Privacy policy

PURPOSE

The Centre québécois du droit de l’environnement (Quebec environmental law centre, or CQDE), as a non-profit organization offering legal expertise, must collect, consult, communicate, and use personal information about you. This information is confidential in nature, as it stems from citizens’ right to privacy. The privacy rules set out in this Policy are therefore intended to inform you about how the CQDE handles this personal information in accordance with applicable laws, and your rights with respect to this information. By submitting your personal information to us, you consent to our use of it in accordance with this Policy. 

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal information is defined as any information that relates to an individual and enables, directly or indirectly, that individual to be identified. 

Professional information, such as job title, postal address, email address, or business phone number, is not considered personal information.

As a non-profit organization, we collect and use personal information on a daily basis for the purposes of soliciting contributions in various forms, participating in events, and providing information. This information is collected through the following technological means: 

• Our legal information line form: Last name, first name, email address, municipality, and a summary of your request. Information about your membership status with the Réseau Demain le Québec and the CQDE is also requested. Your telephone number, the organization you work for, and the discriminated or marginalized groups with which you identify are personal information that you may voluntarily provide.
• Registration forms for events we organize: Last name, first name, email address, telephone number, and mailing address. Other information may be requested depending on the nature of the event. 
• Applications for our job offers: Your resume, which usually includes your last name, first name, email address, mailing address, phone number, professional experience, and job profile. Any other information relevant to the nature of the position posted by the CQDE may be requested.
• Applications for volunteer opportunities: Including last name, first name, email address, mailing address, phone number, volunteer experience, and any other information relevant to the nature of the volunteer position.
• Applications for our internship offers: Resume, which usually includes last name, first name, email address, home address, phone number, and relevant experience. Any other necessary information provided by the applicant may be collected.
• Applications to serve on the CQDE board of directors: Last name, first name, email address, street address, phone number, profession, all information requested on the prescribed nomination form. Once elected, appointed, or designated, all directors must also provide photo identification.
• Newsletter registration forms: Last name, first name, and email address.
• Membership forms: Last name, first name, email address, mailing address, and phone number. CQDE members log in to their member area with their email address and password. The CQDE only retains information that is strictly necessary for its operations, in particular to be able to contact members, identify them, and enable them to enjoy their rights, including by sending them documents useful for the performance of their role. Certain financial information may be requested at the time of payment of CQDE membership fees. However, the CQDE does not have access to your banking or credit information.
• Donation forms: The CQDE is a registered charity duly recognized by the Canada Revenue Agency. As such, it is eligible to receive donations and issue receipts for tax purposes. The information collected through the donation management platform used is the first and last name, email address, telephone number, amount of the donation, and mailing address of the donor. 

It is also possible to make a donation by cheque. In this case, the personal information indicated on the cheque and on the mailing envelope will be accessible to us, such as the first and last names, street address, donation amount, and bank details necessary to process the donation.  

• Information collected when opening a legal file: Personal information may be collected during the analysis and opening of a file and in connection with operations and services provided by the CQDE. This is sensitive information that must be protected to the utmost.  

Depending on the service requested, the personal information collected when a file is opened may include your first and last name, email address, telephone number, postal address, the identification of the opposing parties in your file, and any other relevant information concerning your file. Billing and financial information, such as a billing address, bank account information, and/or payment details, may also be requested.

The personal information collected to process the file may include, depending on the service provided, identification, personal and legal documents, and administrative documents. 

We require all of this information in order to fulfill our mission. Much of this information is also protected by confidential codes. 

• Emails received by team members: The email address and any information provided in the email.
• Following a service call via our telephone line: Any information provided during the call. 
• Participation in a project or activity: Identification and contact information may be requested in connection with a one-time activity organized by the CQDE, in whole or in part, for the purpose of providing advice, information, or diversion. The CQDE will retain the minimum data required to carry out the project or activity or to produce internal statistics or statistics for a partner (depersonalized statistics) in order to meet the requirements of a project, obtain funding, or produce a document such as an annual report.
• When you visit our Website, certain information is automatically collected to make your browsing experience more enjoyable. We invite you to consult the section on cookies below.

The CQDE does not knowingly solicit or collect personal information directly from minors. When the CQDE must collect personal information about a minor, the authorization of the parent or guardian will be requested.

You may suspend or withdraw your consent to the use and disclosure of your personal information. However, depending on the circumstances, withdrawing your consent may prevent us from continuing to provide you with the products or services you have requested or from properly evaluating and processing your requests. 

COOKIES ON THE WEBSITE

Our Website uses cookies and other related technologies. Cookies are also placed by third parties we have engaged. A privacy assessment has been carried out for each of these third parties. A cookie is a small, simple file that is sent and stored by your browser on the hard drive of your technological device. The information stored in it may be sent back to our servers or to the servers of the relevant third parties during a subsequent visit to the Website or training platform. Some cookies ensure that certain parts of the Website function properly and that your user preferences are remembered. By placing functional cookies, we make your visit easier, so you do not need to repeatedly enter the same login information.

When you first visit our Website, you have the opportunity to set the cookies by selecting the appropriate boxes in the pop-up banner.

THIRD PARTIES WHO MAY HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

In addition to CQDE staff and volunteers whose duties require access to the personal information collected, the following individuals may have access to your personal information:

1. Certain service providers may have access to your personal information in order to provide the required service, but they are strictly prohibited from using this information for any other purpose. The CQDE ensures that it signs a service agreement with each of its suppliers to ensure the protection of any personal information that may be transmitted to them.
2. Some donors participating in matching gift programs may have access to the amounts of donations made by others, as they commit to matching or multiplying these donations. No other personal information about our other donors is shared with them. 
3. Any person with the authority to compel their disclosure and who requires them in the performance of their duties, as authorized by applicable law, as well as any person to whom it is necessary or permitted to disclose them under applicable law.

No other use is made of the personal information you provide to us, and we do not disclose it to third parties unless we obtain your express consent.

We do not sell our list of individual members to any organization or company, nor do we exchange it with anyone.

RETENTION

Personal information is stored on secure servers located in Québec and in the rest of Canada. Personal information collected is retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and to the extent permitted or required by law. After that time, it is destroyed or retained without use, pursuant to a retention schedule that the CQDE may establish in accordance with applicable legislation. 

SECURITY

The CQDE takes all necessary measures to ensure the security of personal information. These measures include

• Protection of the CQDE’s physical premises.
• Protection of the CQDE’s technological equipment.
• The use of secure passwords.
• Restricting access to only those individuals who need to consult personal information. For example, information necessary for the hiring or contract award process is handled by individuals strictly required for the process.
• When available, the highest confidentiality measures are those that are enabled by default.

LINKS TO EXTERNAL SITES

The Website operated by the CQDE may contain links to external sites (third parties, suppliers, or partners) that are not covered by this Policy. The information you provide on these sites is subject to the privacy policy of the external site, if any. 

We are not responsible for the privacy policies adopted by third parties or any other partners, as each must comply with the legislation in force in their country of residence. We therefore suggest that you review the privacy policies posted on each of these sites, if any, to learn how personal information may be collected, held, used, or disclosed.

RIGHTS

You have the right to refuse to provide personal information. You have the right to request access to the personal information collected about you. Subject to applicable law and legislative exceptions, the CQDE must provide you with a copy of the personal information it holds about you. The same applies to relatives of a person who are legally authorized to access this personal information. You have the right to ensure that personal information held about you is corrected as required. To facilitate proper record keeping, we encourage you to inform us of any changes to your personal information so that we can make the appropriate changes. You have the right to request that the CQDE cease disseminating personal information about you or that a hyperlink associated with your name be removed. We will respond to any request for access or correction within thirty (30) days of receiving the request. If the request is denied, the reasons for the denial will be communicated to the person who made the request.

COMPLAINTS

In order to maintain and improve the quality of its services, the CQDE offers anyone the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with the protection of personal information that it collects, holds, uses, or discloses. Anyone wishing to file a complaint should contact, in writing, the person in charge of personal information protection identified below. The complaint must include the following information about the complainant:

• First and last name
• Phone number
• Mailing address or email address
• Reasons for the complaint

All complaints will be treated confidentially. The CQDE will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within five (5) business days of the date of receipt. The CQDE will respond to all complaints within thirty (30) days of the date of receipt of the complaint.

CONFIDENTIALITY INCIDENT

The CQDE makes every effort to identify any situation that could be considered a confidentiality incident. Except in cases where required by law, if the situation presents a risk of serious harm, you will be notified of the situation.

PERSON IN CHARGE

For more information, contact Geneviève Paul, Executive Director of the CQDE and the person in charge of our Privacy Policy, at the following email address: confidentialite@cqde.org

EFFECTIVE DATE AND AMENDMENTS

This Policy comes into effect on the day it is adopted by the CQDE Board of Directors and is effective immediately upon adoption. This Policy may be amended by the CQDE at any time. Amendments to this Policy will come into effect as soon as they are posted on our Website.

Last updated: July 17, 2025