The Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (EPSO) is subject to the requirements of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, 2000 (PIPEDA) for the services it provides its members.

This Act specifies EPSO’s legal requirements to protect the privacy of individuals whose personal information or personal health information is in the EPSO’s custody. EPSO is committed to ensuring that your personal information or personal health information is treated with the utmost respect, dignity and sensitivity.

Purposes for Collecting, Using and Disclosing Your Personal Information

As an EPSO member, we collect, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

  • To register you as an EPSO member;
  • To communicate with you for EPSO membership products, services and information;
  • To assess your needs as an EPSO member to determine which EPSO products and services are useful and relevant for you;
  • To manage our continuing relationship with you;
  • To conduct surveys and polls of EPSO members;
  • To permit affiliated and other reputable third-party organizations, subsidiaries and preferred suppliers to provide products, services and information to you;
  • To meet any legal or regulatory requirements; and
  • For other purposes consistent with the above.

Consent for Collecting, Using and Disclosing Your Personal Information

EPSO relies on implied consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes outlined above. Your personal information may include your name, date of birth, address and contact information. If we require your personal information for purposes not outlined above or which were not communicated to you at the time that we collected the information from you, then we will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose your personal information for these purposes.

Your Privacy Rights

At any time, you may withdraw your consent for EPSO to collect, use or disclose your personal information for EPSO programs, services or to share it with a third-party organization or EPSO subsidiary. If you choose to withdraw your consent, our employees will explain to you the potential implications of your withdrawal, after which EPSO will implement your withdrawal of consent request to the best of our abilities. In all cases, withdrawal of consent is not retroactive.

You also have the right to request access to the personal information that we have collected about you, and to request a correction to this information if you believe it is inaccurate. EPSO has provided online services to assist you with correcting some of your personal information on your own. However, if you are unable to do so, you must submit an access or corrections request in writing to our membership department (membership@epso.ca).

How We Protect Your Personal Information

EPSO has put safeguards in place to protect your personal information from theft, loss and unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure and disposal.

We have created policies and training to ensure that everyone who performs services for us has received guidance on how to protect your privacy and to use your personal information only for authorized purposes.

We also conduct audits and complete investigations to monitor and manage our compliance with our privacy obligations.

How to Contact Us or Make a Complaint

If you have any questions or concerns about how the EPSO manages your personal information and protects your privacy, please contact the Membership Department at:

You have the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you think we have violated your privacy rights for personal information. The Commissioner can be reached at:

  • 30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3
  • Phone: 819.994.5444 or 1.800.282.1376
  • Fax: 819.994.5424
  • Web: www.priv.gc.ca