The Healthy Watersheds Initiative (“HWI”) is administered by the Real Estate Foundation of BC (also referred to as “REFBC”, “the Foundation”, “we”, or “us”), a philanthropic organization working to advance sustainable land use and real estate practices in British Columbia.
REFBC has contracted Watersheds BC (“WBC”) to provide additional support to HWI grant recipients on administration, project coordination, learning and evaluation, and communications. This privacy notice applies to REFBC employees, governors, volunteers, and third-party service providers and contractors, including WBC.
The REFBC is considered a public body in the province of British Columbia and therefore, complies with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FOIPPA”) regarding the management of personal information and for the purpose of Freedom of Information (“FOI”) requests. We also comply with the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”) for the purpose of interacting with individuals through electronic messages.
This privacy notice explains how the HWI team (managed by REFBC and its contractors) manages personal information under the following circumstances:
At the HWI, we value your privacy and make it a priority to protect personal and confidential information that is entrusted to us.
According to FOIPPA, personal information refers to any piece of recorded information about an identifiable individual, other than business contact information.
This may include contact information submitted through:
Personal contact information is subject to privacy requirements as stated in FOIPPA and CASL.
Business contact information includes information gathered so that the HWI team members can contact an individual at a place of business. This includes an individual’s name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email, or business fax number.
This may include contact information submitted through:
Business contact information is not subject to privacy requirements under FOIPPA and is treated as business confidential information.
The HWI team collects and uses personal information for the following purposes:
Grant administration
The Healthy Watersheds Initiative team collects demographic information (gender, age group, Indigenous status, employment status) on workers who are employed through an HWI-funded project.
We collect this information in aggregate form, and share aggregated data across all projects with the Province of British Columbia, which uses this information to track performance towards economic stimulus goals.
Email communications
We collect email addresses, first and last names, and email format preferences from individuals for the purposes of communicating with grantees, partners, and members of the public who have given explicit consent to receive email communications.
The emails we send to our list may include newsletters, annual reports, project stories, and information about HWI-related events, activities, research, and learning.
Event registration and attendance
When an individual registers to one of our events, we will collect their first and last name, email address, accessibility requests, and any dietary restrictions they may have.
Surveys
We send surveys to event attendees and we use the information submitted by the attendees to improve future events.
Webinars
We collect email address and full names of individuals that register for our webinars. We use this information to provide webinar access details as well as to send resources associated with the webinar such as reports and toolkits.
Job application
We will collect contact information as well as qualifications/resume and references of any individual applying for a job at the HWI. We will use this information to evaluate the applicant’s relevant experience regarding the role they are applying for.
Website statistics and analytics, including cookies
The HWI uses cookies and Google Analytics to help us enhance the use of our website and our visitors’ experience. We also collect information on page visits and downloads to better understand what types of content are most valuable to our community.
For this purpose, we collect location, IP address, device information, and browsing activities while on the website. This information helps us optimize the content and format of our website to serve you better.
You may disable the use of cookies on your browser.
Social media interactions
When you interact with the HWI through social media (for example: Twitter or Instagram), these social platforms collect aggregate demographic information such as age, gender, and interests. We monitor this data for the purpose of tailoring our content to specific audiences.
Make sure that you do not provide unnecessary personal information or anybody else’s such as name, email address, or phone numbers through your social media posts.
The HWI does not sell, rent, trade, or otherwise disclose any of the personal information we collect from you to third-parties not identified in this Privacy Notice.
The HWI only discloses your personal information when:
The HWI stores your personal information on servers at the REFBC offices in Vancouver, British Columbia and with third-party service providers that are either located in Canada or the US.
Based on the requirements imposed by FOIPPA under section 30.1 (a), we will request for your explicit consent to store your personal information in systems residing in the US.
REFBC has implemented physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect the systems and locations where we store your personal information against unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. These same practices have been adopted for the purpose of managing the HWI, including employees and contractors at WBC.
We ensure that our employees and contractors are aware of the procedures to follow to protect personal information and we also work with our third-party providers to ensure they follow strict data protection practices.
According to section 4, FOIPPA provides you, as a member of the public, with the right to access government records and ensures that public bodies are transparent and accountable.
Subject to any exceptions or constraints established by FOIPPA under sections 12 to 22, you have the right to submit an FOI request, including access to your personal information.
You also have the right to request correction of the personal information we hold about you under section 29 of the legislation.
To submit an FOI request or a request regarding the access or correction of your personal information, please submit an email with the details of your request at privacy@refbc.com.
If you have any further questions, concerns, or unresolved requests, please contact us at privacy@refbc.com.
