Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy
Spectrum-Canada Mortgage Services Inc., (“Spectrum”, “we”, “us” or “our”), have provided this Privacy Policy to describe our personal information handling practices, and to assure you of our continuing commitment to protect all personal information that we handle in the course of commercial activities. By using our website and the services we offer, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information that you submit to us as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

”Personal information”, as used in this Privacy Policy, means information about an identifiable individual. “Business contact information” is a category of personal information under the applicable federal privacy law and is defined as “any information that is used for the purpose of communicating or facilitating communication with an individual in relation to their employment, business or profession such as the individual’s name, position name or title, work address, work telephone number, work fax number or work electronic address”. Spectrum may collect, use and disclose business contact information without your consent as long as such collection, use and disclosure is solely for the purpose of communicating or facilitating communication with you in relation to your employment, business or profession.

Purposes for Which Spectrum Handles Personal Information
Spectrum collects and uses personal information for purposes limited to those which are required to fulfil the purposes of collection, which include providing you with mortgage brokerage services and possible other financial services. We collect personal information primarily from you, for instance through applications and supporting documentation you provide. We may also collect personal information about you through your ongoing interactions with us, from references, employers and other financial institutions you have identified in your application as well as credit bureaus and other third party sources. For example, we may collect personal information from credit bureaus for the purpose of locating you to collect outstanding debts. In connection with loan agreements, we may also collect personal information from credit bureaus in order to verify your current and ongoing creditworthiness and other information you may provide to us.

We may collect personal information for purposes such as, but not limited to, the following:

to verify identity and other information provided by you and to determine eligibility for products and services;
to respond to requests and queries you submit to us;
to open, administer and service accounts and loans and to provide and administer any requested products or services;
to evaluate current and ongoing creditworthiness and other requirements and to determine your eligibility or suitability for products or services offered by Spectrum;
to advertise, market and promote Spectrum’s products and services to customers who have chosen to receive such communication, including by mail, email and telephone;
to establish relationships, provide quality service to, and communicate with you;
to collect outstanding debts;
to protect the business interests of Spectrum and its lenders, including to detect and prevent fraud and other unauthorized or illegal activities;
to maintain business records for reasonable periods to meet legal and regulatory record retention requirements; and for other purposes with your consent obtained at the time of collection or as permitted or required by law.
to manage and promote the business activities of Spectrum.

Personal Information Spectrum Collects
Spectrum limits the amount and type of personal information collected to that which is necessary for our identified purposes, and we collect personal information by fair and lawful means. Personal information that we collect includes:

your name and contact information, including mailing address, telephone number, fax number and/or email address;
additional information for identity matching and credit check purposes, such as occupation, name of employer, income information, assets and liabilities, names and contact information for references, assets, liabilities, income, previous address, number of dependents, Social Insurance Number (if provided), date of birth or driver’s license number;
information about any account, loan or any other obligation that you may have, such as current and historical information, balance and indebtedness, account transaction history and similar information, and records relating to the handling of any inquiries or complaints;
payment-related information, such as banking information; and such other information we may collect with your consent or as permitted or required by law.

Spectrum does not solicit information of any kind from individuals under the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence (“Minors”) without the required consent of their parents/guardians. If we become aware of any information we possess that may belong to a Minor, we will immediately seek to obtain parental consent to delete this information from our servers. If you are a parent/guardian and you suspect that your child may have submitted personal information to us, please contact our Privacy Officer.

Transfers and Disclosures of Personal Information
Spectrum may disclose personal information in a number of circumstances, including:

to credit bureaus, credit reporting agencies and to your current or future creditors for the purpose of maintaining your credit history and providing credit references;
to financial institutions for payment processing purposes;
to third parties as reasonably necessary to provide you with the products and services you request;
to enforce your contracts with us and otherwise for the collection or payment of a debt owed to us;
for the purposes of detecting and preventing fraud;
in connection with audits;
for the purposes of meeting legal, regulatory, industry self-regulatory, risk management and security requirements;
unless you withdraw consent to Spectrum, to offer you additional products and services; to Spectrum’s insurance partners or other lenders so that they may offer other products and services that may be of interest to you; and for other purposes with your consent or as permitted or required by law.

In addition to the above, personal information may be shared between our affiliates for audit, management, marketing, billing or administrative purposes including defending and bringing legal actions, or as required by law.

In the course of fulfilling the purposes described above, Spectrum may transfer your personal information to service providers, including affiliates or other third party organizations or individuals retained by Spectrum to perform functions on its behalf, such as marketing, data processing, customer service, office, security, collections, insurance, financial and taxation services. When personal information is transferred to service providers, we use contractual or other means to ensure that a comparable level of protection is provided.

Safeguards and Retention
Spectrum uses commercially reasonable technical, organizational and physical safeguards and other security standards to ensure that all personal information in its custody and control is protected against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification, regardless of the format in which the information is held. Safeguards will vary depending on the sensitivity, format, location, and storage of the personal information. Only authorized employees, agents, partners and third parties who require access to personal information to fulfill their job requirements will have access to personal information.

While we strive to ensure your information is safe with us, cybersecurity is nevertheless a challenge. We recommend all of our customers to routinely review their credit, change their passwords, and take all precautions necessary to prevent and minimize loss in the unlikely event of a security breach.

We will retain your personal information as long as reasonably required to complete our dealings with you, or as required to fulfill our record keeping obligations under law, whichever is longer. You can also request that we remove your personal information from our records by contacting our Privacy Officer at the contact information below. Subject to our requirements for continued retention of your information (i.e., audit purposes) or to fulfill our legal obligations, we will make every reasonable effort to honour your request.

Access and Accuracy
Spectrum may establish and maintain a file, in physical or digital format containing an individual’s personal information for the purposes described above, which will be accessible at our offices. Individuals have the right to request access to or correction of their personal information that is held by Spectrum. Requests must be made in writing, addressed to Spectrum’s Privacy Officer. We will respond to written requests within a reasonable time. Copies of records containing personal information may be subject to a reasonable fee.

We will use our best efforts to ensure that personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If an individual successfully demonstrates the inaccuracy or incompleteness of personal information, we will amend the information as required. If we refuse access to personal information or disagree with an assertion that information held by us is incorrect, we will provide a written explanation for such refusal. An individual’s right to access or correct personal information is subject to applicable legal restrictions. To prevent fraudulent access to the personal information stored by Spectrum, we may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. Originals if any, are not released unless as required or requested under appropriate regulations.

Spectrum’s Website and Email Communication
Spectrum does not guarantee the confidentiality of any communications made by you via e-mail or otherwise through our website. If you wish to provide information of a confidential or sensitive nature to Spectrum, please contact us directly by telephone to arrange for delivery/transmission of such information by secure means.

We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your experience on our website, to facilitate the online application process, and for internal research and reporting purposes. A “cookie” is a bit of information that a website sends to your web browser that helps the site remember information about you and your preferences, such as your IP address and the pages of the website that you visit. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie or to refuse cookies. If you refuse cookies, however, you may not be able to use certain features of our website.

Consent
Consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information may be given in various ways. Consent can be express or implied. You may provide your consent in some circumstances where notice has been provided to you about our intentions with respect to your personal information and you have not withdrawn your consent for an identified purpose. By submitting personal information to Spectrum or its service providers and agents, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of such personal information as described in this Privacy Policy or otherwise at the time of collection. If you provide Spectrum or our service providers and agents with personal information of another individual, you will be deemed by Spectrum to have obtained consent from such person to enable us to collect, use and disclose such information for the purposes set forth in this Privacy Policy. Subject to legal or contractual requirements and reasonable notice, you may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting Spectrum’s Privacy Officer. If you withdraw your consent, we may be limited or unable to provide you with certain services or information.
In certain circumstances, as permitted or required by law, we may collect, use or disclose personal information without the knowledge or consent of the individual. These circumstances include but are not limited to: personal information that is publicly available as defined by regulation; where collection is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way; where disclosure is made for the purposes of collecting a debt owed to us; or to comply with a subpoena, warrant or court order.

Inquiries or Further Information
Spectrum has appointed a Privacy Officer to oversee compliance with this Privacy Policy and applicable privacy laws. Any questions related to the Privacy Policy or the handling of personal information by Spectrum can be addressed directly to the Privacy Officer at:

Privacy Officer
Spectrum-Canada Mortgage Services Inc.
218 – 9525 201 St.
Langley, B.C.
Canada V1M 4A5

If you are not satisfied with our response to a privacy-related matter, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at 1-800-282-1376 or at www.priv.gc.ca.

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make a change to this Policy, we will post such changes on our website located at www.spectrum-canada.com. Your continued use of our website following a change to this Privacy Policy means that you provide your consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as set out in the updated Privacy Policy.
Please check back periodically for updates.

Last Updated: August 12, 2020

Spectrum Canada Privacy