top of page

Privacy Policy

Lighthouse Immigration Law Professional Corporation (hereafter referred to as “Lighthouse Immigration Law”) recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. As lawyers we have a professional obligation to keep confidential all information we receive within a lawyer-client relationship. We are committed to protecting any personal information we hold. This Privacy Policy outlines how we manage your personal information and safeguard your privacy.

Your Privacy Rights

From January 1, 2004, all businesses engaged in commercial activities must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, which it incorporates. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including Lighthouse Immigration Law. The Act gives you rights concerning the privacy of your personal information.

​

Lighthouse Immigration Law is responsible for the personal information we collect and hold. To ensure this accountability, we have developed this policy, and trained our lawyers and support staff about our policies and practices.

Why Does Lighthouse Immigration Law Need Personal Information

Lighthouse Immigration Law provides legal services and products to a wide range of clients. In doing so, it produces direct marketing materials concerning its services and developments in the law.

​

Direct marketing activities include providing you with information about our services or about new developments in the law from time to time. If you tell us that you no longer wish to receive information about our services or about new developments in the law, we will not send any further material. Our specific purposes for collecting your personal information include, but are not limited to:

​

  • Establishing and managing client relationships;

  • Providing legal advice and performing legal services;

  • Providing immigration related consulting advice and services;

  • Avoiding conflicts of interest;

  • Developing and managing our knowledge-management precedent systems and databases;

  • Detecting error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activity and protecting Lighthouse Immigration Law from the same;
    Auditing compliance with Lighthouse Immigration Law’s policies and contractual obligations;

  • Engaging in business transactions, including the purchase, sale, lease, merger, amalgamation or any other type of acquisition, disposal, securitization or financing involving Lighthouse Immigration Law;

  • Any purpose required to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions; and

  • For any other purpose for which your consent has been obtained.

What personal information do we collect?

Personal information is any information that identifies you, or by which your identity could be deduced.

​

If we did not collect and use your personal information, we could not provide you with legal services.

How do we collect your personal information?

We collect information only by lawful and fair means, and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible we collect your personal information directly from you, both at the start of a retainer and in the course of our representation.

​

Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources, for example:

​

  • from a government agency or registry;

  • your employer, if we are acting for you, at its request;

  • your accountant;

  • the internet.

Consent

In most cases, we shall ask you to specifically consent, if we collect, use, or disclose your personal information. Normally, we ask for your consent in writing, but in some circumstances, we may accept your oral consent. Sometimes, your consent may be implied through your conduct with us.

Use of Your Information

We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, to administer our client (time and billing databases) and to include you in any direct marketing activities. If you tell us that you no longer wish to receive information about our services, or about new developments in the law, we will not send any further material.

​

Lighthouse Immigration Law does not disclose your personal information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services. For example, we do not provide our client mailing lists to other law firms.

Disclosure of your Personal Information

Under certain circumstances, Lighthouse Immigration Law will disclose your personal information:

​

  • when we are required or authorized by law to do so, for example if a court issues a subpoena;

  • when you have consented to the disclosure;

  • when the legal services we are providing to you requires us give your information to third parties (for example Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada) your consent will be implied, unless you tell us otherwise;

  • where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;

  • if we engage a third party to provide administrative services to us (like computer back-up services or archival file storage) and the third party is bound by our privacy policy;

  • if we engage expert witnesses on your behalf;

  • if we retain other law firms at your request, and on your behalf;

  • if the information is Publicly Available Personal Information, as it is defined under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

Updating Your Information

Since we use your personal information to provide legal services to you, it is important that the information be accurate and up-to-date.

​

If during the course of the retainer, any of your information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes.

Is My Personal Information Secure?

Lighthouse Immigration Law takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that your personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. Among the steps taken to protect your information are:

​

  • premises security;

  • restricted file access to personal information;

  • deploying technological safeguards like security software and firewalls to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access;

  • internal password and security policies.

Access to Your Personal Information

You may ask for access to any personal information we hold about you.

​

Summary information is available on request. More detailed requests which require archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to our normal professional and disbursement fees.

Correcting Errors

If Lighthouse Immigration Law holds information about you and you can establish that it is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, Lighthouse Immigration Law will take reasonable steps to correct it.

Can I be denied access to my Personal Information?

Your rights to access your personal information are not absolute. We may deny access when:

​

  • it is required or authorized by law (for example, when a record containing personal information about you is protected by solicitor-client privilege);

  • to do so would reveal confidential commercial information, and the personal information cannot be severed from the record;

  • to do so could reasonably be expected to threaten the life or security of another individual, and the personal information cannot be severed from the record; or

  • the information was generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process.

​

If we deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct information, we shall explain why. Lighthouse Immigration Law does not use your Social Insurance Number as a way of identifying or organizing the information we hold about you.

Can I request anonymity?

Whenever it is legal and practicable, we may offer the opportunity to deal with general inquiries without providing your name (for example, by accessing general information on our website). The  Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act Act requires us to confirm the identity of all new clients. It may also require us disclose information to FINTRAC in relation to certain large cash transactions.

Communicating with Us

You should be aware that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium, regardless of the steps taken to secure it. You should be aware of this when contacting us to send personal or confidential information. 

​

Contacting any lawyer or member of LI via e-mail or through the Contact us portion of the website does not constitute a lawyer/client relationship.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

Since Lighthouse Immigration Law regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time.

Requests for Access

If you have any questions, or wish to access your personal information, please contact our Privacy Contact at tamara@lighthouseimmigrationlaw.com or by mail at:

​

Lighthouse Immigration Law
c/o Tamara Mosher-Kuczer

15 Fitzgerald Road, Suite 234

Nepean, Ontario K2H 9G1

​

All complaints will be investigated by our Privacy Officer or by any other individual or individuals to whom the Privacy Officer has delegated this responsibility. We will respond to your request or inquiry within a reasonable time and at minimal or no cost to you. Appropriate measures will be taken where the complaint is justified, including amendments to this Privacy Policy.

​

We will record the substance of any challenges that are not resolved to your satisfaction.

​

If you are not satisfied with our response, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can be reached at

​

Privacy Commissioner of Canada
112 Kent Street
Ottawa ON
K1A 1H3
1.800.282.1376.

Employment Inquiries

If you apply to Lighthouse Immigration Law for a job, we need to consider your personal information, as part of our review process. We normally retain information from candidates after a decision has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If we offer you a job, which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee records.

Website

Our website contains links to other sites, which are not governed by this privacy policy.

​

On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimise our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.

​

The content of this Website is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. No action with regards to your particular circumstances should be taken until you have first sought the appropriate legal or professional advice having regard to your specific facts and circumstances. Reviewing our Website should not be viewed as having sought professional advice.

​

Lighthouse Immigration Law does not in any way endorse the owner, the site, or the information contained therein, of any Website on the Internet that may be visited as a result of following any links that may be provided on this Website. Unless explicitly indicated, there is no association or affiliation with Lighthouse Immigration Law as these sites may be owned and operated by third parties and Lighthouse Immigration Law expressly disclaims all liability with respect to actions taken or actions not taken based on information received from a third party Website linked, directly or indirectly, to that of Lighthouse Immigration Law.

​

Be aware that legislative changes over time and even the interpretation of existing laws can vary following new court decisions. While the content of this Website may provide some general information, for any specific legal question you should seek professional legal advice.

​

If you would like more information, or have something specific you would like to discuss with us, please contact us.

Interpretation Of This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy includes examples but is not intended to be restricted in its application to such examples, therefore, where the word ‘including’ is used, it shall mean ‘including without limitation’.

​

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the Federal laws of Canada applicable therein. This Privacy Policy does not create or confer upon any individual any rights or impose upon Lighthouse Immigration Law any rights or obligations outside of, or in addition to, any rights or obligations imposed by Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws, as applicable. Should there be, in a specific case, any inconsistency between this Privacy Policy and Canada’s Federal and provincial privacy laws, as applicable, this Privacy Policy shall be interpreted, in respect of that case, to give effect to and comply with such privacy laws.

bottom of page