Updated September 22, 2023

 The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (“CFIB”) is a membership organization headquartered in Ontario. In this Privacy Statement the terms “we” and “our” refer to CFIB, including all our Regional Offices in different geographic locations. This Privacy Statement explains CFIB’s practices regarding personal information of our members, prospective members and other visitors to our website at https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/ (the “Website”), as well as those who have transactions with us through telephone, Internet, faxes and other means of communications. 

 If you do not consent to CFIB collecting and otherwise processing your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Statement, please do not provide us with your personal information. Please note that we may not be able to provide you with all our services without collecting certain required personal information.

CFIB’s Commitment to Privacy

“Personal information” refers to any information that can be used to, directly or indirectly, identify an individual. Information about a business or that is limited to business contact information collected and used to communicate for business purposes is generally not personal information.

 At CFIB, we are committed to respecting the privacy of our members and our Website visitors. For that reason, we have taken, and will continue to take, measures to help protect the privacy of personal information held by us. CFIB’s Privacy Officer oversees our privacy program. You will find contact details below.

 This Privacy Statement provides you with details regarding: (1) how and why we collect personal information; (2) what we do with that information; (3) the steps that we take to help ensure that access to that information is secure; (4) how you can access personal information pertaining to you; and (5) who you should contact if you have questions and concerns about our policies or practices.

 1. When we collect personal information

a) Automatic collection

We may receive certain information automatically when you interact with our Website, emails and/or online advertising. This may include information such as the type of Internet browser or computer operating system you are using, your IP address, your engagement with different parts of our website, and the domain name of the website you just left.  

 We may use this information in order to contact you and provide your business with information about CFIB offerings.

 Depending on your browser settings, we may store some information on your computer in the form of a "cookie" or similar tracking technologies. Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored on your computer to allow us to recognize your computer when you return to the Website. We may also use cookies to deliver content, or to save information (like a password so you do not have to re-enter it). At your option, you may turn off our cookies using the applicable features contained in your Internet browser; however, doing so may prevent you from making full use of some or all of the features of the Website.

 Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our website. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualise and personalise the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of having made your activity on the website available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, available here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-analytics-opt-out/fllaojicojecljbmefodhfapmkghcbnh?hl=en. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about your activity. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy Policy web page (https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites).

b) Information you provide to us

When you interact with CFIB, you may provide us with personal information including the following: contact information (e.g. name, address, email, telephone number) and information about your business (e.g. your position or job title) that we may use to respond to your inquiry, and to manage your membership or service request if applicable; and Financial information (including credit card information and bank account information) to process and manage your membership. We do not store any credit card information as this is managed via a secure third-party provider.

 We may also collect information from you when you apply for employment with CFIB. We will only ask for the information necessary to process your application (e.g. your contact information and resume including your work and education history) and retain your information in accordance with our employee policies.

c) Social Media

We may offer you the opportunity to engage with us through third-party social networking websites, plug-ins and applications. Through these platforms, you may allow us to access information associated with your social media account. We may use this information to confirm your identity and to personalize your experience on our Website.

 2. How we use personal information

As part of our business operations, we collect and use certain information about our members and prospective members, including contact information such as name, address, email address and telephone number, in order to process your requests, provide you with membership services and to understand your needs so that we can serve you better. We use credit card information to process membership and other payments. We may use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To manage your membership status;

• Facilitate participation in certain promotions and programs;

• Inform you about opportunities to participate in additional programs and services;

• To respond to your inquiries and, if you ask us to, forward your inquiries to a third party when resolving a membership assistance case;

• Managing and responding to leasing and/or service requests;

• To process payment for your membership request;

• To meet regulatory or contractual requirements relating to the services and products provided to you; and

• To help identify you when you visit the Website and to improve our online offerings and Website administration.

 3. When we share personal information

We share information internally and among our regional offices, as required and limited to those departments that have a reasonable need to access the information, in order to deliver our services to you.

 At the request of a member and with their consent we may connect members with specific third party providers as part of membership programs that we offer. In these circumstances, the personal information that the third party receives is limited to only the information held by us that they need in order to render their services to us and/or to facilitate your participation in the program.

 In addition, we will disclose personal information:

  • If a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order legally authorizes us or requires us to do so;
  • As necessary to our service providers that help us with our business operations;
  • If necessary to protect the safety or security of users of the Website, to detect and prevent fraud or abusive behaviour, or when otherwise required or permitted by law to protect our rights and those of our members; In the event that we sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of the business to an affiliate, successor, assign or other third party entity; or
  • With your consent (for example, we may seek your consent to allow us to share your contact information with a specific partner with offers we think would be of value to you, see above).
  • Except as set out above, we do not sell, rent, share or disclose the personal information we hold or make our membership list available to others without your consent. 

 4. Third Party Service Providers

We use third party providers including information technology providers and third-parties that process credit card information on behalf. Our contractors and third party service providers are contractually obligated to maintain privacy policies and data security measures that are no less stringent than our own. Some of our providers may store and process information outside your province or outside of Canada, where they may be subject to access by local law enforcement. If you have any questions about our use of service providers or the transfer of your personal information outside Canada, please contact our Privacy Officer (see contact information below).

 5. How long do we hold personal information?

Personal information is retained only for so long as is necessary for the purpose set out above. When no longer required, we will destroy, erase or anonymize the information. Legal requirements may necessitate our retaining some or all of the personal information we hold for a period of time that is longer than we might otherwise hold it.

  6. Accuracy

To ensure that the personal information you provided is accurate, complete and up to date, we urge you to provide us with updates regarding such information and to inform us of any errors affecting the personal information that we hold.

 7. Security Measures

We maintain technological, organizational and physical safeguards in an effort to protect the personal information held by us from unauthorized use, access, disclosure, distribution, loss or alteration. Access to personal information will be restricted to our authorized personnel who require the information in order to perform their duties properly. In addition, access will be limited to only that information that is strictly necessary for the performance of those duties. The same limitations are imposed upon our third party service providers.

 8. Accessing personal information

An individual is entitled to access and correct the personal information held by us concerning them. You can access and correct your personal information by making a written request to us. We will generally respond to your request for information within thirty days, unless, for reasons beyond our control, a longer response time is necessary, in which case, you will be advised accordingly.

9.   Contacting our Privacy Officer

The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring compliance with the applicable privacy legislation and this Policy and responding to any questions, concerns or complaints. The Privacy Officer at CFIB is the Senior Vice-President, Finance and Administration.  Questions or comments can be directed to CFIB’s Privacy Officer at the address below:

Privacy Officer
Email: privacy@cfib.ca
Canadian Federation of Independent Business
401-4141 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2P 2A6

 We will reply as quickly as possible and inform you of the steps, if any, that have been or will be taken in order to address the complaint, concern or implement the suggestion. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may also file a complaint with a competent provincial Privacy Commissioner in Alberta and British Columbia or in Quebec with the Commission d’accès à l’information, or in other provinces and territories, with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376.

 10. CFIB emails

As a member, with your consent, you will receive email communications from us to facilitate your membership and advise you of programs and services that we offer. If you wish to opt out of receiving future promotional emails from us, you may do so by contacting us directly at cfib@cfib.ca or by clicking the unsubscribe mechanism attached to our emails. Please allow us up to ten business days for us to process your request. Note that if you unsubscribe from certain of our emails, we may still contact you by email about your membership, or as otherwise permitted by law.

 11. Third Party Links

Our Website may contain links to external websites. This Privacy Statement only applies to personal information that we collect and use on or through the Website. We are not responsible or liable for the content or activities of any linked websites, or for the privacy practices of third parties. We strongly recommend that you review a third party’s privacy policy before disclosing any personal information to the third party. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our Website and welcome any feedback you may have about third party websites that are linked through our Website.

 12. Modifications to this Privacy Statement

We reserve the right to change this Privacy Statement at any time. We will alert you that changes have been made by indicating at the top of the Privacy Statement the date that it was last updated. We encourage you to review our Privacy Statement to make sure that you understand how information that you provide will be used.