Privacy policy

1. Introduction and our commitment to privacy

ANAS CANADA for Immigration Inc. ("we", "us", "our") is a firm led by a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) and is committed to the privacy and security of your personal information. We understand that the information you share with us is highly sensitive, particularly in the context of immigration services. This policy explains our practices openly so you know how your information is handled.

2. Scope and applicability

This policy governs the collection, use and disclosure of personal information through our website, www.anascanada.ca (the "Site"), and in the course of providing our immigration consultation and application services. It applies to all clients, prospective clients and users of our Site, wherever they are located.

3. Legal frameworks

ANAS CANADA is a private-sector organization based in Calgary, Alberta. Our privacy practices are designed to comply with:

• Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA): Alberta's private-sector privacy law. It governs how we collect, use and disclose personal information in Alberta.
• The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA): the federal law that applies to personal information that crosses provincial or national borders in the course of commercial activity.
• The CICC Code of Professional Conduct: as an RCIC, our licensee must keep client information confidential and maintain client records.

For people located in the European Union, we also respect the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including lawfulness, fairness, transparency and data minimization. For residents of California, we respect their rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know and the right to opt out.

4. Consent and your control

We collect, use and disclose your personal information with your consent, except where the law allows or requires otherwise. We ask for your express consent before we use optional cookies and advertising tags (see section 13) and before we send you marketing messages.

You can withdraw your consent at any time, on reasonable notice, by contacting us (see section 15). If you do, we will stop the related processing, subject to legal and contractual restrictions. Withdrawing consent may affect our ability to continue providing certain services to you, and we will explain the consequences.

5. Information we collect

We collect personal information only when it is necessary for a specific, legitimate purpose.

a. Information you give us

This information is needed to provide our services. We collect it when you book a consultation, sign an agreement, fill out a form, use the client portal or communicate with us.

• Identity and contact information: name, date of birth, gender, marital status, nationality, email, phone number and address.
• Immigration profile information: employment history, education, language skills, family status, previous immigration history and any other information relevant to assessing your eligibility or preparing your application.
• Payment information: payments are processed by Stripe. We don't receive or store your full card number.

b. Information collected automatically

• Technical information: IP address, device type, browser type and operating system, used for security, diagnostics and site compatibility.
• Usage information: pages viewed, links clicked and length of visits. We collect this through analytics only if you consent (see section 13).

Free AI immigration assessor: the answers you give in our Free AI immigration assessor are used only to compute your results and are not stored. The tool asks for no name, contact details or document numbers. To write the plain-language summary, the computed results are processed through Anthropic's API (Claude). We keep only anonymous usage counts (the language and the result categories).

Photo ID for consultation bookings: when you book a consultation, we ask for a photo of a government-issued photo ID that shows your photo and name, such as your passport, driver's licence, national ID card, Canadian PR card or residence card (a professional regulatory body photo ID is also accepted). We use it only to verify your identity for the consultation agreement you sign. The image is checked automatically through Anthropic's API (Claude), which reads the document type, your name as printed, the expiry date, the issuing country and the last four characters of the document number; our booking record keeps only those details, not the full document number. The image is encrypted before it is stored, only authorized staff can view it (each view is logged), and it is kept for our record-keeping period (currently seven years after the consultation is confirmed) and then deleted. If a booking is not completed, the image is deleted within a few hours. The reason for consultation you type is also checked automatically through Anthropic's API, on its own, without your other details.

6. How we use your information

We use your personal information for these purposes:

• Providing our services: assessing your immigration profile, providing consultations, preparing and reviewing applications, and meeting our obligations to you under your consultation agreement or service agreement.
• Communication: scheduling appointments, sending booking confirmations, Zoom links and reminders, responding to inquiries, managing your client portal and updating you on your file.
• Booking follow-ups: after a consultation, one email inviting you to review us on Google; and if you start booking a consultation but don't pay, one email explaining how to finish. Each carries an unsubscribe link that takes effect immediately; unsubscribing doesn't affect emails about a consultation you book.
• Billing and payments: processing payments and issuing receipts and invoices.
• Legal and professional obligations: keeping the records the CICC Code requires and meeting tax and accounting requirements.
• Improving our Site and services: analyzing site use and measuring our advertising, only with your consent (see section 13).

7. Disclosure and sharing of your information

We don't sell, rent or trade your personal information. We disclose it only when necessary, with confidentiality safeguards in place.

Internal access: only authorized members of our team who need your information to work on your file can access it.

Service providers: we use the following service providers to run our Site and deliver our services. They may use your information only for the purposes we specify and must protect it.

Government authorities: with your authorization, we submit your information to IRCC, ESDC, provincial governments or Québec as part of your application.

Legal and regulatory disclosures: we may disclose information when required by law or a court order, to the CICC when the law or the Code requires it, or to protect our legal rights.

8. Storage and processing outside Canada

Some of our service providers store or process personal information outside Canada, including in the United States. Information held outside Canada is subject to the laws of that country and may be accessed by its courts, law enforcement and national security authorities.

We choose providers that protect personal information with contractual and security safeguards. For more information about how our service providers outside Canada handle personal information, or to ask questions about our policies and practices, contact our privacy officer (see section 15).

9. Children's privacy

Our services are intended for people who are 18 or older. We don't knowingly collect personal information directly from children. Information about minor children who are included in a parent's or guardian's application is collected from that parent or guardian, only as needed for the application. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child without the consent of a parent or guardian, we will take steps to delete it.

10. Data security and integrity

We protect your personal information with reasonable security arrangements, including:

• Technical measures: data encryption, firewalls and regular security audits.
• Physical measures: secure access controls to our premises and data storage facilities.
• Administrative measures: internal policies, access controls and staff training, so that information is handled responsibly.

If a privacy breach creates a real risk of significant harm, we will notify the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta as PIPA requires, and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada where PIPEDA applies. We will notify affected people as the law requires.

11. Data retention

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes for which we collected it, including to meet legal, professional, accounting and reporting requirements, such as the record-keeping obligations of the CICC Code. When we no longer need it, we destroy it securely or make it anonymous.

12. Your privacy rights

Under PIPA and PIPEDA, you have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you, and learn how it has been used and to whom it has been disclosed;
• ask for corrections if your information is inaccurate or incomplete;
• withdraw your consent, as described in section 4;
• object to direct marketing at any time, including by using the unsubscribe link in our emails;
• file a complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe we haven't handled your information properly.

If the GDPR applies to you, you may also ask us to erase or restrict the processing of your information, or to provide it in a machine-readable format, and you may complain to your local supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact our privacy officer (section 15). We will respond within the time limits set by law. We may need to confirm your identity first.

13. Cookies and analytics

Our Site uses three types of cookies and similar technologies:

• Essential cookies: needed for the Site to work, such as remembering your language and your cookie choices, and securing the booking process. They can't be turned off.
• Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors use the Site. They are used only if you consent.
• Advertising tags: the Meta Pixel and Google Ads tags help us measure our advertising. They are loaded only after you give consent through our cookie banner.

You can change your choices at any time through the cookie settings link on our Site or in your browser settings. Refusing analytics or advertising cookies doesn't affect your ability to use the Site or book a consultation.

14. Changes to this privacy policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the updated policy on our Site with a new "Last updated" date, and we will tell clients about significant changes.

15. Contact and privacy officer

For questions, concerns or to exercise your privacy rights, please contact our Privacy Officer, privacy@anascanada.ca.

ANAS CANADA for Immigration Inc. Attention: Privacy Officer Phone: +1 587-350-1111 Email: privacy@anascanada.ca Website: www.anascanada.ca