The College's Privacy Code is designed to protect the personal information of our members and applicants. It describes the kind of information we collect, how it's used, and when and how members can access it.

The College collects, uses and discloses personal information during the course of its work. The College's activities are not subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

However, because we recognize the important principles that underlie PIPEDA, we've voluntarily developed a privacy code appropriate for our role as a regulator. We may collect, use, and disclose personal information in the course of fulfilling our statutory duties as described in the Privacy Code.

The code may apply to:

• College members
• College applicants
• anyone who files a complaint against a member
• anyone working under the Ontario College of Teachers Act.

Members can access any personal information we have on file by submitting a Request for Release of Personal Information and paying the required fee.

Note: The College cannot provide personal data that is impossible to retrieve and may not be able to do so if it interferes with our legislated duties. Fees may increase for larger requests, in which case we'll inform you of the reason why. You may file a complaint about the decision.

We base our fee on recovering the cost associated with retrieving and sending the documents.

From time to time, information requests may be denied by the College. Reasons include:

• Providing the information is prohibitively costly.
• The information references other people, and this can't be separated from the rest of the request.
• It's more appropriate to contact the organization that created the information.

Visit our Privacy Code for more information.

The College makes every effort to respond to requests within 30 business days.

The College doesn't share personal information with third parties, except in some cases (at the written request of the member) with other institutions.

Employees and members of Council are required to preserve secrecy for all information that comes to their knowledge during the course of their duties. Any of them found guilty of contravening this requirement are liable to a fine of up to $25,000.

Personal information is stored digitally in password-protected files or as hard copies in locked storage units. Access is restricted to authorized personnel only.

Documents that are no longer needed are shredded, and employees are trained on our statutory duty of confidentiality.

Our Registrar is accountable for ensuring that the provisions of the Privacy Code are met. Please direct any questions to:

Chief Executive Officer and Registrar
Ontario College of Teachers
101 Bloor St. W, Toronto, ON, M5S 0A1
Email
Phone: 416.961.8800
Toll free (Ontario): 1.888.534.2222