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Book a TourTo respect and uphold the privacy and protection of residents and team members’ Personal Information by ensuring compliance with applicable privacy legislation.
We obtain their consent where required to ensure that residents, team members, and other individuals about whom Optima collects Personal Information are informed about why and how we collect, use, and disclose their Personal Information.
To ensure that Personal Information is handled and safeguarded in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
Personal information: any documented or verbal information about an identifiable individual (other than business contact information) and includes (but is not limited to) name, address, telephone number; race, national or ethnic origin; colour or religious or political beliefs or associations; age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status or family status; an identifying number, symbol, or other particular assigned to the individual (e.g., Social Insurance Number); fingerprints, blood type, or inheritable characteristics; information about the individual’s health care, history, educational, financial, criminal or employment history; and anyone else’s opinion about that individual. Information can be recorded in any format including pictures, electronic or written.
This policy applies to Optima Seniors Management Inc. (“Optima”), its affiliates, and the seniors living communities managed by Optima and its affiliates.
Accountability:
Optima is accountable for the Personal Information in its possession or control.
All team members are obligated to protect the personal privacy of residents, other team members, and other individuals with regard to all Personal Information collected by the organization. Team members are required to comply with this policy and the procedures set out herein regarding the management of Personal Information.
Team members will be trained and provided with information about the privacy laws applying to the organization.
Purposes for Collection, Use & Disclosure
Optima collects, uses, and discloses Personal Information about residents to enable the provision of proper care and services.
Optima collects, uses, and discloses Personal Information about employees to establish, manage, or terminate an employment or volunteer-work relationship or manage a post-employment or post-volunteer-work relationship.
Optima will not collect, use, or disclose information beyond what is required to fulfill the specified purposes.
When Personal Information collected is to be used or disclosed for a purpose not previously identified, the new purpose will be identified prior to use or disclosure, and consent will be obtained if required.
Consent:
Unless permitted or required by applicable laws, Optima will only collect, use, and disclose Personal Information with the consent of the individual that the information is about (or their proxy). Consent can either be express or implied.
Consent can be implied i) where the purpose for collecting, using, or disclosing the Personal Information would be considered obvious, and the individual that the Personal Information is about (or their proxy) voluntarily provides Personal Information for that purpose, and/or ii) where the individual is given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of the collection, use, or disclosure of their Personal Information, but does not.
Consent is part of the move-in process; refer to Optima Living’s Informed Consent policy for more information.
Subject to certain exceptions, individuals can withdraw or withhold their consent for Optima to use their Personal Information in certain ways. However, this may restrict Optima’s ability to provide a service. If so, we will explain this to assist the individual in making an informed decision.
Access Rights and Disclosure of Information to Third Parties:
Individuals have a right to access their Personal Information, subject to limited exceptions.
Refer to Optima Living’s Release of Personal Information policy.
Limiting Collection:
Optima collects personal information only for the purposes identified above.
Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention:
Optima does not use or disclose Personal Information for any purpose other than those for which it was collected, except as required or permitted by law or with consent.
We will retain Personal Information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected unless there is a legal or business requirement to keep it for a longer period.
Accuracy:
Optima will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that Personal Information is as accurate, complete, and current as required for the purposes for which it was collected. Optima relies on the individual that Personal Information is about (or their proxy) to ensure that certain information about them, such as their contact and reference information, is current, complete, and accurate.
It is an individual’s responsibility to inform Optima Living if their Personal Information changes.
Optima Living will not routinely update Personal Information unless such a process is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected.
Individuals may request that Optima correct their personal information to ensure it is accurate and complete. All requests must be made in writing, and enough details must be provided to identify the Personal Information and the correction being sought. If the request relates to resident information, it should be sent to the community's general manager or to an individual’s manager. In all other situations, a copy of all requests should be sent to the Privacy Officer.
Safeguards:
Optima Living uses security safeguards to protect personal information. These safeguards are appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
Optima will make all reasonable efforts to protect Personal Information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.
The security safeguards include:
Physical measures (i.e., archiving, off-site backups, locking offices and/or filing cabinets, ensuring the offices are monitored and/or alarmed)
Administrative measures (i.e., immediate filing of all application forms, timely destruction of old files, protection of files in use from access by unauthorized persons, ensuring that our Records Retention Policy, which states how and when records are to be destroyed, is complied with)
Technological measures (i.e., using passwords and implementing firewalls for all computers accessing the Internet).
Alleged Breaches:
Alleged or suspected privacy breaches will be reported immediately by an employee to their manager, and the Privacy Officer will also be contacted. Please refer to Optima Living’s Privacy Breach Management policy for more information.
Questions and Complaints:
The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring Optima’s compliance with this policy and applicable privacy legislation as a whole. The General Manager is responsible for ensuring that each community complies with this policy and applicable privacy legislation.
Any complaints, concerns, or questions regarding Optima’s collection, use, or disclosure of Personal Information should be directed in writing to the Privacy Officer at [email protected].
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (British Columbia and Alberta)
Personal Information Protection Act (British Columbia and Alberta)