Terms and Conditions

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce
Reproduction of Government Symbols
Official Languages
Hyperlinking Notice
Privacy Statement
Third-Party Server Notice
Information Archived on the Web

Copyright/Permission to Reproduce

Materials on this website were produced and/or compiled by Finance Canada for the purpose of providing Canadians with access to information about the programs and services offered by the Government of Canada. You may use and reproduce the materials as follows:

Non-Commercial Reproduction

Unless otherwise specified you may reproduce the materials in whole or in part for non-commercial purposes, and in any format, without charge or further permission, provided you do the following:

• Exercise due diligence in ensuring the accuracy of the materials reproduced;
• Indicate both the complete title of the materials reproduced, as well as the author (where available); and
• Indicate that the reproduction is a copy of the version available at [URL where original document is available].

Unless otherwise specified, this authorization is also applicable to all published information regardless of its format.

Commercial Reproduction

Unless otherwise specified, you may not reproduce materials on this site, in whole or in part, for the purposes of commercial redistribution without prior written permission from the Government of Canada's copyright administrator, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC). To obtain permission to reproduce Government of Canada materials on this site for commercial purposes, Apply for Crown Copyright Clearance or write to:

Public Works and Government Services Canada
Publishing and Depository Services
350 Albert Street, 4th Floor
Ottawa, ON
Canada
K1A 0S5
copyright.droitdauteur@pwgsc.gc.ca

Some of the content on this site may be subject to the copyright of another party. Where information has been produced or copyright is not held by Government of Canada, the materials are protected under the Copyright Act, and international agreements. Details concerning copyright ownership are indicated on the relevant page(s). To obtain additional information concerning copyright ownership and restrictions, please contact:

Department of Finance Canada
19th floor, East Tower
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G5
E-mail: finpub@fin.gc.ca

Reproduction of Government Symbols

The official symbols of the Government of Canada, including the Canada Wordmark, the Arms of Canada, and the flag symbol may not be reproduced, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, without prior written authorization. Request for authorization from the Treasury Board Secretariat may be addressed to:

information@fip-pcim.gc.ca
Federal Identity Program
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
300 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Canada K1A 0R5

Telephone: 613-957-2533
Facsimile: 613-946-5187

Official Languages Notice

The Department of Finance Canada's Budget site respects the Official Languages Act and the relevant Treasury Board policies, and is committed to ensuring all information and services on this site are available in both English and French. However, visitors should be aware that some information from external sources that are not subject to the Official Languages Act is only provided as a convenience and is available only in the language in which it was provided.

Hyperlinking Notice

Links to Web sites not under the control of the Government of Canada are provided solely for the convenience of visitors. The government is not responsible for the accuracy, currency or the reliability of the content. The government does not offer any guarantee in that regard and is not responsible for the information found through these links, nor does it endorse the sites and their content.

Visitors should also be aware that information offered by non-Government of Canada sites to which the Department of Finance links is not subject to the Privacy Act, the Official Languages Act and may not be accessible to persons with disabilities. The information offered may be available only in the language(s) used by the sites in question and visitors should research the privacy policies of the sites before providing personal information.

Government of Canada Privacy Statement

The Government of Canada and Finance Canada are committed to providing websites that respect the privacy of visitors. This privacy notice summarizes the privacy practices for Finance Canada's online activities.

All personal information collected by this institution is governed by the Privacy Act. This means that you will be informed of the purpose for which your personal information is being collected and how to exercise your right of access to that information.

Your Privacy and the Internet

The nature of the Internet is such that Web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the co-operation of an ISP for example, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, the Government of Canada considers the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when visitor requests a Web page such as the page or pages visited, date and time of the visit.

Unless otherwise noted, Finance Canada does not automatically gather any specific information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. Finance Canada would obtain this type of information only if you supply it to us, for example, by email or by filling in a contact form. In such cases, how your personal information is handled will be provided in a Personal Information Collection Statement.

In cases where services are provided by organizations outside of the Government of Canada, such as social media platforms or mobile applications, IP addresses may be recorded by the Web server of the third-party service provider.

Communicating with the Government of Canada

If you choose to send Finance Canada an email or complete a feedback form online, your personal information is used by Finance Canada in order to respond to your inquiry. The information you provide will only be shared with another government institution if your inquiry relates to that institution. Finance Canada does not use the information to create individual profiles nor does it disclose the information to anyone other than to those in the federal government who need to provide you with a response. Any disclosure of your personal information is in accordance with the Privacy Act.
Emails and other electronic methods used to communicate with the Government of Canada are not secure unless it is specifically stated on a Web page. Therefore, it is recommended that you do not send sensitive personal information, such as your Social Insurance Number or your date of birth, through non-secure electronic means.

Personal information from emails or completed feedback forms is collected pursuant to the Financial Administration Act, and in accordance with the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada.  Such information may be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes and is included in Personal Information Bank Public Communications (PSU 914).

Third-Party Social Media

Finance Canada’s use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the Web. Social media account(s) are public and are not hosted on Government of Canada servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications you use to access them. Finance Canada uses Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

Personal information that you provide to the Government of Canada via social media account(s) is collected under the authority of the Financial Administration Act. This information is collected to capture conversations (e.g. questions and answers, comments, “likes”, retweets) between you and Finance Canada. It may be used to respond to inquiries, or for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. The personal information is included in Personal Information Bank Public Communications (PSU 914).

Improving your Experience on Government of Canada Websites

Digital Markers (including cookies)

A digital marker is a resource created by the visitors’ browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for the Web server to reference during the same or subsequent visit to the website. Examples of digital markers are “cookies” or HTML5 web storage. Some examples of what digital markers do are as follows:

• they allow a website to recognize a previous visit each time the visitor accesses the site;
• they track what information is viewed on a site which helps website administrators ensure visitors find what they are looking for.

Finance Canada uses sessional and persistent digital markers on some portions of its website. During your on-line visit, your browser exchanges data with Finance Canada’s Web server. The digital markers used do not allow Finance Canada to identify individuals.

You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies, if you so choose. However, it may affect your ability to interact with Finance Canada’s website.

Web Analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about Web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of web analytics to remember your online interactions with Finance Canada’s website.

Finance Canada uses Google Analytics to improve its website. When your computer requests a Finance Canada webpage, our institution collects the following types of information for Web analytics:

• the originating IP address
• the date and time of the request
• the type of browser used
• the page(s) visited

Finance Canada uses Google Analytics and the information collected is disclosed to Google, an external third party service provider. Your IP address is anonymized prior to being stored on the service provider's servers in order to help safeguard your privacy. The information collected is de-personalized by a technique called IP masking. As soon as technically feasible the last octet of IPv4 visitor IP addresses and the last 80 bits of IPv6 addresses is set to zero. For example, IP addresses 12.214.31.144 and 12.214.31.147 would both be changed to 12.214.31.0. This creates anonymity, but allows us to maintain a less accurate form of reporting.

Data collected for Web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to the United-States and may be subject to the USA Patriot Act.

Information used for the purpose of Web analytics is collected pursuant to Financial Administration Act and as required under the Policy on Government Security, Public Service Employment Act, Criminal Code, and the Defence Production Act. Such data may be used for communications and information technology statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. For more information on how your privacy is safeguarded in relation to web analytics, see the Standard on Privacy and Web Analytics.

Protecting the Security of Government of Canada Websites

Finance Canada employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. This software receives and records the IP address of the computer that has contacted our website, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected.

This information is collected pursuant to section 161 of the Financial Administration Act. The information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected criminal activities are detected. Such information may be used for network security related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting and is included in Personal Information Bank Security Incidents (PSU 939).

Inquiring about these Practices

Any questions, comments, concerns or complaints you may have regarding the administration of the Privacy Act and privacy policies regarding Finance Canada’s Web presence may be directed to our Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator by email to atip.aiprp@fin.gc.ca, by calling (613) 943-8850 or writing to:

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
Department of Finance Canada
L'Esplanade Laurier, East Tower
140 O'Connor Street, 5th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0G5

If you are not satisfied with Finance Canada’s response to your privacy concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.

Third-Party Server

To improve the functionality of our websites certain files (such as open source libraries, images, and scripts) may be delivered automatically to your browser via a trusted third-party server or Content Delivery Network. The delivery of these files is intended to provide a seamless user experience by speeding response times and avoiding the need for each visitor to download these files. Where applicable, specific privacy statements covering these files are included in our Privacy Notice.

InformationArchived on the Web

Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats.