Privacy Policy | The Village Vet+

Scope. This Policy explains how The Village Vet collects, uses, discloses, retains, and protects personal information through thevillagevet.com, including TVV clinic subpages, and related online services that link to this Policy. If the Site links to a separate clinic website, including the existing Upper Village Veterinary Hospital website, personal information collected on that separate website is governed by the privacy notice posted there unless that website links to this Policy. This Policy does not replace any separate privacy notice that a clinic provides for its client records or veterinary services.

1. Who we are and how this Policy applies

In this Policy, "The Village Vet," "TVV," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Upper Village Veterinary Group Inc. and the affiliates that operate the Site or collect personal information through it (collectively, "TVVG"). "Site" means thevillagevet.com and any webpages, forms, booking tools, or other online services that link to this Policy.

If you contact or book with a particular clinic, TVV and the selected clinic may each retain the basic client contact information, pet profile information, booking details, communications, and preferences needed to manage the relationship and provide coordinated service. Upper Village Veterinary Group Inc. is responsible for personal information collected through centrally operated Site functions. The veterinary professional corporation that operates the selected clinic is responsible for the official veterinary medical record and for personal information collected in providing veterinary services. Official veterinary medical records are maintained by that clinic veterinary professional corporation, not as part of TVV's centrally operated website records. TVVG entities and clinics coordinate as needed to respond to privacy questions and requests.

We handle personal information in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), where it applies, and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) for commercial electronic messages.

2. What personal information we collect

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Depending on how you use the Site, we may collect the following categories:

Contact and identity information, such as your first and last name, email address, telephone number, mailing address, postal code, preferred clinic, and communication preferences.
Appointment, pet, veterinary intake, and telehealth information, such as the requested clinic, service, date or time, whether you are a new or existing client, your pet's name, species or type, breed, age, sex, and other profile details, the reason for the visit, a summary of the pet's condition or veterinary needs, care preferences, accessibility or communication preferences, information submitted in connection with telehealth or virtual-care requests, and other information you choose to provide when requesting care. Information about a pet is not itself personal information, but it may become personal information when linked to an identifiable owner, client, or household.
Referral-program information, such as the referrer's name and contact information, the referred person's name and contact information, the applicable clinic, the referral relationship, and information needed to administer a referral benefit or credit.
Communications, including messages submitted through forms, email, chat, or text, and records of your consent or opt-out choices.
Technical, usage, and referral information, such as IP address, browser and device type, operating system, referring page or partner, pages viewed, approximate location derived from IP address, date and time of access, campaign parameters, advertising click identifiers, and cookie or similar identifiers.
Marketing and analytics information, such as interactions with newsletters, campaigns, advertisements, and Site content, where these tools are enabled and permitted.
Other information you choose to provide, including information included in a job application, feedback, survey response, or other submission.

Please provide only the information reasonably necessary for us and the selected clinic to understand and respond to your request. If you provide personal information about another person through a referral or other form, please confirm that you have their permission to do so. Do not submit human health information, payment-card information, government identification numbers, or other highly sensitive information unless a form specifically requests it. Do not use a website, booking form, or telehealth service for an emergency; contact a clinic or emergency veterinary hospital directly for urgent veterinary needs.

3. How we collect personal information

We collect personal information:

directly from you when you use our booking flow, complete a Site form, use a booking or form service such as PetDesk or Google Forms, request an appointment or telehealth service, participate in a referral program, subscribe to updates, contact us, apply for a position, or otherwise interact with us;
automatically through the Site using cookies, pixels, logs, and similar technologies; and
from service providers, booking platforms, practice information management systems, or the clinic you selected, when needed to route and complete your request, maintain consistent client and pet information, support scheduling and communications, or provide an integrated service, and where permitted by law.

4. Why we use personal information

We may use personal information to:

respond to inquiries and appointment or service requests;
identify the appropriate clinic, transmit the booking request to that clinic, and support client intake, appointment scheduling, preparation for the visit, and related communications;
administer referral programs, contact referred individuals, determine eligibility, and apply referral benefits or credits;
coordinate telehealth or virtual-care services, including routing information to a third-party provider where applicable;
provide, administer, and support our Site and services;
send service communications, appointment-related messages, and other information you request;
send newsletters, offers, or other commercial electronic messages where we have the required consent or another lawful basis, and manage unsubscribe requests;
understand Site use, measure performance, troubleshoot issues, and improve content, accessibility, security, and user experience;
detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, misuse, security incidents, or violations of our terms;
meet legal, regulatory, insurance, accounting, and record-keeping requirements; and
establish, exercise, or defend legal claims and protect the rights, property, and safety of TVV, clinics, clients, staff, and others.

If we intend to use personal information for a materially new purpose, we will identify that purpose and obtain additional consent when required.

5. Consent and your choices

We seek meaningful consent appropriate to the sensitivity of the information and the circumstances. Consent may be express or implied where permitted by law. You may withdraw consent, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. Withdrawal may limit our ability to provide a requested service.

Marketing communications

We may send marketing emails and SMS messages about services, promotions, events, and pet-care information where we have your consent or are otherwise permitted by law. Marketing consent is optional and is not a condition of receiving veterinary care. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails using the link in each message. You can stop commercial text messages by replying STOP or following the opt-out instructions in the message. Standard message and data rates may apply. We may still send non-promotional messages needed to respond to you, administer an appointment, or provide a requested service.

We keep records of marketing consent and unsubscribe requests and process opt-outs in accordance with Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). We do not sell your mobile number or text-message consent information, and we do not disclose text-message opt-in data to third parties for their own marketing. Providers that help us deliver messages may process this information on our behalf and under contractual restrictions.

Cookies and analytics choices

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings and manage advertising preferences through applicable third-party platform settings. Where consent is required, we will seek it before enabling the relevant non-essential technology. Blocking some technologies may affect Site features or the relevance of advertising. See Section 8 for more information.

6. When we disclose personal information

We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances:

Clinics and affiliated organizations. We may send your request and related client and pet information to the clinic you select or the clinic best placed to respond. TVV and the selected clinic may each maintain basic client contact information, pet profile information, booking details, communications, and preferences for their respective relationship-management and service purposes. The veterinary professional corporation that operates the selected clinic is responsible for maintaining the official veterinary medical record and may use the information for client intake, scheduling, veterinary services, and record-keeping under its own privacy practices.
Service providers. We may use vendors for hosting, website maintenance, security, analytics, advertising and campaign measurement, forms, appointment booking, telehealth, practice information management, customer communications, email or text delivery, document storage, and professional advice. Current booking and form providers may include PetDesk, Google Forms, and other Google Workspace services. Online platform and promotional services may include Google Search, Google Reviews, and Meta advertising through Facebook and Instagram. These providers may process personal information only as needed to provide services for us or the selected clinic, or may collect information under their own privacy notices when you interact directly with their services, and are expected to protect information they process on our behalf.
Business transactions. Personal information may be disclosed as part of a proposed or completed financing, reorganization, merger, sale, or transfer of all or part of our business, subject to appropriate confidentiality and legal requirements.
Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information when required or permitted by law, to respond to lawful requests, investigate suspected unlawful activity, protect rights or safety, or manage legal claims.
With your direction or consent. We may disclose information for another purpose that we explain to you and to which you consent.

We do not sell personal information. We do not permit service providers to use personal information for their own independent marketing unless you separately interact with and consent to that provider.

7. Processing outside Canada

Some service providers, including booking, forms, telehealth, communications, advertising, online-platform, and practice information management providers, may store or process personal information outside Canada, including in the United States. This may include PetDesk, Google Forms or other Google services, Meta services, telehealth providers, and other systems used by TVV or the selected clinic. When information is processed in another jurisdiction, it may be subject to that jurisdiction's laws and may be accessible to courts, law enforcement, or national-security authorities in accordance with those laws. We remain accountable for personal information transferred to service providers for processing and use contractual or other measures appropriate to the circumstances. You may contact our Privacy Officer for further information about our use of service providers outside Canada.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

The Site may use cookies, pixels, local storage, and similar technologies operated by us or by service providers. These may include technologies associated with embedded Google services and Meta advertising through Facebook and Instagram, where enabled. Depending on the tools enabled and your choices, they may support:

Essential functions, such as security, network management, form operation, and remembering privacy choices;
Preferences, such as remembering selected settings or a preferred location;
Analytics and performance, including understanding visits, pages viewed, general location, device and browser information, and Site interactions so we can improve reliability and user experience; and
Advertising and campaign measurement, including using Meta and other permitted tools to measure referrals, ad performance, and actions taken after an advertisement, and to create or reach relevant audiences where permitted.

Where consent is required, we will seek it before enabling non-essential analytics or advertising technologies. You may change your choices through any cookie settings made available on the Site, your browser settings, and applicable platform settings. We do not configure Google or Meta advertising tools to receive the contents of appointment requests, contact forms, medical summaries, care preferences, referral submissions, telehealth requests, or other free-text submissions. We may use limited, generic events, such as whether a booking was completed and the general campaign or clinic associated with it, to measure advertising performance where permitted. Online identifiers and browsing activity may be personal information when they can reasonably be linked to an identifiable individual. Cookie settings are device- and browser-specific and may need to be reset after clearing cookies.

9. Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, to maintain appropriate business and consent records, and to meet legal, regulatory, insurance, accounting, and dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type and sensitivity of the information, the purpose for which it is used, and applicable requirements. When information is no longer required, we securely delete, destroy, or de-identify it.

We may create and use aggregated or de-identified information for analytics, planning, security, service improvement, and other legitimate business purposes, provided it cannot reasonably be used to identify or be re-associated with an individual.

10. Safeguards

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity, amount, format, and use of personal information. These may include access controls, staff and service-provider confidentiality obligations, secure transmission, system monitoring, backups, and secure disposal practices. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a breach of security safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify affected individuals and report the breach to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as required by PIPEDA.

11. Access, correction, and privacy requests

Subject to applicable law, you may request access to personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information, or ask questions about how it has been used or disclosed. We may need to verify your identity before responding. In limited circumstances, the law may permit or require us to refuse access; if so, we will explain the reason unless prohibited from doing so.

Please help us keep your personal information accurate and current by notifying us when it changes.

You may also withdraw consent or challenge our compliance with this Policy. We will investigate privacy complaints and respond within a reasonable time.

12. Third-party websites and services

The Site may link to or embed separate clinic websites, maps, social networks, booking platforms, forms, telehealth services, practice information management systems, payment services, review platforms, or other services operated by third parties. This includes links to Upper Village Veterinary Hospital's website. For example, an appointment, referral, or telehealth request may be collected through PetDesk, Google Forms, a telehealth provider, or another approved service and then transferred to the selected clinic and its systems. When you use Google Search or Google Reviews, interact with Facebook or Instagram, or visit a separate clinic website, those services or sites may collect information under their own privacy notices. We encourage you to review those notices before providing personal information. A link or embedded service does not mean that TVV controls the third party's independent privacy practices.

13. Children

Our website is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 without the consent of a parent or guardian. If you are under 13, please have a parent or guardian contact us or submit information on your behalf. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without appropriate consent, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

14. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices, services, or legal obligations. We will post the updated version on the Site and revise the "Last updated" date. If a change is material, we will provide additional notice when appropriate.

15. Contact us

The Privacy Officer is responsible for overseeing compliance with this Policy. To make a privacy request, ask a question, or submit a complaint, contact:

Privacy Officer
The Village Vet
Email: privacy@thevillagevet.com
Mailing address: 303-801 Eglinton Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario M5N 1E3

If we cannot resolve your concern, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Information about filing a complaint is available at priv.gc.ca.