{"id":5700,"date":"2020-09-08T13:02:58","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T08:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/new-privacy-law-could-apply-to-all-non-profits-ontario-government-launches-consultations\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T19:01:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:01:45","slug":"new-privacy-law-could-apply-to-all-non-profits-ontario-government-launches-consultations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.millerthomson.com\/en\/insights\/social-impact\/new-privacy-law-could-apply-to-all-non-profits-ontario-government-launches-consultations\/","title":{"rendered":"New privacy law could apply to all non-profits – Ontario government launches consultations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On August 13, 2020, the Ontario Government (the \u201cGovernment<\/strong>\u201d) launched consultations on establishing provincial privacy legislation<\/a> for the private sector. As one of the stated goals is to expand the scope and application of private sector privacy law to non-commercial organizations such as not-for-profits and charities, any new provincial legislation would lead to a change in how the sector must manage compliance and privacy risk in the area. It could also lead to increased compliance cost. As we will discuss below, increased enforcement, including imposition of penalties, are being considered. Currently, Ontario non-profits  would only be subject to penalties in cases where Alberta law or in those limited cases where the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act <\/em>(\u201cPIPEDA<\/strong><\/em>\u201d) applied to a data breach scenario. Only in those cases could a maximum penalty of $100,000.00 be imposed on the non-profit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The private sector collection, use, and disclosure of personal information in Ontario is currently governed by PIPEDA. Ontario has enacted privacy legislation for the health and public sectors but not for private industry and for that reason, federal legislation is filling in the gap. PIPEDA<\/em> only applies to organizations that collect, use or disclose personal information in the course of \u201ccommercial activities.\u201d Accordingly, Ontario not-for-profits and charities are currently only subject to privacy legislation if they process personal information as per the definition of a \u201ccommercial activity\u201d or if they have operations or collect information in provinces or other jurisdictions that have legislation applicable to the not-for-profit sector (such as Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec). The consultations serve as a first step in addressing the gap in the province\u2019s legislative privacy framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not-for-profit and charitable organizations may wish to consider engaging in the Government\u2019s consultation process given the impact new privacy legislation will have on their operations. The Government is seeking advice by way of written submissions<\/a> or responses to their online survey<\/a> until October 1, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their discussion paper<\/a>, entitled \u201cOntario Private Sector Privacy Reform: Improving Private Sector Privacy for Ontarians in a Digital Age,\u201d the Government outlined some of their goals for the new privacy framework:<\/p>\n\n\n\n