Updated: September 27th 2023

This policy documents the measures and practices that RE/MAX Évolution (hereinafter “the agency” or “we” or “us”) has implemented to govern the use and safeguarding of its clients’ personal information. Clients (or “you” or “your”) are individuals from whom the agency collected personal information through direct or indirect contact with an authorized agency representative and the website https://remax-evolution.com/ (hereinafter the “Website”) for the purposes described in section 4 below.

In this policy, “personal information” refers to all personal information collected by the agency that allows it to directly or indirectly identify a client, either independently or with other information.

The main purpose of this policy is to inform clients of:

• the means by which the agency collects personal information;
• the nature of the personal information collected by the agency and the purposes for which it is collected;
• how the agency may use personal information as well as third parties with which the agency is likely to share this personal information if required;
• your rights with regard to the personal information compiled by the agency, particularly to access your personal information or request that inaccurate personal information be corrected if necessary;
• the various safeguards implemented by the agency to safeguard the confidentiality of the personal information;
• how personal information is retained, destroyed and/or anonymized; and
• how you can contact the agency to ask questions, share your comments or, if necessary, make a complaint regarding this policy.

By providing personal information to the agency through direct or indirect contact with an authorized agency representative or your use of the website, you consent to the agency compiling, using, disclosing and retaining this personal information in compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in this policy.

The agency reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions set forth in this policy at any time and at its sole discretion. In this situation, the agency will send a version of this policy that includes the changes made. Your use of the services (as defined in section 4 below) as of the receipt of this version is deemed to constitute your express acceptance of the changes made.

This policy as well as all of its modified versions are subject to applicable legislation in the province of Québec.

1. Through what means does the agency collect personal information?

The agency collects personal information through the following means: (i) when voluntarily sending such personal information to an agency employee or authorized representative of the agency in writing, by email or in person, (ii) the information we collect from other companies and public agencies (i.e., RE/MAX Group companies affiliated with the agency (RE/MAX Québec Inc., Fonds promotionnel RE/MAX Inc., Les Services de Relogement National (RELONAT) Inc. and RE/MAX, LLC (Denver, CO)) or (iii) when you use the website.

Personal information shared when using the website may be communicated directly (e.g., if they complete a web form or send an email) or automatically (see the list of personal information automatically collected in section 3).

2. What personal information does the agency collect?

The agency may collect the following personal information:

• your first and last name and your contact information (street addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers);
• your date of birth, sex and language preference;
• the personal information listed below to allow the agency, through its authorized representatives, to verify your identity and that of any other person in compliance with applicable legislation in the field of real estate brokerage (including the Real Estate Brokerage Act (CQLR, c. C-73.2) and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (S.C. 2000, c. 17) as well as their respective regulations):
  • your primary profession or occupation;
  • a government-issued photo ID that is genuine, valid and current;
  • a document from a trusted source with your name and address, a document from a trusted source with your name and date of birth and a document with your name as well as confirmation that you have a deposit account, a prepaid payment product account, or a credit card or another loan account with a financial entity; and
  • your Canadian citizenship or residency.

• the personal information that you share with us to carry out services (as defined in section 4 below) and that are likely to constitute sensitive personal information, such as:

  • information regarding your real estate transaction project; and
  • financial information that is required to make credit checks and withdraw instalments and payments (credit card number, mortgage approval, tax slips, credit report, etc.);
• your conversations and communications history with us (call recordings, chat sessions and conversations through instant messaging, particularly on our social media);
• personal information generated by you when using the services (complaints, requests for information, notices, comments and answers to surveys);
• personal information provided as part of an employment application with the agency (resume, educational background, professional experience and affiliations);
• personal information that you are required, or asked, to share with does the agency due to the nature of your relationship with it (e.g., employees will be asked to provide social insurance numbers, financial information and photos for the website. If you are a director, you must provide a piece of ID in accordance with the Act mainly to improve the transparency of enterprises);
• personal information automatically collected through your use of the website (see section 3).

3. Personal information collected automatically or with cookies

To ensure that the website functions properly, the agency must collect the following information from clients that visit the website:

• the domain name of their Internet service provider;
• their IP address;
• their browser (Explorer, Firefox, etc.) and their operating system (Windows, Mac OS, etc.);
• the date and time of their visit;
• their country of origin;
• the pages they consulted and the time spent doing so;
• the address of the referring website; and
• crash data.

All this information is collected automatically from the time a client logs on to the website. Certain personal information is collected through temporary cookies or “web beacons” (aka “invisible pixels”). These files or beacons also allow us to improve the website’s performance as well as some of its functions.

4. For what purposes does the agency collect personal information?

The agency collects your personal information to:

• provide support, information, advice and tools relating to any real estate transactions that you ask us to perform (hereinafter referred to generally as “services”);
• perform real estate transactions and be compensated for our services;
• comply with current laws and regulations; and
• issue notifications and alerts to provide you with specific information when using the services. In doing so, the agency uses a technology that allows it to carry out profiling, the functions of which must be activated by the client on the website;
• assess your eligibility for programs such as Tranquilli-T https://www.tranquilli-t.com/index_en.html, Intégri-T https://en.garantie-integri-t.com/ and RE/MAX Key Program https://quebec.programmecleremax.com/en with a view to, among other things, helping you save and protecting you from hidden defects when you buy your property.
• communicate with you, in a general manner, to send various information relating to the services and offer products and/or services that are likely to interest you;
• follow up periodically with you to ensure that you are satisfied with the services being provided;
• developing, improving and promoting the services, particularly to generate and publish de-identified statistics from several clients’ personal information;
• measure the effectiveness of the agency’s efforts to attract visitors to its website;
• determine what information should be made available by the agency and the efforts it is taking to raise visitors’ interest in its website;
• identify which of our partner sites’ efforts have attracted visitors;
• improve the website’s performance and its ability to effectively retain visitors;
• identify the legislation to which visitors’ personal information is subject; and
• review your employment application with the agency as necessary.

Subject to exceptions under applicable legislation, the agency will ensure that it obtains your consent prior to using your personal information for any purpose other than those listed above.

5. With whom is the agency likely to share your personal information?

Generally, the agency uses its clients’ personal information for internal purposes only. However, the agency is likely to share your personal information with the following persons or entities:

• its employees and representatives who need access to this personal information to carry out the purposes listed in section 4 above;
• its partners and external service providers with whom the agency has entered into a contractual agreement under which the external service provider is required to take appropriate measures to:
  • safeguard the confidential nature of the personal information shared;
  • ensure that the personal information shared is only used for the purposes of carrying out the services it is asked to render for the agency;
  • ensure that the personal information shared is not kept after the aforementioned agreement has ended;
  • immediately notify the agency of any violation or attempted violation by an individual of any obligation relating to the confidentiality of the personal information shared; and
  • allow the agency to perform all checks relating to the confidentiality of the personal information shared. For example, the service provider that hosts the website and maintains said website may have access to personal information as part of the specific performance of its services under a contractual agreement binding it to the agency;
• entities that are part of the RE/MAX Group or affiliated with the agency (RE/MAX Québec Inc., Fonds Promotionnel RE/MAX Inc., Les Services de relogement national (RELONAT) Inc.  and RE/MAX, LLC (Denver, CO)), to the extent necessary so that they can fulfil their contractual and statutory obligations;
• any other person or entity, when prescribed or allowed by applicable legislation, or with the client’s consent.

In order to fulfil the aforementioned purposes, the agency may communicate your personal information outside Québec. However, the agency only does so if a privacy impact assessment shows that the receiving party is able to adequately safeguard said personal information, particularly with regard to generally accepted privacy principles. In such circumstances, the agency contractually requires the entity with whom your personal information is shared to comply with various conditions to ensure that your personal information is safeguarded, including but not limited to all conditions in section 5(b) above.

6. How does the agency protect the confidentiality of your personal information?

The agency takes appropriate physical, technological and administrative privacy measures to safeguard your personal information and reduce the risk of unauthorized/illegal access, use, disclosure and destruction.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the agency:

• Vérifie l’identité et les antécédents judiciaires de tous ses employés et représentants ;
• Exige de chacun de ses employés et représentants ayant accès à des renseignements personnels qu’il signe un engagement de confidentialité ;
• a un contrôle des accès limitant l’accès aux renseignements personnels aux employés et représentants autorisés qui nécessitent l’accès aux renseignements personnels ;
• Conserve les renseignements personnels sur des supports matériels consignés dans des locaux verrouillés uniquement accessibles par des employés et représentants autorisés de l’Agence ; et
• Conserve les renseignements personnels sur un support technologique sécurisé, à savoir le système d’information fourni par les Fournisseurs de gestion électronique des documents, sur lesquels est notamment mis en place un système d’identification et d’authentification afin de limiter l’accès à vos renseignements personnels aux personnes autorisées qui ont besoin d’un tel accès dans la poursuite d’une ou plusieurs fins énumérées dans la section 4 ci-devant.

Furthermore, the website is equipped with certain security mechanisms aimed at safeguarding your personal information, i.e.:

• all exchanges between RE/MAX’s servers and user devices are encrypted;
• all user passwords are encrypted; and
• the agency’s IT service provider is required to comply with various security obligations that involve, among other things, periodically validating security practices and processes and continuous oversight of the website’s software components and their updates.

7. What measures has the agency implemented to address confidentiality incidents?

The agency maintains a current confidentiality incident log, in compliance with applicable legislation. Should a confidentiality incident that presents a serious risk of harm to you occur, the agency will take necessary measures to notify you, in compliance with applicable legislation. The risk that serious harm has been caused to you is determined based on criteria such as awareness of the personal information that is involved in the confidentiality incident, the likely consequences of its use and the probability that it is used for harm.

8. How long is personal information retained?

Pursuant to our procedures for safely retaining and disposing of personal information, we only retain your personal information for the duration necessary to accomplish the purposes listed in section 4 of this policy or for the term required for us to comply with our statutory obligations, whichever occurs later.

The agency reserves the right to close a client’s file once the real estate transaction process is complete or, in the case of agency employees, for a consecutive period of at least seven (7) years as of the last day of employment, all of which is subject to a statutory obligation providing a different minimum retention period. The closure of a file means that the personal information contained therein will be completely and definitively disposed of, or will be anonymized so it can be used for serious and legitimate purposes. When closing a file regarding a client who is not an agency employee or representative, the personal information contained therein must be destroyed or anonymized usually six (6) years after the date said file is closed due to the retention period imposed by law.

Under this policy, “anonymization” means the process in which personal information no longer allows for the client to which it is tied to be directly or indirectly identified, in a way that is irreversible.

9. How can you access, correct, update and/or obtain a copy of your personal information?

The agency acknowledges its clients’ right to access, correct, update and obtain a copy of their personal information by presenting a written request to this effect to the agency using the contact information in section 13 below. Should such a written request be sent to the agency, the company would, in accordance with the Act, verify your identity and respond to it in writing within thirty (30) days of receipt of said request. Any request that is not processed within this period is deemed to have been rejected.

A request to correct personal information will be granted under certain circumstances, including:

• the personal information is inaccurate;
• the personal information is outdated;
• the personal information is ambiguous;
• the personal information is incomplete; or
• the personal information has been unjustifiably collected.

Should the agency acquiesce to any client request to obtain a copy of computerized personal information, the agency will ensure to send them (or any other person or agency authorized by law to collect such personal information, according to the client’s request) a copy in a structured and commonly used technological format. This subsection is not applicable (i) if sending the copy in such a technological format presents serious practical challenges and/or (ii) regarding any computerized personal information that was created or inferred from other personal information.

Should the agency refuse to acquiesce to any client request to access, correct or update personal information, the agency will ensure to share with them the reasons for this refusal as well as any recourse the client has under the circumstances and the timeframe in which it may be exercised. To the extent the client requires, the agency shall also provide them with assistance to help understand the reasons for the refusal.

Should a written request to this effect be sent by the client, the agency may also cease dissemination of the client’s personal information and/or deindex or reindex, as the case may be, any hyperlinks tied to this client’s name, subject to criteria established by applicable legislation in force at the time.

In principle, the exercise of a right provided for in this section by the client is free of charge. However, the client in question may be required to pay reasonable fees to offset the cost of transcribing, reproducing or transmitting their personal information. In such a case, the client will be notified of the amount of the fees in question before their request is processed.

10. How can you withdraw your consent for the use or sharing of your personal information?

Subject to your contractual commitments with the agency and applicable legislation, you can withdraw or modify your consent for the collection, use and/or sharing of your personal information. To do so, you must submit a written request to this effect to the agency using the contact information in section 13 below.

Please note that the withdrawal or modification of your consent is likely to have an impact on the agency’s ability to adequately collect your personal information described in section 4 of this policy and could, therefore, have repercussions on the services we provide to you.

11. How to file a complaint

You can make a complaint about the personal information safeguarding methods, practices and policies by writing to our privacy officer using the contact information in section 14 of this policy.

All complaints will be handled directly by our privacy officer. A response will be sent within 30 days of receiving the complaint. If the complaint is accepted, a summary of the changes made to the subject of the complaint will be sent to you.

If you are not satisfied with the handling of your complaint, you may also contact the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec. A written complaint may be submitted to the Commission at the following website: https://www.cai.gouv.qc.ca/diffusion-de-linformation/services-et-formulaires/.

12. Safeguarding your personal information is a priority for all RE/MAX Group Québec Inc. entities

To obtain additional information about how your personal information is handled by other RE/MAX Group Québec Inc. entities, please consult each of their confidentiality policies:

• RE/MAX Québec Inc. at https://www.remax-quebec.com/en/privacy-policy
• Fonds promotionnel RE/MAX Inc. A copy of this entity’s confidentiality policy will be provided to you upon request.
• Les Services de Relogement National (RELONAT) Inc. at https://www.en.relonat.com/privacy-policy

13. The agency has no responsibility or obligation towards third-party products

The website is likely to contain links to other websites or third-party products and services (collectively referred to as “third-party products”). Third-party products may be subject to conditions of use and a confidentiality policy that differs from the agency’s. The agency cannot in any case be held responsible or subject to any obligation regarding the content of these third parties’ terms of use and/or confidentiality policy. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the agency has no responsibility or obligation regarding any of your personal information that may be collected, used, disclosed or retained by any person or entity in relation to your access or use of third-party products.

Any link on the website leading to a third-party product does not imply or mean in any way that the agency assumes or accepts responsibility for the content or use of this third-party product. The agency makes no representations regarding the quality, safety, adequacy or reliability of third-party products, or the content or equipment they contain. When you access or use third-party products, you should consult the related terms and conditions and confidentiality policy.

14. How can you contact the agency’s privacy officer?

We are responsible for your personal information. Consequently, we have designated a privacy officer at the agency. To exercise one of your rights, ask questions, make comments or file a complaint regarding this policy or in relation to our handling of your personal information, please contact this person at the following address.

Please note that the agency is required to verify your identity before responding to any request, question, comment or complaint filed with its privacy officer:

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Personal data and privacy officer

Contact: Stéphanie Desmeules
Email: protectionrp.evolution@remax-quebec.com