Privacy Policy

Our Commitment 

Global Child Care Services (“Global”) is committed to the protection of the personal information of its clients and independent contractors.  Our Privacy Policy ensures our agency’s compliance with the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

Defining Personal Information

Personal information is defined as any information, recorded or not, that is about an identifiable individual. It can be objective information (e.g. your child’s age or your home telephone number), or it can be subjective information (e.g. the progress of your child in day care).

We Are Accountable

The Executive Director of Global Child Care Services is the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) for the agency, and is responsible for ensuring compliance with this Privacy Policy by all the programs and services operated by Global. The CPO may, from time to time, delegate another individual in the agency to act on her behalf as Privacy Officer.  Contact information for the Executive Director can be found at the end of this document.

We Collect Your Personal Information to Serve You Better
(and because we must!) 

We collect, generate, use and disclose personal information for the following purposes only:

• To identify clients of Global Child Care Services (children and their parents/guardians)
• To communicate with our clients
• To protect and ensure the health and safety of the children entrusted to our care
• To communicate daily activities of children to parents
• To provide optimal and individualized care for each child
• To monitor the quality of care and the progress of children in care
• To ensure the care provided is flexible and continues to meet the unique needs of each child
• To ensure that the care we provide is respectful of religious and/or cultural backgrounds
• To meet statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements of the agency
• To provide/send information to prospective clients
• To process applications/requests for care
• To place clients on a waiting list
• To determine eligibility for care and proper placement of your child in a program
• To assist parents in obtaining and maintaining fee subsidies from the City of Ottawa
• In a home child care arrangement, to ensure the best possible match between child and caregiver
• For the screening, assessment and approval process of prospective affiliated home child care providers
• To process payments to independent contractors
• To meet the record-keeping obligations required by the provincial Ministry of Education, the City of Ottawa and Canada Customs and Revenue Agency
• To assist Children’s Inclusion Support Services (CISS), when applicable, in determining the level of support that may be provided to eligible children
• To collect payment for services provided
• For the collection of statistics as may be required by our funders
• To administer our programs and services  

Disclosure of Your Personal Information

Other than for the purposes indicated above or unless required to do so by law, Global does not disclose the personal information under its control to any other parties.  We do not trade, sell, barter or give away client information to anyone.  

We Obtain Your Consent

We will only collect, use or disclose information for the above identified purposes and we will only do so with your consent.  For the most part, your consent will be obtained expressly (either orally or in writing) particularly when the personal information in question is of a sensitive or confidential nature such as a child’s medical history or a client’s bank account number. Global will only rely on your implied consent in rare circumstances where your consent can reasonably be inferred from your actions or inactions. For example, we ask the age and birth date of a child in order to process the application for care. We would rely on the parent’s implied consent to also use the child’s birth date to celebrate the child’s birthday.  

You are free to withdraw specific consent at any time regarding a particular piece of personal information, but Global reserves the right to withdraw service from you, if having that information is critical, necessary or a legislated requirement in the provision of quality care for your child.

We are Careful to Limit the Collection of Your Personal Information

We will only collect, use and disclose your personal information in order to meet the purposes identified above.  If we need to collect further information for a new purpose, rest assured we will seek your fresh consent for that specific collection (for example, if we wish to use a photograph of your child in an agency brochure, your specific written consent will be required).

Retention of Your Personal Information

We only retain your personal information for as long as we have a purpose to do so and/or as is required by all the applicable legislation that governs our operations.  For example, the provincial legislation upon which our license is based, the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014, requires that we retain child files for three years beyond the date of discharge from any of our child care programs.  Once personal information is no longer required to fulfill the identified purposes or to comply with legal requirements regarding retention, it will be destroyed or rendered anonymous.

Accuracy of Your Personal Information

We will make every effort to keep your personal information accurate and up to date.  We rely on you to keep us updated of any changes in a timely manner, so that the personal information we have is accurate at all times. This is particularly important with respect to the health and safety of your child.  In the event of an emergency, for example, having quick access to current telephone numbers and alternate emergency contact persons is essential.

We Stand on Guard

The security of the information you provide is our number one priority.  We limit access to your personal information only to those who require it to provide you with service. Information stored on our computer information system is protected by firewalls and is password protected. All hard files are kept under lock and key. Global employees are fully aware of their obligations to maintain the confidentiality and security of your personal information.  All Global employees and independent contractors are subject to the agency’s policies and procedures with respect to confidentiality of client information.

You Have the Right to Access Your Personal Information

Individuals have the right to access their own personal information, or the personal information about their children, which is in the possession and control of Global. You also have the right to know if your personal information has been disclosed to any third parties.

Requests for access to personal information must be made in writing to the Chief Privacy Officer:  Arlene Ross, Executive Director, Global Child Care Services, 1714 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1J 6N5.  

The Chief Privacy Officer then has 30 days in which to respond to your request.  GCCS does have the right to deny your request under certain circumstances. Those circumstances include but are not limited to: information which is protected by solicitor-client privilege; information which reveals personal information about another individual; personal information which was collected for an investigation or legal proceeding that has not yet concluded; if providing access to particular personal information could jeopardize an individual’s life or security; or if access to the personal information could reasonably be expected to threaten the safety or physical or mental health of another individual.

Acceptable proof of identification is required before access to personal information is granted.

Global has the right to charge a reasonable fee should you request copies of your personal information.

If You Have Any Concerns

Should you have any questions or concerns related to the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information at Global Child Care Services, please contact our Chief Privacy Officer in writing (marked confidential) at the following address:   

Arlene Ross
Executive Director
Global Child Care Services
1714 Montreal Road
Ottawa, Ontario
K1J 6N5