Privacy Policy

Overview

The following are the main questions that this privacy policy helps to answer:

1. Organization
   Whose personal information is collected?
2. Categories
   What personal information is collected, and by what criteria?
3. Consent, Refusal and Withdrawal
   What forms of consent are required for the use and disclosure of collected personal information?
   What action should you take and what are the consequences of refusing to provide personal information or the means of providing it?
   How can you withdraw your consent to the use or disclosure of collected personal information?
4. Purposes
   For what purposes is personal information collected?
5. Means
   How is personal information collected?
   How are you informed in advance about the use of cookies that may include features making it possible to identify, recognize, locate or profile you, and how are these features activated
6. Communication
   To what categories of third parties may personal information collected be disclosed?
   Can personal information be communicated outside Quebec?
7. Protection and Security
   What measures are taken to ensure the confidentiality and security of personal information?
8. Access and Rectification
   What are your rights in terms of accessing and rectifying personal information collected about you, and how can you exercise them?
9. Questions, Requests and Complaints
   To whom may you address any questions or requests regarding this privacy policy or any complaints regarding the protection of personal information under the control of Cain Lamarre
10. Effective Date and Amendments
    When does this privacy policy come into effect and when was it last amended?

1. PERSONAL INFORMATION RELEVANT TO CAIN LAMARRE
   Summary: Personal information collected by Cain Lamarre in the course of its activities is under its control, with the exception of personal information about others that is communicated to Cain Lamarre by its principals or clients while it is acting as their agent or service provider. In such cases, the information is under their control.
   When Cain Lamarre decides to collect personal information and establishes the purposes for which it is collected, used or disclosed (whether it collects, uses or discloses the information itself or has an agent or service provider do so on its behalf), such personal information is under the control of Cain Lamarre.
   When Cain Lamarre acts as an agent or executor of a service or business contract, and the communication of personal information to Cain Lamarre is necessary for the performance of the mandate or contract, such personal information is the responsibility of Cain Lamarre's principal or client.
2. PERSONAL INFORMATION COLLECTED
   Summary: Cain Lamarre collects personal information necessary for the legitimate purposes identified prior to collection where such information falls into  the following categories: business contact information, personal contact information, work contact information, education contact information, identification contact information, economic contact information, behavioural contact information, interest contact information, personal preference contact information, technical contact information, web analytics, demographic contact information, health and social services contact information, biometric contact information and sensitive contact information.Collection for identified purposes: Privacy legislation allows Cain Lamarre to collect personal information about another individual that is relevant to the stated purpose of the file, based on a serious and legitimate interest, provided that the purpose of the collection is identified prior to the collection.

   Thus, as part of your relationship with Cain Lamarre or when you use a digital platform, application service or any other virtual space controlled by Cain Lamarre (website), you may be asked to provide certain personal information about yourself or other individuals (witnesses, family members, opposing parties, employees, directors, officers, shareholders, investors, business partners, customers, suppliers, etc.).

   Categories of information: Provided that it is necessary for the purposes identified prior to collection, we may collect personal information in the following categories:
   Business Contact Information

   Information that enables us to contact you,  or to facilitate contact with you, in connection with your employment, business or profession, such as your name, title, employer, position or job title, your business address or telephone or fax numbers, or your business e-mail address.

   Personal Details
   E-mail address, residential or mailing address, mobile or residential telephone numbers, residential history, etc.

   Work Experience
   Professional experience, history of previous functions and jobs (position, duration, responsibilities, achievements, references), sizes of organizations, assessments and recommendations relating to knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills, mentions in electronic or print media, etc.

   Education
   Diplomas, schools attended, fields of study, years of schooling, academic results, training, attestations, certifications, etc.

   Identification
   Date of birth, sex at birth, gender identity, gender expression, photo portrait, government identification codes, genealogy, height, weight, physical characteristics, etc.

   Economic Status
   Salary and other sources of income, credit record, bank details, billing data, payment data, assets, expenses, bankruptcy history, etc.

   Behaviours
   Participation in events and other activities, posts on social media and websites, etc.

   Interests
   Legal or industry topics or areas of interest, association memberships, etc.

   Personal Preferences
   Preferences regarding modes of communication, payment preferences, artistic, charitable, culinary, cultural, environmental, linguistic, social, sporting and technological preferences, etc.

   Technical Information
   IP address, browser type and version, operating system, screen resolution, device information, etc.

   Web Analytics
   Dates and times of connections, pages visited, actions taken on a website or other interactions with online content, etc.

   Demographics
   Age, ethnic origin, nationality, place of residence, language(s), membership in an identifiable group, etc.

   Health and Social Services
   Information relating to a person’s state of physical or mental health and its determining factors, including medical or family history, health or social services obtained or requested and, in particular, the nature of these services, their results, the places where they were offered and the identity of the persons or groups who offered them, allergies, medication taken, samples collected as part of an assessment or treatment, any implants, orthotics, prostheses or other aids to deal with a disability, etc.

   Biometrics
   Biological, morphological or behavioural characteristics (fingerprints, voiceprint, face shape, keyboarding pattern, etc.).

   Sensitive Information
   Information that gives rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy because of its medical, biometric or other intimate nature or because of the context in which it is used or disclosed, including criminal and/or disciplinary records, police reports, inclusion in surveillance or sanction lists and registers, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or union membership, genetic data or data concerning sex life or sexual orientation.

   Limitation: Cain Lamarre will only collect, use and disclose personal information that is necessary for the legitimate and specified purposes for which it is collected, unless you provide additional consent or unless Cain Lamarre is legally authorized or required to do so.

   Client identification: The Règlement sur la comptabilité et les normes d'exercice professionnel des avocats, the Règlement sur la tenue des dossiers et des études des notaires and other legislation governing the practice of lawyers and notaries require us to identify the client in each file. In the case of a natural person, this is done by obtaining his or her name, home or business address, home or business telephone number and occupation and then recording and keeping this information on file. In addition, we have an obligation to verify the identity of our clients and one or more of their associates by using documents or information from reliable and independent sources when a mandate, contract or legal services involve the receipt of a notarial deed or the receipt, disbursement or transfer of funds, or provision of instructions in respect of these activities, unless otherwise provided by regulation.

3. CONSENT, REFUSAL AND WITHDRAWAL

   Summary: Consent to the use and disclosure by Cain Lamarre of the personal information you provide for the purposes identified to you at the time of collection is generally required by law. For other uses, additional consent is required (this is expressly stated when sensitive personal information is involved). Refusal to provide personal information may prevent Cain Lamarre from fulfilling a request for service or employment, and consent may be withdrawn. Consent by operation of law: Generally speaking, the essence of legislation protecting privacy is that, when you provide Cain Lamarre with personal information about yourself, you consent to its use and disclosure to third parties for the purposes for which the information is collected, as long as you are informed at the time of collection (and subsequently on request) of certain elements, including the following: (1) the purposes in question, (2) the means by which the information is collected, (3) the rights of access and rectification provided by law, (4) your right to withdraw your consent to the communication or use of the information collected, (5) the name of the third party for whom the information is collected, if applicable, and (6) the possibility that the information will be communicated outside Quebec.

   Consent for other purposes: When personal information is to be used within Cain Lamarre for purposes other than those for which it was collected, additional consent from you as the individual concerned is generally required. In the case of sensitive personal information (which gives rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy), consent must be expressly given.

   Refusal: If you do not wish to provide personal information or to have it collected by a particular means, or to have it used or disclosed for a purpose identified at the time of collection, please notify our Privacy Officer. Of course, Cain Lamarre can only comply with certain requests if you provide the personal information required to process those requests. As a result, Cain Lamarre may not be able to respond to your request or fulfill a mandate or contract for services or business that you wish to entrust to us if you refuse to provide such information. The legislation protecting privacy generally allows Cain Lamarre to refuse to fulfill a request for service or a request for employment on your part if you refuse to provide personal information when (1) the collection is necessary for the conclusion or performance of the contract; (2) the collection is authorized by law; or (3) there are reasonable grounds to believe that such a request is not lawful.

   Withdrawal of consent: You may withdraw your consent to the use or disclosure of personal information collected about you, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. If you wish to withdraw your consent, please notify our Privacy Officer.

4. PURPOSES OF COLLECTION

   Summary: The purposes for which Cain Lamarre collects personal information fall into one of the following categories: administration, audits and enforcement, communication and publication, compliance and prevention, marketing and service offerings, quality control and improvements, protection, security and defence, internal management and profiling, and subsequently determined purposes. In certain exceptional situations, privacy legislation allows Cain Lamarre to use personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, without your consent.

   We collect personal information for the following purposes:
   • Administration, Audits and Execution
   • Administering Cain Lamarre's business;
   • Opening and maintaining files and process requests;
   • Verifying and avoiding conflicts of interest and business;
   • Verifying the solvency of our clients;
   • Soliciting and evaluating applications for employment opportunities, including verifying references, attestations and backgrounds;
   • Executing a contract, performing a mandate or providing a service;
   • Managing invoicing and processing payments.

   Communication and Publication
   • Communicating with our customers, staff, suppliers and stakeholders;
   • Answering questions addressed to us;
   • Distributing and sending notices, announcements, publications, invitations, correspondence and other mail.

   Compliance and Prevention
   • Complying with our legal, regulatory and ethical obligations (including customer identification);
   • Preventing and detecting risks relating to fraud and corruption.

   Marketing and Service Offerings
   • Developing and maintaining our business relationships;
   • Promoting our services and website;
   • Sending commercial electronic messages;
   • Prospecting;
   • Preparing and sending our service offers.

   Quality Control and Improvements
   • Receiving feedback for continuous improvement;
   • Keeping statistics on the quality of our services;
   • Improving our website, including Web audiometry;
   • Handling and resolving clients’ reservations, expressions of dissatisfaction and complaints.

   Protection, Security and Defence
   - Protecting your rights;
   - Protecting the property and security of Cain Lamarre and ensuring its defence (for example, we may use your personal information in connection with litigation).

   Internal Management and Profiling
   - Acquiring, developing, redesigning and managing our information and electronic service delivery systems;
   - Managing our staff’s knowledge and know-how;
   - Evaluating some of your characteristics, including for the purposes of analyzing your performance, economic situation, health, personal preferences, needs, interests or behaviour, as the case may be, as a client, potential client, service provider, contractor, supplier, mandatary, agent, partner or employee of Cain Lamarre or as a shareholder, partner, director, officer, mandatary or agent of such persons;
   - Using and communicating your information for established purposes to the third parties or categories of third parties identified prior to the use of a technology that includes functions that make it possible to identify you, locate you or profile you, in accordance with your privacy settings that are applicable to this technology (for example, a widget that manages cookies);
   - Enforcing the terms of use of the website.

   Subsequently Determined Purposes
   - Any other purpose to which you have consented, whether expressly, implicitly or by operation of law.

   In addition, the legislation protecting privacy generally allows Cain Lamarre, without your consent, to use personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, in particular when its use is:
   - for purposes consistent with those for which it was collected;
   - clearly for your benefit;
   - necessary for the prevention and detection of fraud or the evaluation and improvement of security and protection measures;
   - necessary for the supply, provision or delivery of a product or service requested by you; or
   - necessary for study, research or statistical purposes in cases where the personal information has been deidentified.

5. MEANS OF COLLECTION

   Summary: Your personal information is collected by various technological and conventional means. Cain Lamarre uses technologies such as cookies to recognize, identify and locate visitors to its website and/or to profile them, providing prior notice and specifying the means available to activate the functions concerned. Personal information under the control of Cain Lamarre will be collected through various technological or other means, such as forms, conversations (telephone or in person), correspondence or any other means of communication through which you come into contact with us. Specifically, personal information may be collected in the following ways:

   - Voice mail
   - Chat
   - E-mail
   - Documents (paper or other media), including technological documents
   - Video and/or audio recordings
   - Extranet
   - Electronic forms
   - Online books and registers
   - Customer service software
   - Social network messaging
   - Electronic notification
   - Portals
   - Authentication services
   - Electronic signatures
   - Cloud-based file storage
   - Fax services
   - Cookies and other technologies with functions that identify, recognize, locate or profile you
   - Text messages

   Cookies: Some personal information may be collected through the use of technology that includes functions for identifying, locating or profiling visitors to the Cain Lamarre website, such as cookies. Before such technology is used, Cain Lamarre will inform you, by means of a widget or other appropriate means, of the use of this technology and of the means available for activating the functions that allow a visitor to be identified, located or profiled. (A cookie is a piece of information that is transmitted between a server and a Web browser or device when a website is visited or a mobile application is used.)

6. COMMUNICATION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

   Summary: Cain Lamarre refrains from communicating personal information to third parties, except with your consent or when required or permitted by applicable legislation to do so with respect to certain individuals under specific conditions (such as outsourcing of data processing). It does so while respecting the duty of confidentiality, solicitor-client privilege and litigation privilege and assessing the risks prior to communications outside Quebec.

   Limiting disclosure: In principle, no one may disclose your personal information to a third party without your consent or as required by applicable privacy legislation

   Duty of confidentiality: Our professionals are members of a professional order and have ethical obligations. Therefore we will not communicate any personal information protected by solicitor-client or litigation privilege in a manner that may compromise it unless our principal or client has waived that privilege or we are authorized or required to do so under applicable legislation.

   Disclosure by Cain Lamarre: Subject to its obligations, Cain Lamarre may disclose personal information to third parties (e.g. opposing parties, their advisors, experts, witnesses, agents and service providers), including in the context of legal proceedings and commercial transactions.

   Categories of recipients: If necessary, Cain Lamarre may, without your consent, communicate personal information to certain third parties, including those belonging to one of the categories of persons listed below, in cases where such communication is necessary, in the performance of their duties, to achieve the purposes for which they received the communication:

   - service providers and/or agents, including an organization or an individual, if this communication is necessary for the execution of a mandate or the performance of a service or business contract that Cain Lamarre entrusts in writing to this organization or individual (e.g. our service providers for the hosting of our website, cloud storage of files or outsourcing of data processing) by indicating, in the mandate or contract, the measures that the mandatary or contract performer must take to ensure that the confidentiality of the personal information communicated is protected, that this information is used only in the exercise of its mandate or the performance of its contract, and that it is not retained after its expiry;

   - government authorities and law enforcement agencies, where required by applicable legislation. For greater certainty, we may disclose personal and other information if we are required to do so by law, if we believe in good faith that such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable legislation, in response to a court order, subpoena, government search warrant or other instrument issued by the government authorities and law enforcement agencies concerned;
   - financial institutions, in the case of a commercial transaction and within the scope of our mandates;
   - Cain Lamarre's insurers;
   - regulatory bodies, such as the Barreau du Québec, the Chambre des notaires or other organizations related to the practice of the legal or notarial profession;
   - spouse or close relative of a deceased person, if knowledge of this information is likely to help the applicant in his or her grieving process and the deceased individual has not recorded in writing his or her refusal to grant this right of access;
   - opposing parties, if you so request or if justice so requires; and
   - any other entity or person, where the law permits or requires us to disclose personal information without your consent.

   Disclosure outside Quebec: Your personal information may be disclosed outside Quebec in situations where legal regimes applicable to the protection of personal information differ from those in Quebec. This may occur when Cain Lamarre entrusts a person or organization outside Quebec with the task of collecting, using, communicating or storing personal information on its behalf. However, before disclosing personal information outside Quebec, Cain Lamarre conducts a privacy impact assessment to ensure that it is adequately protected. Even so, your personal information may be made available to government authorities or law enforcement agencies in the jurisdiction concerned (such as courts and national security authorities) under a legal order issued inside or outside Quebec, since no contract or other means can override the laws of a government administration, whether domestic or foreign.

   Disclosure to Cain Lamarre: Generally, privacy legislation does not permit a person carrying on a business to disclose personal information about you to third parties without your consent, except in certain circumstances (e.g. to his or her attorney, to an agent or service provider under certain conditions, or to other categories of persons provided for by the privacy legislation applicable to the situation). If, as a person carrying on a business, you disclose to Cain Lamarre (or its service providers and agents) personal information about an individual other than yourself (including opposing parties and other persons who are parties to legal proceedings), you must do so only with the consent of the individual concerned or only if the law authorizes you to do so without the consent of the individual concerned.

7. PROTECTION AND SECURITY MEASURES

   Summary: Cain Lamarre takes physical, organizational and technical security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of personal information to protect it against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use and modification.

   Reasonable measures: Cain Lamarre takes appropriate physical, organizational and technical security measures to protect personal information that is collected, used, disclosed, stored or destroyed, taking into account such factors as the sensitivity of the information, the purpose for which it is to be used, the amount of the information, the method of storage, and the dissemination, format and medium of the information

   Scope of safeguards: Safeguards protect personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, modification and other risks, and they include reasonable measures to authenticate your identity as the individual to whom the information relates.

   Description of measures: We implement the measures briefly described below.

   Physical Measures
   - We restrict access to offices to authorized persons and control access by means of individualized access keys the use of which is logged.
   - We lock filing cabinets where this action is justified by the sensitivity of the personal information they contain.

   Organizational Measures
   - Inspections: We regularly conduct various computer security inspections.
   - Staff training and awareness: We ensure that Cain Lamarre staff with access to your personal information undergo periodic training to develop and maintain appropriate vigilance and behaviour with regard to privacy and the protection of personal information.
   - Logging and limiting access: We have management tools and functionalities that enable us to log access to computerized files and ensure that staff members  have access to your personal information where required to carry out  their duties and achieve the predetermined purposes for which the information is collected.
   - Minimization: We limit the personal information we collect to that which is necessary to achieve the predetermined purposes for which the information is collected.
   - Governance policies and practices: Cain Lamarre has established and implemented governance policies and practices regarding personal information and the protection of such information.
   - Testing against fraudulent schemes: We regularly test our staff to reduce the risk of falling victim to acts of identity-based fraud such as phishing.

   Technical Measures
   - Data encryption: We use encryption technologies for data in transit and for data at rest in order to render that data unusable by anyone who does not possess the cryptographic key needed to decrypt it.
   - Firewalls: We implement firewall systems to filter data flows between our internal network and external networks.
   - Intrusion detection and testing systems: We monitor and block unauthorized access to our networks and information systems.
   - Regular backups: We make regular backups of data to enable recovery in the event of loss or damage.
   - Update and patch management: We keep our software and systems up to date with the latest security patches to guard against known vulnerabilities.
   - Two-factor authentication: To verify and validate the identity of authorized users, we impose a control process whereby they must regularly provide two elements from two distinct authentication factors.

8. ACCESS AND CORRECTION

   Summary: You have the right to access the personal information Cain Lamarre holds about you and to request that it be corrected if it is incomplete, inaccurate or out of date.

   Right of access: At your request, Cain Lamarre will confirm the existence of any personal information about you that it holds and will provide you with a copy of that information. At your request, all computerized personal information will be communicated in the form of a written and intelligible transcript. Unless this raises serious practical difficulties, computerized personal information collected from you and not created or inferred from personal information about you is, at your request, communicated to you in a structured and commonly used technological format. This information is also communicated, at your request, to any person or organization authorized by law to collect the information. When the applicant is a disabled person, reasonable accommodation measures are taken, upon request, to enable him or her to exercise the right of access provided for in this section.

   Right of rectification: In addition to the rights provided for in the first paragraph of article 40 of the Civil Code of Québec, if your personal information is inaccurate, incomplete or equivocal, or if its collection, communication or storage is not authorized by law, you may request that Cain Lamarre rectify it.

9. QUESTIONS, REQUESTS AND COMPLAINTS

   Summary: Any question, request or complaint regarding your personal information under the control of Cain Lamarre may be addressed to its Director of Legal Services and Compliance

   Processing a question, request or complaint: Any question or request relating to this privacy policy or any complaint relating to the protection of personal information under the control of Cain Lamarre may be submitted, in accordance with the established handling process, to Cain Lamarre's Director of Legal Services and Compliance, to whom the function of Privacy Officer has been delegated. His or her contact information is published in this section of the Cain Lamarre website, along with detailed information about the policies and practices governing Cain Lamarre's handling of personal information.

10. EFFECTIVE DATE AND CHANGES

    Summary: Any changes to Cain Lamarre's privacy policy that take effect after its effective date will be published on its website and disseminated by any means likely to reach the individuals concerned at least 15 days prior to the change, with certain exceptions.

    Effective Date: This privacy policy is effective as of the corresponding date indicated below.

    Changes: Any changes to this privacy policy will be posted on the Cain Lamarre website and disseminated by any means likely to reach the individuals concerned.

    Notice of amendment: Unless circumstances justify a shorter period, any amendment should only take effect 15 days after the date of publication of a notice of the change or changes made. This notice will indicate:

    1. The date of publication;
    2. The general purpose of any changes to the Privacy Policy, which may be specified in the Privacy Policy section of the Cain Lamarre website;
    3. The effective date of the changes;
    4. The reasons why the policy must be amended within this shorter period if the notice mentions a shorter period than 15 days.

Effective date: September 21, 2023.