Privacy Policy

Published on September 22nd, 2023
Last updated on October 18th, 2023

Evolution Psychology Center understands and appreciates the importance of keeping your information private and secure. Our privacy statement explains how we safeguard your security and use your information. We will never sell your personal information. We can only share your personal information in the policies outlined below.

Information Provided by You:

Any information that you may provide about yourself, or the issue you are contacting us about, be it over the phone, email, or through our online intake form, is confidential and we do not share it with anyone.

When you agree to receive services at our center, we collect basic personal demographic information to create a file for you. We collect only the necessary information to serve you and to meet our legal requirements by the Ordre des Psychologues du Québec. This information is needed for identification purposes, billing & insurance, and to find you an appropriate service provider to meet your needs.

We acquire this information by asking you to personally fill out and sign a consent for services form. We may also acquire or share pertinent clinical information from/with collateral sources, such as a third party (medical records, other healthcare providers, family members, insurance company etc.). We will only acquire or share the aforementioned clinical information with your consent. None of your information is ever shared without your consent or by legal action.

This information is kept and secured in Canada through our online server. Our software provider, Owl, meets or exceeds all federal and provincial privacy laws (PIPEDA). Our physical files are stored securely and must be kept for at least a period of 5 years after the last date of contact. After which, they are disposed of in a confidential manner.

You have the right to view your personal information and make corrections if there are any errors. You may remove consent for either psychological service and/or consent to acquire/share information with another source at any time.

Privacy Officer:

The person responsible for the protection of personal information at Evolution Psychology Centre is Director Paula Lorimer. She can be reached at (514) 758-7792 or by email at info@epcenter.ca

If you feel that your personal information has been compromised, you have the right at any time to lodge a complaint with the public body concerning the protection of personal information.

Personal information is collected for the following purposes:

Demographic information to create a file as per the l’Ordre des Psychologues du Québec requirements
Email address for the purposes of communication, appointment reminders, and with your consent to sign up for a monthly newsletter
Information through the use of cookies in Google Analytics for the purpose of marketing and client retention statistics

Information is collected using the following methods:

Consent forms either paper or digital
Direct contact via phone or email or social media direct messages
Newsletter sign-ups either through opt-in as sent by email or sign-up on the website
Google Analytics collects its own data digitally – please see their privacy policy for more information

You have the right to access your file

Written authorization is required and the psychologist must respond within 30 days. Psychologists may temporarily deny access to the information contained in a record if its disclosure would likely cause serious harm to the client’s mental health. Any refusal by a psychologist to give access to the information contained in the record must be based on serious grounds. You have the right to contest with the l’Ordre des Psychologues du Québec and Commission de l’Accès à l’Information du Québec.

You have the right to:

Remove consent to obtain/share information with a third party
To cease services with the mental health practitioner (files will be kept for a minimum of 5 years in a secure location, after which they will be destroyed).
To never subscribe and unsubscribe from the monthly newsletter
To never subscribe and unsubscribe from email reminders

Information gathered in session:

Anything shared in a psychotherapy session between you and your therapist is confidential and is stored securely (see above). You have the right to access this information and can apply by written request, which will be processed within 30 days of receipt of the request.

Using our website:

Our website uses Google Analytics to gather basic statistical information to help with search engine optimization (SEO). For more information on how Google Analytics works, please click here.

Information Collected on Evolution Psychology Center’s Social Media Sites:

Personal information may be collected directly by Evolution Psychology Center through our social media pages. Any information obtained by Evolution Psychology Center through instant or direct messaging also remains confidential and will not be shared. Any public post you engage with is not covered under this privacy policy.

This privacy policy does not cover the privacy and security practices of the social media sites Evolution Psychology Center makes use of. Please review the privacy policies and terms of service on each social media site if you have any questions about their privacy or security practices.

Exceptions:

All mental health practitioners are obliged to break confidentiality in the case of a court order, coroner’s inquest, imminent risk of serious abuse or harm to self or others, and if there is a risk of ongoing abuse to a vulnerable population that has been divulged during contact.

In these cases, mental health practitioners are obliged to contact the appropriate persons or authorities such as the court, coroner, Department of Youth Protection, emergency services, SAAQ, etc. No private information is shared other than what is relative to the duty to inform.

Opt-Out Email Addresses

We use Mailchimp for our newsletter and email marketing campaigns to update you on the activities of our center. Only you can sign up, or opt-in to the newsletter and you may unsubscribe at any time to our newsletter by following the link at the bottom of the email. Unsubscribing will not prevent you from receiving our email confirmation messages.