1. Introduction and Who We Are
MeetCanada ("MeetCanada", "we", "us" or "our") operates the website available at meetcanada.net. We are an independent online discovery and comparison platform, based in Victoria, British Columbia, that helps travelers plan trips across Canada. We curate guided tour experiences from licensed operators across every major region — Vancouver Island, the Canadian Rockies, Montreal and Quebec City, Ottawa, the Maritimes, Winnipeg and the Arctic territories — and bring together itineraries, traveler-rated reviews, transparent CAD price comparisons, cancellation policies and accessibility notes so visitors can compare options before booking directly with operators.
This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect through meetcanada.net, why we collect it, how we use and protect it, with whom we may share it, and the rights and choices available to you. We are committed to handling personal information in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), the federal privacy law of Canada, as well as applicable provincial legislation including British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). We also follow the requirements of Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) for our electronic communications.
By using our website, submitting a form or subscribing to our newsletter, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with it, please do not use the website or provide us with personal information.
2. Personal Information We Collect
We collect only the personal information that is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy. The types of information we may collect include:
- Identity information: your first name and, where you choose to provide it, your full name, submitted through our trip-planning contact form.
- Contact information: your email address, collected through the contact form and the newsletter subscription block so we can respond to you and send the deals and seasonal itinerary recommendations you request.
- Trip-planning information: the content of the message you send us, including any destinations, dates, budgets, activity levels, accessibility needs or other trip preferences you voluntarily describe when asking a question.
- Comparison tool inputs: the filters you apply in our destination comparison tool, such as province, budget range, physical activity level, season and trip duration. These are used to display relevant listings and are not tied to your identity unless you also contact us.
- Technical information: your IP address, browser type, operating system, device type, referring pages and the pages you visit on meetcanada.net, collected automatically through server logs and cookies.
- Cookie information: small data files stored in your browser, including the consent preference you set through our cookie banner. See our Cookie Policy for full details.
We do not knowingly collect sensitive categories of information such as financial account details, government identifiers or health data. Because MeetCanada is a comparison platform and not a booking engine, we never collect payment card numbers — all bookings and payments take place directly on the websites of the licensed operators we link to.
3. How and Why We Use Your Information
Under PIPEDA, we identify the purposes for collecting personal information at or before the time of collection. We use the information described above to:
- Respond to trip-planning questions and other enquiries you submit through our contact form.
- Send our subscriber newsletter, including early-access deals and seasonal itinerary recommendations, where you have asked to receive it.
- Operate and improve the destination comparison tool and the relevance of the curated listings we present.
- Understand how visitors use meetcanada.net so we can improve content, navigation, performance and the accuracy of our regional coverage.
- Maintain the security and integrity of the website, detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse and unauthorized access.
- Comply with our legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from public authorities.
We will not use your personal information for a new purpose that is incompatible with those listed above without first obtaining your consent, unless permitted or required by law.
4. Legal Basis and Consent
PIPEDA is built on the principle of knowledge and consent. We rely on your consent — express or implied — to collect, use and disclose your personal information. When you complete and submit our contact form or newsletter form, you provide express consent for us to use that information for the stated purpose. By browsing the website, you provide implied consent for the limited automatic collection of technical and cookie information necessary to operate the site.
For marketing communications such as our newsletter, we obtain express opt-in consent and comply with CASL: every commercial electronic message we send identifies MeetCanada, provides our contact information and includes a clear unsubscribe mechanism. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, by contacting us at hello@meetcanada.net or using the unsubscribe link.
5. Disclosure of Personal Information
MeetCanada does not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We disclose personal information only in the limited circumstances set out below, and only to the extent necessary:
- Hosting and infrastructure providers: the servers and email services that store our website data and deliver our communications.
- Service providers acting on our behalf: for example, analytics or email-delivery vendors, who are bound by contract to use the information only for the services they provide to us.
- Legal and regulatory authorities: where disclosure is required to comply with a law, regulation, court order, subpoena or other valid legal process.
- Business transfers: in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, in which case personal information may be transferred subject to this policy.
Affiliate relationships: as an affiliate publisher, MeetCanada may earn commissions from featured providers when you click through to their websites. We share aggregated, non-identifying click data with these partners for commission attribution. We do not share your name, email or message content with operators unless you choose to contact them directly through their own websites.
Transfers outside Canada: some of our service providers may store or process information in jurisdictions outside Canada. Where this occurs, the information may be subject to the laws of those jurisdictions, and we take reasonable contractual and technical measures to ensure a comparable level of protection.
6. Retention and Safeguards
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. As a general rule, contact-form submissions are retained for up to two years after our last meaningful interaction with you, and newsletter subscription records are kept until you unsubscribe. Cookie consent preferences are stored for up to one year. When information is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymize it.
We protect personal information using safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity, including encryption in transit using SSL/TLS, access controls that limit who within MeetCanada can view personal information, secure storage of lead submissions, and organizational measures such as confidentiality commitments. While no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, we work diligently to protect your information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification.
7. Your Rights and Choices
In accordance with PIPEDA and applicable provincial law, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:
- Right to access: request confirmation of whether we hold personal information about you and obtain a copy of that information.
- Right to know how it is used: ask how your personal information has been used and to whom it has been disclosed.
- Right to correction: request that we correct or update inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
- Right to withdraw consent: withdraw your consent to the use of your information, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice.
- Right to deletion: request that we delete personal information that is no longer required for a legitimate purpose.
- Right to unsubscribe: opt out of marketing communications at any time using the unsubscribe link or by contacting us.
- Right to complain: raise a concern with us and, if unsatisfied, with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) or your provincial privacy regulator.
To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@meetcanada.net. We will respond within 30 days as required under PIPEDA. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on a request to protect your information from unauthorized disclosure.
8. Cookies and Tracking
We use a small number of cookies and similar technologies to operate the site and remember your preferences, including your cookie-consent choice. You can accept or decline non-essential cookies through the banner shown on your first visit, and you can manage cookies through your browser settings at any time. For a full description of the cookies we use, please read our Cookie Policy.
9. Children's Privacy
MeetCanada is intended for travelers who are at least the age of majority in their province or territory of residence. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a minor has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can delete it.
10. Third-Party Websites
Our website links to the websites of licensed tour operators and other third parties so you can book directly with them. Those websites are governed by their own privacy policies, and MeetCanada is not responsible for their content or privacy practices. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any website you visit through our links.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice on the website. Your continued use of meetcanada.net after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns or requests about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact MeetCanada at:
MeetCanada
Email: hello@meetcanada.net
Website: meetcanada.net
Based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
We welcome your questions and are committed to resolving any privacy concern fairly and promptly.