Drug addiction Alchoholism treatment Substance abuse

Protecting Your Privacy

Renascent and the Renascent Foundation are committed to protecting the privacy of our clients, donors and other individuals about or from whom we collect personal information.

A leader in the field of addictions since 1970, Renascent has always protected confidentiality to safeguard the recovery of our clients. Similarly the Renascent Foundation has always respected the privacy of our donors and supporters in its pledge to not sell, rent, or share personal information.

Renascent and the Renascent Foundation are pleased to embrace the principles of the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information to ensure that all personal information is properly collected, used only for the purposes for which it is collected, and is disposed of in a safe and timely manner when no longer required.

Renascent and Renascent Foundation strives to uphold best practices in all areas of business as trusted, charitable, non-profit organizations.

The Privacy Principles

To support lifelong recovery and fund vital treatment programs, Renascent and the Renascent Foundation are interested in building long-term relationships with our clients and donors. Knowing clients and donors is critical to providing good service and building loyalty. We recognize that the information entrusted to us is sensitive and precious. To earn your trust, we adhere to the following principles to safeguard your personal information:

1. We are accountable for your personal information
As granted by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care on September 21, 2005, Renascent and its three facilities may act as a single health information custodian.

We are responsible for all personal information in our possession.

All employees, agents and authorized service providers of Renascent and the Renascent Foundation are required to protect the confidentiality of your personal information.

We take every precaution to ensure confidentiality of your information.

We keep your personal information and the business you do with us in strict confidence.

Where we choose to have certain services, such as information technology or mailing support, provided by third-party providers, we select service providers carefully. We take all precautions to ensure that the service provider protects your personal information by requiring them to enter into confidentiality agreements.  Suppliers do not keep any personal information on file.

2. We collect, use and disclose personal information only for certain purposes that we identify to you
For clients, Renascent collects, uses or discloses personal information only to:

• Facilitate treatment, referrals and medical assessments
• Track clients
• Report to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as required by the Provincial Government
• Report to employers and/or agents of the employer (consent gained)
• Report when legally compelled by the Courts (consent not required)
• Respond to any of your information requests (client verification required)
• Provide you with information about Renascent services and opportunities to give to the Renascent Foundation

Note: Renascent is required by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to enter client information into an online provincial database managed by an arms-length agency called DATIS. Rest assured that only Renascent has access to your personal record through a password-protected security system. Both DATIS and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care do not have access to your personal record. DATIS and MOHLTC can access only aggregate or general health information for planning and development purposes.

For donors, the Renascent Foundation collects, uses or discloses personal information only to:

• Help us in our fundraising campaign
• Process and receipt your donation
• Provide you with information about Renascent and the Renascent Foundation, e.g. annual report, newsletters
• Respond to any of your information requests
• Recognize you publicly for your donation, unless otherwise directed

We obtain personal information about you lawfully and fairly.

Personal information collected will be limited to that required for the purposes identified by us.

Renascent and the Renascent Foundation organize various special events to create a community for recovery, build public awareness and fundraise. Some events require the gathering of personal information to process registration. This information may be used to invite you to future Renascent events and activities of a similar nature. We will inform you of the purpose for which the information is being requested.

3. We will obtain your consent
We collect, use or disclose your personal information with your permission. Your permission may be expressed in writing or be implied (e.g. completion of a donation reply card), and you may give it to us verbally or electronically.

You may withdraw your permission to collect, use and disclose your personal information at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and reasonable notice.

We will obtain your consent before making information available to third-parties.

The Renascent Foundation will respect individuals who wish to remain anonymous and/or to be removed from our mailing list.  The Renascent Foundation will provide opportunities to exercise this option on donation reply cards at least once annually.  Individuals may also contact the Renascent Foundation directly with this request by email at donate@renascent.ca or by phone at 416-847-6447.

As the Renascent Foundation must raise approximately $1,200 or one-third of the cost of treatment to ensure free access, Renascent will invite alumni to make a donation to the Renascent Foundation no sooner than six months after entering treatment.  The Renascent Foundation will consider an alumnus a donor once the initial donation has been made.

4. We keep your personal information accurate and up to date
We maintain appropriate procedures to ensure that personal information in our possession is accurate and up to date. You are entitled to seek a correction of your personal information if you believe that the information in our possession is not correct.

If you believe any of the information we have collected about you is incorrect or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to change it or delete it.

If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, we will make the necessary changes.

5. We do not sell, rent or share your personal information
We do not sell, rent or share your personal information for commercial or non-commercial gain (e.g. share with likeminded organizations to support their fundraising campaigns).

We only share your personal information with third-party service providers to facilitate limited administrative duties, e.g. mailings.  We select service providers carefully and take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the service provider protects your personal information. These service providers enter into confidentiality agreements and do not keep any personal information on file.

6. We will limit how long we keep information
We will keep your personal information only as long as it is necessary to satisfy the purposes for which it was obtained, or as required by law.

When we destroy personal information, we will use safeguards to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to that information during the process.

7. We safeguard your personal information
Renascent and the Renascent Foundation will protect your personal information by safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity of that information.

Access to your personal information is restricted to Renascent and Renascent Foundation employees, agents and authorized service providers who need it to do their jobs.

We maintain appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.

We have developed security procedures to safeguard and protect personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized disclosure, copying, and unauthorized use or modification. We will maintain appropriate safeguards and security procedures that reflect the types of documents, including electronic or paper records, organizational measures including security clearances and limiting access on a "need-to-know" basis, and technological measures such as the use of passwords and encryption.

8. We will be open about our privacy practices
Renascent and the Renascent Foundation will make readily available to you specific information about our policies and procedures relating to the management of personal information.

9. We allow you to access your personal information
You may ask whether we hold any personal information about you, ensure that it’s accurate and to see that information, as provided by law. Photo authentication, however, is required to view information.

You also have the right to know:

• how we collected your personal information.
• how we are using it.

10. You may register a complaint
You may register a privacy-related complaint by contacting our Privacy Officer. We will explain our procedure and inform you about other complaint procedures available. We will investigate all complaints. If an objection is justified, we will take all appropriate steps to repair the situation, including changing our policies and practices if necessary. Personal information relating to volunteers, job applicants and employees are subject to similar protocols.

For more information
For more information, please contact our Privacy Officer at 647-258-5959 or by email at privacy@renascent.ca