Navigating Canadian data privacy laws can feel complex, but privacy compliance doesn’t have to slow your business down. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) sets the standards for how organizations collect, use, and protect personal data in the private sector for commercial activities. PIPEDA is administered by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC).
Whether your company is based in Canada or simply serves Canadian users, understanding and applying these rules is essential to avoid fines, protect your operations and reputation, and strengthen customer trust.
This checklist breaks down PIPEDA’s key requirements into clear, actionable steps. From understanding applicability of the 10 Principles and managing consent, to safeguarding data and handling user rights, you’ll learn how to create a robust privacy program to future-proof your business and marketing efforts.
Download the PIPEDA Checklist to assess your readiness, close compliance gaps, and turn privacy management into a competitive advantage for your organization.
Core principles under PIPEDA
- PIPEDA applies to private-sector organizations collecting, using, or disclosing personal information for commercial activities in Canada, or those serving Canadian users.
- Compliance hinges on adhering to the 10 Fair Information Principles.
- PIPEDA uses a hybrid consent model, but requires valid, documented consent for collecting, using, and disclosing personal data, in many cases, especially sensitive information. Users can withdraw consent.
- Organizations must provide clear, easily understandable privacy notices about data handling practices and user rights.
- Individuals have rights, including access, correction, and the ability to challenge compliance or file a complaint.
- PIPEDA requires appointing a privacy officer and maintaining documentation to demonstrate compliance.
- Organizations must implement proportionate technical, physical, and organizational safeguards to protect personal information.
- Some provinces have their own substantially similar private sector laws, potentially exempting organizations from PIPEDA within those provinces, though PIPEDA still governs inter-provincial/international transfers.
1. Understand the scope and applicability
PIPEDA is Canada’s federal-level data privacy regulation, becoming law and having initial sections coming into force immediately in 2000. It was fully implemented by 2004, with intermittent updates since. Its principles and compliance restrictions and requirements are essential to ongoing privacy compliance across Canada.
The Act applies to the following:
- Organizations operating for commercial activities in the private sector and collecting, using, or disclosing personal information
- Federally regulated organizations conducting business in Canada, including airports, banks, and telecoms, among others
- Organizations outside Canada that collect, use, and/or disclose the personal information of individuals in Canada
Exemptions under PIPEDA
PIPEDA does not apply to Canadian federal government institutions, as they are covered by the Privacy Act. It also does not apply to provincial or territorial governments or their agents.
There are other informational and organizational exemptions, and PIPEDA may apply under some circumstances, though some of these areas are also covered under provincial laws:
- Business contact information if collected, used, or disclosed only for purpose of communicating with the individual in relation to their profession or employment, including:
- Employee name and title
- Business address
- Telephone number
- Email address
- An individual’s collection, use or disclosure of personal information strictly for personal purposes (e.g., personal contacts list)
- An organization’s collection, use, or disclosure of personal information solely for journalistic, artistic or literary purposes
- Not-for-profit and charity groups (as long as activities are not commercial)
- Political parties and associations
- Municipalities
- Universities and schools
- Hospitals
- Exemptions under the Canada Evidence Act
The provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Québec have their own privacy laws for the private-sector, which have been deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA.
Organizations that are subject to any of these provincial privacy laws are generally exempt from PIPEDA with respect to the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information that occurs within that province. PIPEDA still applies across provincial or national borders, however.
Additionally, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador have health-privacy laws deemed substantially similar to PIPEDA only for personal health information (PHI).
Even when exemptions apply, organizations must still uphold the 10 Principles, like data minimization, avoiding manipulation of users via dark patterns, and security.
What is considered personal information under PIPEDA?
Under PIPEDA, personal information is defined as “information about an identifiable individual.” It includes any factual or subjective information about an individual, whether recorded or not.
This differs from many other laws, which focus on data points that can be used, alone or combined, to identify an individual, though common examples of personal information remain much the same across laws.
Examples include:
- Age
- Name
- ID numbers
- Income
- Ethnic origin
- Opinions, evaluations, comments
- Social status or disciplinary actions
- Employee files, credit records, loan records
- Blood type or medical records
- Existence of a dispute between a consumer and a merchant
- Intentions (e.g., to acquire goods or services, or change jobs)
Even data that appears anonymous could count as personal data if it could be re-linked to an individual. Organizations collecting website analytics, customer information, or employee data must evaluate how they collect, use, and disclose personal information on an ongoing basis.
Sensitive personal information under PIPEDA
Some types of personal information would be categorized as sensitive due to increased risk to data subjects if misused. This information requires appropriate levels of safeguarding, as well as user consent to collect, use, or disclose. As of 2021 updates, personal information typically considered sensitive includes:
- Health and healthcare data
- Financial data
- Ethnic and racial origins
- Political opinions
- Genetic and biometric data
- An individual’s sex life or sexual orientation
- Religious or philosophical beliefs
2. Map your data processing and maintain records
Before diving into finer controls, map what personal information you’ve collected, why you process it, who can access it, how long you retain it, and how it’s disposed of.
- Identify and classify personal information that you collect, store, use, or disclose.
- Maintain a record of processing activities (RoPA), including purposes, categories of data subjects, data recipients, retention periods and security measures.
- Regularly review your data flows, especially when your business operations, technologies, or regulatory requirements change.
3. Align with the 10 Principles and establish consent mechanisms
Unlike some privacy laws, such as the GDPR, PIPEDA does not require a legal basis for data processing. However, per the 10 Principles, organizations must have legitimate purposes for collecting and processing personal information. These have to be documented and available to data subjects before or at the time of data collection, e.g., via a cookie banner.
The 10 Fair Information Principles are:
- Accountability
- Identifying purposes
- Consent
- Limiting collection
- Limiting use, disclosure, and retention
- Accuracy
- Safeguards
- Openness
- Individual access
- Challenging compliance
Canadian privacy law follows a hybrid consent model, or not exclusively opt-in or opt-out. In many cases, organizations must obtain valid user consent before collecting, using, or disclosing personal data, similar to the GDPR.
There are some exceptions to consent requirements, e.g., for some publicly available information, however, the purposes for processing such data must relate directly to why the data is in the public domain, and all usual requirements apply to protect the information.
PIPEDA also permits obtaining consent after data has been collected in some cases, if the organization wants to use it for a new purpose that wasn’t previously covered. If an organization wants to use already-collected data for a new purpose, new consent must be obtained from individuals.
Individuals can withdraw their consent at any time, provided they give reasonable notice and doing so is not prevented by legal or contractual limits. Organizations must explain the consequences of withdrawing consent, but can’t obstruct the process.
Exceptions to consent requirements
There are circumstances under which user consent is not required with regards to personal information collection, use, and/or disclosure. They include:
- When the collection and use are clearly in the individual’s interests and consent cannot be obtained in a timely manner.
- When obtaining consent would compromise the availability or accuracy of the information and the collection is reasonable for investigating a breach of an agreement or a violation of Canadian or provincial law.
- When disclosure is required to comply with a subpoena, warrant, court order, or court rules on producing records.
- When disclosure to another organization is reasonable for investigating a breach of an agreement or a violation of Canadian or provincial law, and obtaining consent would likely compromise the investigation.
- When disclosure to another organization is reasonable for detecting, preventing, or suppressing fraud, and obtaining consent would likely compromise those efforts.
- When disclosure is otherwise required by law.
User tracking and access if consent is declined
Essential cookies required for websites to function correctly are permissible without consent. Individuals who decline or withdraw consent where that’s enabled — for use of non-essential cookies or other tracking technologies — must still be able to access your site.
While you cannot entirely block non-consenting users, you can inform them that some functions or services may be limited.
When processing sensitive personal information, you must obtain prior and valid user consent for collection, use, and/or disclosure. Organizations must also clearly disclose the purpose for collecting this information, and collection, use, disclosure, and retention of it must be limited to the minimums necessary to fulfill the stated purpose.
Organizations are also accountable for appropriately using, sharing, protecting, and disposing of this personal information.
4. Provide transparent privacy notices
PIPEDA doesn’t explicitly require organizations to have a privacy policy. However, it does require them to provide clear and easily accessible information about personal data policies and processing, and a privacy policy is a common mechanism to comply.
Individuals must be able to find out and understand what information of theirs is being collected and used, how their information is being used and by whom (including third parties), how it’s being protected, and what their data privacy rights are and how they can exercise them.
Where relevant, details of personal information retention and destruction must be included, and organizations must identify who is accountable for privacy compliance, e.g., a privacy officer, and supply contact information so individuals can submit questions or complaints.
The privacy notice has to be easily accessible and easy for the average person to understand, so no technical or legal jargon. It also has to be kept up to date as data processing operations evolve, and include the last updated date (ideally with a link to the previous version.)
5. Manage data subject rights and requests
Under PIPEDA, individuals have various rights regarding their personal information. Your organization must know where data resides across systems to ensure accurate, complete responses. You must also be able to reasonably verify an individual’s identity and respond to inquiries and requests within the required timeframe, which is typically 30 days.
Individuals’ rights under PIPEDA
- Right to be informed: Know why an organization collects, uses, or discloses their personal information and have access to that information to review or request corrections.
- Right to responsible use: Expect an organization to collect, use, or disclose their personal information reasonably and appropriately and not use the information for any purpose other than that to which they have consented.
- Right to security: Expect an organization to take appropriate security measures to protect their personal data (including third parties with access), and to know who in an organization is responsible for protecting it.
- Right to rectification: Expect the personal information that an organization has about them to be accurate, complete, and up to date, and to request corrections if needed.
- Right to complain: Be able to complain about an organization’s handling of their personal information if they feel their privacy rights have been violated, with contact information to submit a complaint and the expectation of a response within 30 days.
6. Secure data and assess risks
Personal information must not only be collected, used, and disclosed lawfully, regardless of format, but also protected by reasonable technical, physical, and organizational measures against loss; theft; or unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. Organizations must implement measures proportionate to the risks involved in their processing.
Privacy impact assessments (PIA) are recommended, though not strict legal requirements as they are under some regulations, and guidelines and forms to perform them are available from the OPC.
Additional measures the organizations should employ include:
- Encryption, access control, and regular monitoring and testing
- Establishing and regularly test incident management processes to enable timely detection, containment, and reporting of a breach in accordance with regulatory requirements
- Using only third-party processors that provide sufficient guarantees of compliance
7. Accountability, governance, and training
PIPEDA’s first principle is accountability, so you must act responsibly throughout the data processing lifecycle and be able to demonstrate compliance to regulators and individuals. Organizations are required to appoint someone who is responsible for data privacy and compliance operations, like a Privacy Officer.
Governance essentials
- Appoint a privacy officer. They can assign roles and responsibilities for oversight, liaising with authorities, handling user requests or complaints, etc.
- Provide regular training to staff across functions and departments so they understand data privacy and protection principles, PIPEDA requirements, and their obligations to develop a culture of privacy awareness.
- Maintain documentation of policies, procedures, audits, and reviews to show you are meeting your obligations.
- Use a consent management platform (CMP) to collect and securely store consent records, including timestamps, context, and user choices.
8. International data transfers
PIPEDA applies both within Canada, including across provincial and territorial borders, as well as if personal information crosses international borders, e.g., in the course of processing for an organization based outside of Canada, but handling Canadians’ personal information.
PIPEDA doesn’t focus on adequacy agreements between Canada and other nations or regions, like the GDPR does, for example. The Act has more of an “organization to organization” focus regarding privacy compliance and data protection. Each organization involved in international data transfers is responsible for security and privacy.
9. Review, monitor, and update
Privacy compliance is not “set it and forget it.” You need to assess, monitor, and adjust your practices as your business and the regulatory landscape change.
- Schedule regular reviews, e.g., quarterly or after any major system, product, or regulatory change.
- Stay informed about regulatory changes, as PIPEDA includes a requirement for review every five years, and new privacy legislation continues to be proposed.
- Keep your documentation, privacy notices, consents, and PIAs up to date and reflective of actual practices.
What’s included in the PIPEDA compliance checklist?
The checklist outlines organizations’ responsibilities and individuals’ rights under PIPEDA, with steps to take to achieve and maintain compliance. It also includes the benefits of using a consent management platform (CMP) and how to implement one as part of your privacy compliance strategy.
By downloading Usercentrics’ printable PIPEDA compliance checklist PDF, you’ll learn:
- How to create a privacy policy
- Requirements to inform users of data use and their rights and how to exercise them
- How to obtain valid consent
- Best practices to securely document consent data
Strengthen your Privacy-Led Marketing efforts while protecting your business and demonstrating commitment to data protection. Give your customers confidence in how their personal information is handled and increase trust with your audience.
