Privacy

As providers of Licensed Child Care and Early Childhood Education,  at A Child's World we are dedicated to the principle of collecting, using and disclosing personal information in a responsible manner, and only to the extent necessary in order to better serve the community. A comprehensive explanation of our privacy policy may be found below.

What is "personal information"?

The term "personal information" refers to any information that can be used to identify a specific individual. Personal information includes personal characteristics (such as gender, age, income, home address or phone number, ethnic background, family status), health (such as health history, health conditions, and health services received), activities, and views (e.g., religion, politics, opinions expressed by an individual, evaluation of an individual). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (such as an individual's business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy regulations.

Consent form:

Permission and consent forms are provided to families prior to exposing information about a child unless the well-being of the child is in jeopardy or a legislatively required program needs the information. (e.g. FACS).
At the time of enrollment, parents are asked to sign a paper giving their permission to photograph their children.

We will not provide any personal information about a client to a third party without obtaining the client's consent unless the situation is an emergency (for example, a parent or guardian is not accessible) or a child's safety is at risk.

Clients:

The purpose of collecting information includes:

» provide customized child care services and adequately meet the needs of the children and families.

» Meet the legislative requirements of the Ministry of Education, Child Care, and Early Years Act.

» Collect from and/or disclose personal information with Resource Support Agencies to assist us in our mission.

» Collecting emergency contact numbers.

Educators:

We gather information on Educators in order to fulfill the statutory requirements for processing payroll, delivering benefits, and getting in touch with educators when necessary.

Contractors:

The goal is to finalize the payment for services rendered and the communication on work-related matters.

Board of Directors:

The primary purpose for collecting the Board of Directors personal information is to allow for the distribution of relevant information in order to fulfill their responsibilities as Board Members.

In addition, it has to finish the essential reporting to the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Affairs, Revenue Canada, the Regional Municipality of Niagara, and the Ministry of Education. All personal information is protected and kept confidential at the discretion of the Board.

How do we protect the privacy of your sensitive information?

1. Paper information is secured in a locked or restricted area and when transmitted it will be in a sealed and addressed envelope.

2. Electronic hardware is used with supervision and secured by a password.

3. Educators are provided with the appropriate training to ensure that they only collect, use, and disclose personal information when it is required to carry out their responsibilities and in compliance with our privacy policy.

4. Privacy and confidentiality agreements are required to be signed between us and any external consultants or organizations who have access to personal information.

⇒ A Child’s World keeps children’s files for two years after the withdrawal from our center. Financial records are kept for seven years. Employee files are kept for seven years after termination of employment. Shredding is used to destroy any and all paper files that contain sensitive personal information. We delete all of the information that is stored electronically. Before we dispose of any hardware, we make sure that the hard drive is formatted so that we cannot recover any of the information that may have been stored on it.

Confidentiality:

Employees at A Child's World are required to sign a confidentiality agreement as part of the registration and employment process. By doing so, they affirm that they will not disclose any sensitive information considered confidential by the board of directors.

Information that is disclosable to all members will be posted in the centers for everyone to read. This information includes Board of Director minutes and yearly audited financial statements. The terms "Income statements," "Personnel concerns," "litigation," and "property acquisition" are all examples of confidential information.

In the event that general members need access to Income statements at any time, they should schedule a meeting with either the Executive Director or the Treasurer.

⇒ The Director is required to deliver all minutes and financial statements to the Administration Office upon their retirement from the Board, or they are responsible for ensuring that they are destroyed and disposed of in an acceptable manner.

Concerns/questions:

To ensure that the quality of our service meets your expectations, we will do our best to address any problems or questions you may have.

If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy policy, you can reach out to our information officer. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint, ensure that it is investigated promptly, and provide you with a formal decision. This policy is made under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner can be reached at:

112 Kent Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 1H3
Phone: (613) 995-8210
Toll-Free: 1-800-282-1376
Fax: (613) 947-6850
www.privcom.gc.ca