Privacy policy
Last updated October 21, 2025
At Trans Canada Trail (“Trans Canada Trail” or “our”, “us” or “we”) protecting your privacy is very important to us. We value the trust of those we deal with (“users” or “you” or “individuals”) and have created this Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) to inform you of our policies and procedures regarding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information.
This Policy applies to Trans Canada Trail, including our websites tctrail.ca and sentier.ca, any associated sub-domains and websites optimized for mobile services, our Trans Canada Trail mobile applications for mobile devices (the “Trail Apps”), the Centre for Trail Excellence (including the website Centrefortrailexcellence.ca) (collectively, the “Site”), as well as our social media platforms and offline activities, for example if you are participating in any of our in-person activities.
This Policy forms part of our Terms and Conditions. Unless otherwise defined in this Policy, terms used in this Policy have the same meanings as in our Terms and Conditions.
By accepting the Policy, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information in accordance with this Policy. If you provide Personal Information about another individual, you agree that you have obtained their consent to our collection, use and disclosure of their Personal Information as described in this Policy.
Object of the Policy
This Policy describes the Personal Information that we collect from you when you interact with us, for example when you use the Site, when you interact with our social media platforms and email advertisement campaigns, or when you attend any of our events across the country, and what may happen to that information.
Generally, you can browse and/or use the Site without revealing your identity. However, for certain functions or services you will be required to provide Personal Information to us and will no longer be anonymous to us. You can still opt not to provide the requested information by simply not accessing a function or service offered on the Site.
Personal Information Collection and Use
We collect, use and disclose Personal Information via our Site, the Trail Apps, social media, from Centrefortrailexcellence.ca and through any of our in-person activities. We may collect Personal Information by asking you to complete webforms, when you participate in contests or fundraising efforts, when you fill out surveys to help us improve our services and find out more about what you are interested in, or when you voluntarily share information with us. We also collect Personal Information from you when you participate at in-person events across the country.
Participation: If you participate in Centre for Trail Excellence activities, we will collect your name, email, contact details, location, any relevant participation details such as session selections, speaker details or material, and the information in any messages or submissions posted, for the purposes of the initiative. We may also collect certain accessibility or dietary information if you choose to provide it during registration. If you choose to share related posts on social media, we may collect your social media details for communication and promotional purposes. We will use this information to administer and promote the Centre for Trail Excellence, including enabling communication among participants, and recognizing participants and groups publicly.
From time to time we may use third party service providers to assist us with maintaining a registration webpage, or an event management platform, and to process your registration and the associated information on our behalf. Your Personal Information may be shared with such service providers as necessary for those purposes.
From time to time we may also obtain Personal Information from partner organizations who adhere to and respect the Canadian Marketing Association Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, but it is only used to reach out to you about possible donations, in accordance with the law. When we contact you, you can withdraw your consent to your Personal Information being collected, used and disclosed by us for this purpose, in accordance with applicable laws.
If you submit an application with respect to an employment opportunity posted on our Site or any other platform, we will collect your name, email address, and any other information you provide, including employment history. We use this information to review and respond to your application.
If you participate in a contest via the Site, we may collect your name, email address, and phone number, and may collect other types of personal information, such as photographs or stories, depending on the exact nature of a given contest. We use and disclose such Personal Information as necessary for the contest, including to administer the contest, contact contest winners, award prizes and as required by law.
If you use the Contact Us feature on the Site, we may collect your name, email address or other contact information, and the reason for your communication. We use this information to respond to you and do any related follow up as necessary. If you send us emails or letters, we may collect such information in a file specific to you.
If you subscribe to our Newsletter, we will collect your name and email address to send you emails about various news, promotions and you may also choose to provide us with your postal address. Even after subscribing to one or more newsletters and/or opting into one or more offers to receive marketing and/or promotional communications from us, you may elect to modify their preferences by following the “Unsubscribe” link provided in an email or communication received.
When you visit the Site, we collect and use your Personal Information directly and through cookies and similar technologies to provide you with services and functions that meet your needs, to personalize our service to make your experience more secure and friendlier and to help us understand and improve our website, Trail Apps, event platforms and online resources. For more information about how we use cookies, see the “Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies” section below.
When you voluntarily share information across platforms or apps about how you use the Trail, or about your trips or other engagement with Trans Canada Trail, we may post or link to it on the Site or publish it in our reports and other publications, to support and advance our Mission. Any Personal Information submitted via Centrefortrailexcellence.ca will be used by Trans Canada Trail to promote the Centre for Trail Excellence, subject to moderation and with appropriate credit, unless the user opts out of such use and disclosure.
When you participate in any of our in-person events, we may collect Personal Information including your name, email address, mailing address, phone number and birthday. This information will be used by us to organize the event, ensure you are properly registered for the event and provide you with information and materials relating to it, for promotion on our various platforms, and to reach out to you regarding any future events we think you would be interested in.
We also use and disclose your Personal Information with your consent, for activities we undertake to advance our Mission including:
- To provide you with information about our work or our activities;
- To fundraise in accordance with our internal policies and procedures;
- To create and provide our newsletters and publications;
- To respond to your questions and provide related services;
- To publicize how Canadians use the Trail; and
- To generally better understand how individuals use our resources and can benefit from the Trans Canada Trail.
Finally, we may also use your Personal Information to personalize and improve our services, content and advertisements; to prevent, detect and investigate fraud and security breaches; to enforce our Terms and Conditions and meet legal, regulatory, insurance and processing requirements; and otherwise with your consent, or as permitted or required by law.
Personal Information Sharing and Disclosure
We will only disclose your Personal Information with your consent or if we have legal authority to do so, whether as a result of the law or otherwise, such as in the following contexts:
- Service Providers: We may employ third party companies and individuals to facilitate, perform or provide services related to the Site or to assist us in analyzing how the Site is used. These third parties only have access to the Personal Information needed to perform the tasks on our behalf and are contractually required not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.
- Legal: We may be asked to disclose your Personal Information to meet certain legal, regulatory, insurance and audit requirements, enforce our Terms and Conditions, respond to claims or ensure everyone’s safety and security, as permitted or required by law.
- Philanthropic: With your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable laws, we may share your name, phone number and email address with partner philanthropic organizations so that they can contact you about other projects and causes you may be interested in supporting.
Security
Trans Canada Trail employs reasonable physical, technological, and administrative security measures and makes reasonable attempts to ensure they are applicable under the circumstances. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
We will make any legally required notifications to you of any breach of the security, confidentiality, or integrity of your unencrypted electronically stored Personal Information, via email or conspicuous posting on the Site or via the Application, in the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay, insofar as consistent with law enforcement needs or measures necessary to determine the scope of the breach and restore data integrity.
International Storing and Transfer of Personal Information
In order for us to offer our products and services, we may collect, use, disclose, store or process Personal Information on servers located in other jurisdictions, including the United States. Please note that privacy laws in such jurisdictions may differ from the province where you reside. By submitting your Personal Information or engaging with Trans Canada Trail, you consent to such transfer and storage outside your jurisdiction of residence.
Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies
When you browse the Site, we automatically collect information that may include your IP address, visit date and time, pages visited, browser type and language, and clickstream data. We use cookies and web trackers to better understand and improve the Site. You can instruct your browser to stop accepting cookies, though some features may not function properly.
We also use Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to better understand how people use our Site. Please see http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ for details. Google may track your activity over time and across websites.
When you download or use our Trail Apps or access mobile-optimized sites, we may receive data on your device and location. You can adjust your device settings to enable or disable location services.
Links to Other Sites or Applications
The Site may contain links to other websites or applications. We are not responsible for their privacy or information security policies or practices. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.
Data Retention and Anonymization
We will retain your Personal Information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, unless otherwise permitted or required by law. We may anonymize your information to improve our resources and support our Mission.
Accessing, Correcting, Withdrawing Consent and Deleting Personal Information
By law, you have the right to request access to and/or correction of your Personal Information. To do so, please email privacy@tctrail.ca. We may ask for information to confirm your identity before providing access or making changes. Please note that withdrawal of consent or deletion requests may limit the services we can provide.
Changes to this Policy
This Policy may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the new Policy on the Site or via the Trail Apps. Your continued use of our Site following any changes constitutes acceptance of those changes.
Contacting Us
We welcome your questions and comments about security and privacy. Please send any questions, comments or complaints to our Privacy Officer via email at privacy@tctrail.ca.