Privacy Policy

Effective as of November 21, 2024

Martin Family Initiative (“MFI”) collects and processes your personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy. At MFI, we are committed to protecting the privacy of our donors, volunteers, members, and other stakeholders. We value your trust and recognize that maintaining this trust requires us to be transparent and accountable in how we manage and process the personal information shared with us.

This Policy governs how we use and communicate your personal information that we collect as part of our various (in-person and virtual) activities, through the MFI website located at www.themfi.ca (the “MFI Website”) and the TREES Network website located at www.treesnetwork.themfi.ca (collectively with the MFI Website, the “Websites”). We may collect your personal information directly from you or through third parties that have the right to communicate this information to us.

What do we mean by personal information?

“Personal information” means any information that can identify you directly or indirectly, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, or payment information.

Will we update this Policy?

We may update or change our privacy practices or this Policy at any time. We will notify you of any changes by posting an updated Policy on the MFI Website, and updating the effective date set out at the top of this Policy. Please review this Privacy Policy periodically to see any changes to our Privacy Policy.

How do we get your permission?

When you provide us with your personal information through the Websites or any of our forms, after having the opportunity to review this Policy, we presume that you understand and agree to the collection and use of the personal information shared with us, and the handling of the personal information as set out in this Policy or as specified at the time of collection of the personal information.

MFI will not collect, use or share your personal information for reasons not listed in this Policy or mentioned when we first collected your personal information, unless the law allows it.

If you want MFI to stop using or sharing your information, you may submit a written request to MFI at any time by contacting our Privacy Officer at privacy@themfi.ca or as indicated in the How to contact us? section. If you choose to withdraw your permission, any use of your information before your withdrawal will still be legal, but MFI will no longer use your personal information for any reason. If you withdraw your permission, you may lose access to some of MFI’s features or services, including parts of the Websites.

If you provide MFI with personal information of another individual, you are responsible for obtaining their permission for us to collect, use, and share that information as described in this Policy.

What personal information do we collect and why?

MFI collects, uses and communicates your personal information as set out in this Policy and applicable privacy laws. The types of personal information that MFI may collect include:

Types of personal information collected:

MFI Programs Information, as applicable to the particular MFI Program (typically name, address, school and reading level)
Identity Information
Contact Information
Donation Information (financial information including credit card information)
Donation Recipient Information (name and email of recipient or family member)
Identity Information
Contact Information
MFI Programs Information Identity Information, Contact Information
TREES Network Information
Usage Data (your computer's IP address, browser type, browser version, the TREES Network pages that you visited, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers, and other diagnostic data)

Why we need it:

To develop and improve the MFI programs.
To process donations made by you and, where applicable, to issue a tax receipt.
To respond to the communications you send us or to send information you requested, which may include educational resources, newsletter updates, and inquiries about volunteering opportunities with MFI. You may also, at any time, choose to opt-out of receiving communications from us by clicking the unsubscribe button at the bottom of each email sent from MFI to you.
To manage your user account and provide you access to the TREES Network and to provide you with the services available through the TREES Network.

Further, certain features on the TREES Network may require the use of your location data, if you give us permission to use such location data ("Location Data"), which you can enable or disable through your device settings.

Note that the Websites and any online recruitment service that MFI may provide through the Websites are directed to, and meant to be used by, adults or individuals no younger than the age of majority. In particular, we do not knowingly collect any personal information from any persons under the age of 14. If we become aware that we have collected any personal information from a child under the age of 14, we will delete that information. We ask parents and other guardians to monitor their children’s Internet usage to protect them.

Do we use cookies and other tracking technologies?

MFI may place cookies on your device to obtain usage information from you. Cookies are files that your Internet browser places on your computer when you visit a website. These files help us understand your interactions and enhance your user experience.

You can manage your cookie preferences through the cookie banner that appears on our website. This banner allows you to enable or disable different types of cookies, providing you with full control over your privacy settings. For instance, you can choose to allow only essential cookies or customize your preferences to enable additional functionalities like targeted advertisements and analytical tracking.

To who do we share your personal information?

All the personal information you provide to MFI, whether through our Websites or forms, is kept confidential unless shared with your consent or as permitted or required by law.

MFI may share your personal information to third parties and outside service providers as set out in the table below:

Private and public foundations, web developers
For reporting; fundraising and promotional campaigns

Communication firms
To communicate with you

Law enforcement, governmental bodies
To comply with the legal requirements

Relevant parties
As part of a transaction involving transfer of control or assets transaction involving MFI

Donations processing service providers
E-learning management systems
Service providers
To process donations, provide tax receipts, provide online courses, for professional development or training

When we share your personal information with outside parties, we make sure they agree to follow rules that are consistent with this Policy. They can only use your personal information for the reasons we mentioned or for reasons that you have agreed to.

Where do we keep your personal information?

We generally hold your personal information in Canada, including on servers located in Ontario. Further, your personal information may be accessible to law enforcement, national security authorities, and the courts in those jurisdictions. This means your personal information may be transferred outside of your province of residence.

If you have any questions regarding our policies and practices relating to our storage and processing of personal information in other jurisdictions, please contact us at any time privacy@themfi.ca.

What are your privacy rights?

Under applicable laws, you have specific privacy rights. In particular, you may withdraw your consent and you may access and correct your personal information that we have collected. More information on these rights is outlined below.

Withdraw your consent.
You may request to withdraw your consent to the use, disclosure and retention of your personal information.

How this request is handled depends on the situation and the purpose for which it is made. Depending on the case:

you can withdraw your consent, but we will no longer be able to offer you a service that depends on it
you cannot withdraw your consent because the processing of your personal information is necessary or compulsory (for example, we need to retain certain financial information for tax purposes).

In all cases, we may be required to retain certain personal information in order to comply with our legal obligations.

Accessing and correcting your personal information.
You may request access to and copies of the personal information we hold about you.

If any personal information concerning you is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous, or if its collection, communication or storage is not authorized by law, you may request that it be rectified.

To exercise your rights, contact us at the addressed identified in the How to contact us? section below. All requests must be in writing, and MFI may need to verify your identity. We may fully or partially deny requests when allowed by law. MFI will respond within the legal timeframe. If we deny your request (in whole or in part), we will explain the reasons and provide information on how to appeal our decision, following legal requirements.

Does this Policy cover information posted on social media?

If you voluntarily submit or post any information, photographs, or other content to any MFI forums, Twitter pages, Facebook pages, or other social networking pages/sites, certain elements of your personal information may be automatically included in the posting, including your user name and email address, and this information may be collected and used by others. MFI has no control over, and is not liable for, the collection, use, or disclosure of any posted user content by users of such forums and social media networking pages. For further clarity, except with regard to MFI forums hosted on the Websites, any personal information posted, used, or disclosed via such sites is not subject to this Policy.

Does this Policy cover links to other sites?

The Websites may contain links to other sites that are operated by third parties that do not act on our behalf. Please be aware that MFI does not control such websites and is not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites. We encourage Websites visitors to be aware that when they leave the Websites, they should thoroughly read the privacy statements and applicable terms of use of each and every website that collects personal information.

How do we protect your personal information?

MFI is committed to maintaining the security of all personal information it holds. In addition, we are committed to taking appropriate precautions to protect your information against loss, fraud or unwanted use.

We restrict access to your personal information. Only those employees who need to process your personal information to perform their duties have access to it, and their access is limited to the information needed to perform their duties.

We have established roles and responsibilities for our employees throughout the life cycle of your personal information, from collection to destruction.

We implement robust security measures. We have put in place several types of measures to protect your personal information against loss, theft and unauthorized access, use or disclosure. These include:

physical measures, such as locked premises;
technological measures, such as firewalls;
organizational measures, such ensuring that the employees will have access to personal information only on a need-to-know basis, for the performance of their duties.

We destroy your personal information once we have fulfilled our obligations. For more information, see How long do we keep your personal information?

That said, mail, emails, voice communications, faxes, and data transmissions over the Internet are all susceptible to possible loss, misrouting, interception, and misuse of the information being communicated or transmitted. MFI does not guarantee the security of your personal information when is it transmitted over means of communications that are susceptible to any of the foregoing.

How long do we keep your personal information?

MFI keeps personal information only as long as needed for its intended purposes or to meet legal requirements. Once it’s no longer necessary, it is securely destroyed, deleted or anonymized in line with laws and regulations. For further details on our retention practices, please get in touch.

How to contact us?

To exercise your rights or if you have any questions, comments or complaints about this Policy or our privacy practices, you may contact our Privacy Officer at the following address:

Privacy Officer
759 Victoria Square, Suite 300
ÀMontreal, Quebec, H2Y 2J7
Tel: (514) 982-3911
Email: hello@themfi.ca