented. Personal Information may only be retained for the amount of time needed to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected or received as indicated throughout this Privacy Policy and will only be utilized as indicated throughout this Privacy Policy (please see the ‘When We Disclose Your Personal Information’ and ‘Retention of Your Personal Information’ section below).

Principle 6 – Accuracy

Restaurants Canada will attempt to keep Personal Information as accurate, complete and current as necessary to fulfill the identified purpose for which it was collected or received. You may have this information amended where it is found to be incomplete or inaccurate. Please refer to the ‘Updating Your Personal Information’ section within this Privacy Policy below on how to ensure your information is kept up-to-date and accurate.

Principle 7 – Safeguarding Personal Information

Personal information is safeguarded using measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. Please refer to the ‘How We Protect Your Personal Information’ section within this Privacy Policy below for additional information.

Principle 8 – Openness

Restaurants Canada will make available to its members and/or subscribers, information about the policies and procedures Restaurants Canada uses to manage Personal Information.

Principle 9 – Access

Upon written request to Restaurants Canada’s Chief Privacy Officer, you will be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of your Personal Information and will be provided access to it. You have the right to verify or amend the information if it is inaccurate. Restaurants Canada will respond to all such requests as efficiently as possible. Please refer to the ‘Contacting Us’ section within this Privacy Policy below on how to reach us in order to obtain access to your Personal Information.

Principle 10 – Addressing Complaints

You may challenge Restaurants Canada’s compliance with this Privacy Policy. Restaurants Canada has policies and procedures to receive, investigate and respond to complaints and questions regarding this Privacy Policy and our receipt, collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information. Complaints will be investigated and Restaurants Canada will take appropriate measures, including amending its policies and practices, when necessary. To make a complaint, please contact the Chief Privacy Officer as indicated in the ‘Contacting Us’ section within this Privacy Policy below.

How We Collect and Use Your Personal Information

Processing of Orders and Subscriptions

When you subscribe to the Restaurants Canada Website, we ask for, where applicable, your email address and a password, for your name, postal address, telephone number and a valid credit card number in addition to information regarding the business. We use this information to process your requests. We use your telephone number for the purpose of contacting you in the event of shipping or order-related issues. We do not retain credit card information in our systems or files.

We use your email address to answer inquiries that you send to us, and to communicate with you when necessary regarding billing, the administration of your account and/or the processing of your purchase requests.

Communications for Marketing Purposes

As a member of Restaurants Canada, you may receive email communications from us that inform you about or promote new or additional services or that contain special offers from Restaurants Canada and our corporate affiliates. You may opt-out of receiving such email communications by adjusting your Email Settings in My Profile or by contacting Restaurants Canada’s member services team. If you do not opt-out, we will use your personal information for these purposes and may also disclose your email address and/or name to our affinity partners so that they can send you such information directly.

Cookies and Web Logs

Restaurants Canada’s websites use persistent and per-session cookies to enable the functions of the website and for tracking performance. Per-session (sessional) cookies are stored in memory and are only available during an active session, in other words, while you are on the website. Per-session cookies do not permanently record data and are not stored on your computer’s hard drive. Per-session cookies do not give the website access to anything else on your system, including any private information about you. Only the website that placed the cookie can retrieve it.  Persistent cookies which are set while you are visiting a website are stored on your hard drive for a length of time set by the website. If we did not use cookies, navigating on the website would be a much slower process. Most browsers will allow you to disable cookies, or allow only sessional cookies to be placed. If your browser is set to allow sessional cookies only, your use of the websites will be unaffected. If your browser is set to disable sessional cookies, you will not be able to log in, create or update a rental list or use the My Profile section pages.

Restaurants Canada collects aggregate information concerning usage of the websites through automatically logged information. Restaurants Canada does not use any personal information while generating this information, nor does it relate any of this information to an individual member or user.

Updating Your Personal Information

You may update or change your personal information anytime by visiting the My Profile section or contacting Restaurants Canada by telephone.

When We Disclose Your Personal Information

Restaurants Canada will not sell, license, trade or rent your personal information to or with unaffiliated third parties. Restaurants Canada will not otherwise disclose your personal information except as described below.

Restaurants Canada may share certain information about you, including your contact and business information, with our business partners where necessary or appropriate. In the event that certain services provided to you by or through Restaurants Canada or one of its business partners are to be provided to you by a substitute service provider, your information may be transferred to the substitute service provider provided that such substitute entity agrees to be bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy in effect at the time of performance of the services.

Restaurants Canada may also disclose personal information about its members to a third party if a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order legally requires or authorizes us to do so, to enforce and protect the terms and conditions of our agreement(s) with you or the Terms of Use applicable to our websites, or to collect on outstanding accounts.

Restaurants Canada also reserves the right to disclose and/or transfer personal information to a third party in the event of a proposed or actual purchase, sale, lease, merger, amalgamation or any other type of acquisition, disposal or financing of all or any portion of Restaurants Canada or of any of the business or assets or shares of Restaurants Canada, provided the third party represents that it will continue to use the information for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with applicable privacy protection laws.

Retention of Your Personal Information

Restaurants Canada will retain your personal information, including contact, account, shipping information, subscription history and financial information, for the period that you remain a member of Restaurants Canada, for the purposes described above, and following the termination or suspension of your membership for such further periods as required by applicable laws or limitation periods and as necessary to allow us to guard against fraud.

How We Protect Your Personal Information

Restaurants Canada makes all commercially reasonable efforts to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, misuse or theft. We use a secure server (SSL) and encrypt all transmissions of personal information by you. We encourage you to change your password regularly and to provide us with accurate information through the My Profile section feature. Only those Restaurants Canada employees who have a legitimate business purpose for accessing the personal information collected by us are authorized to do so. Unauthorized access to, or use of, personal information by an employee is prohibited and constitutes grounds for disciplinary action. In addition, our management systems are configured so as to block or restrict employee access from those without access privileges.

Links to Third Party Sites

The Restaurants Canada Website may offer links to other third party websites. You should be aware that operators of linked websites may also collect your personal information (including information generated through the use of cookies) when you link to their websites. Restaurants Canada is not responsible for how such third parties collect, use or disclose your personal information, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of these websites before providing your personal information on those sites.

Contacting Us

In the event that you have any questions about Restaurants Canada Privacy Statement or if you have reason to believe that we may have failed to adhere to this Privacy Statement, you may contact us by sending an email to Restaurants Canada’s Chief Privacy Officer at privacyofficer@restaurantscanada.org.

Last Updated:  January 8, 2018