CURAVITA Privacy Policy
CURAVITA Glebe and CURAVITA ByWard
Effective date: October 21, 2026
Our commitment to your privacy
CURAVITA respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy applies to CURAVITA Glebe and CURAVITA ByWard, including our chiropractic, physiotherapy, registered massage therapy and custom orthotics services, and the administrative services that support them, including our website and online booking.
We collect, use and disclose personal information responsibly, for identified purposes, and only as reasonably necessary. We follow Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), the requirements of the professional colleges that regulate our practitioners, and other privacy laws that apply to our activities, including the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) where they apply.
This policy describes our information practices. It does not replace consent where consent is required. We do not sell personal information.
Accountability and privacy contact
Our Privacy Officer coordinates privacy questions, complaints, and requests for access to or correction of records at both locations. The health information custodian responsible for your records remains accountable under PHIPA, and you may ask us to identify the custodian responsible for your information.
Privacy Officer, CURAVITA Glebe and ByWard
Sasha Hamid, DC
Clinical Lead, CURAVITA ByWard
Please send written privacy correspondence to the Privacy Officer at CURAVITA ByWard. You may also contact either location and ask to speak with the Privacy Officer.
CURAVITA ByWard
333 Cumberland Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 7J3
Telephone: 613-860-8600
CURAVITA Glebe
108A Third Avenue
Ottawa, ON K1S 2J8
Telephone: 613-237-9000
Information we collect
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal health information includes identifying information about your physical or mental health, your health history, the care you receive, and payment or eligibility for health care.
Depending on the services you receive, we may collect your name, date of birth, contact details and emergency contact; relevant health and family history, symptoms, assessment findings, diagnoses, treatment plans, clinical notes and correspondence; referrals, prescriptions, imaging and reports from other health care providers, with your consent or other lawful authority; appointment, billing, payment and insurance information, including extended health, workplace insurance and motor vehicle accident claim details; and records of your consents and communication preferences.
We generally collect information directly from you or your authorized representative. Where permitted, we may obtain relevant information from others involved in your care or in paying for it.
Why we collect, use and disclose information
We handle information as necessary to assess your needs, explain treatment options, provide care and maintain clinical records; to coordinate referrals and care with other providers involved in your treatment; to schedule appointments, send reminders and communicate with you about your care; to prepare invoices, process payments and administer insurance claims you have authorized; to run the clinics safely and effectively, including legally permitted quality reviews, staff training and professional advice; to meet our recordkeeping, regulatory, reporting and other legal obligations; and to respond to access and correction requests, questions and complaints.
We do not collect, use or disclose more information than is reasonably necessary, and we use information that does not identify you when that will serve the purpose.
Your consent and choices
Consent must be knowledgeable, relate to the information, and be given voluntarily by you or by someone legally authorized to act for you.
Where PHIPA permits, we may rely on implied consent to collect, use and share relevant information for your health care. Sharing within your circle of care is limited to authorized people involved in providing or assisting with that care. Receiving care at CURAVITA does not give every provider or staff member at either location unrestricted access to your records.
Unless a legal exception applies, we obtain your express consent before disclosing health information to an insurer, employer, lawyer, or another recipient outside the health care context. For example, when you ask us to bill your extended health insurer directly, or when we prepare forms for a motor vehicle accident claim, we do so with your consent.
PHIPA does not set a fixed age of consent. A patient of any age who is capable of making decisions about their information may do so. For a child under 16, a parent or guardian may also give or refuse consent, except for information about treatment the child has decided on independently or counselling the child has taken part in on their own, and where a capable child and a parent disagree, the child’s decision prevails. Where a patient is not capable, a substitute decision-maker recognized by law may act for them.
You may withhold or withdraw consent, or ask us to limit which providers may see or share parts of your record (sometimes called a lockbox), by contacting the Privacy Officer. We will explain any resulting limits on our ability to provide or coordinate your care. If we cannot share information that we believe another provider reasonably needs for your care, PHIPA may require us to tell that provider that some information has been withheld. Withdrawal of consent applies going forward. It does not undo actions already taken lawfully and does not prevent activities that are required or permitted by law.
Disclosures authorized by law
Some disclosures may be required or permitted without your consent. Examples include inspections and investigations by our regulatory colleges, mandatory professional reports, court orders and summonses, and certain situations involving a significant risk of serious bodily harm. If you are receiving care under a Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claim, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 requires us to give the WSIB the information it requires about your care and, when you or your employer request it, to give you, your employer and the WSIB information about your functional abilities.
We confirm the legal authority for any such disclosure and limit the information disclosed to what is needed.
Service providers and record transfers
Authorized service providers support functions such as electronic records, online booking and reception, communications, payment processing, accounting, legal advice and secure record disposal. We limit their access to the information needed for their work and require appropriate confidentiality and privacy protections. Some service providers may store or process information outside Ontario or outside Canada, where it may be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction. Access to clinic premises alone does not authorize access to patient records.
A reorganization, closure or transfer of a practice does not create unrestricted access to patient information. Any review or transfer of records must comply with applicable law, confidentiality requirements and professional obligations.
Online booking and automated reception
You can book, change or cancel appointments online and, outside clinic hours, by telephone through Gema, an automated booking and reception service provided by a third-party technology company acting on our behalf. Gema handles the information needed to manage your appointments and take messages, such as your name, contact details, appointment preferences and any message you choose to leave. It does not make decisions about your care. If you would prefer not to use it, please call the clinic during business hours.
Appointment communications and marketing
We use your contact information to communicate about appointments, billing and care. Please tell us how you prefer to be contacted and whether we may leave messages. We take reasonable steps to limit sensitive information in messages and in reception-area conversations.
Ordinary email and text messaging carry privacy risks. Please avoid sending detailed health information through general email or website forms, and contact the clinic to discuss a suitable way to share sensitive information.
Newsletters, promotions and event notices are separate from essential care communications. We obtain consent where required, including express consent before personal health information is used for marketing or market research. You may unsubscribe from marketing at any time without affecting your care.
Our website
When you submit an inquiry or form through curavita.com, we use the information to respond or carry out your request.
Our website and the services embedded in it use cookies and similar technologies that may process technical information such as IP addresses, device and browser details, and pages visited. We use this information to operate the site, understand how it is used, and measure the effectiveness of our advertising. You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Linked third-party websites have their own privacy notices, which we encourage you to review.
Protecting your information
We use administrative, physical and technical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. These include restricted access to records, confidentiality obligations, staff privacy training, protected storage, access controls for electronic systems, and secure methods of transmission and disposal.
Authorized personnel may access information only as needed for their duties. No storage or communication method can guarantee absolute security.
Privacy breaches
If personal health information is stolen, lost, or used or disclosed without authority, we act to contain the incident, investigate it, and reduce the risk of it happening again.
We notify affected individuals at the first reasonable opportunity, as PHIPA requires, and advise them of their right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. We also report to the Commissioner and to the relevant professional colleges when required.
Retention and secure disposal
We keep records in accordance with applicable law, the requirements of our professional colleges and a documented retention schedule. As a minimum, clinical and financial records are kept for at least 10 years after a patient’s last visit or, if the patient was under 18 at that visit, for at least 10 years after the patient’s 18th birthday.
Records may be kept longer because of a complaint, investigation, legal proceeding or other legal requirement. When retention is no longer required, we securely destroy or de-identify the information. Paper records are securely shredded, and electronic records and storage media are disposed of using methods appropriate to the technology.
An unsubscribe or deletion request does not override our obligations to keep clinical, financial or other required records.
Accessing your records
With limited legal exceptions, you may examine or obtain a copy of your personal health information. Contact the Privacy Officer for help. We may ask for a written request and confirmation of your identity or of your representative’s authority.
We respond to formal access requests as soon as reasonably possible and within 30 days. Where PHIPA permits an extension of up to a further 30 days, we will tell you in writing, explaining the reason and the new deadline.
Any access fee will comply with PHIPA. We will give you an estimate before charging a fee, and you may ask for it to be reduced or waived. If access is refused in whole or in part, we will explain the decision in writing and advise you of your right to complain.
Correcting your records
You may ask us to correct information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete for the purposes for which it is used. We respond to formal correction requests within the timelines set by PHIPA, subject to permitted extensions. PHIPA provides exceptions to the duty to correct, including certain professional opinions or observations made in good faith.
If we decline a correction, we will explain why and advise you of your rights, including the right to submit a statement of disagreement and to complain to the Commissioner. Where the law requires, we notify others who received the information of a correction or statement of disagreement.
Questions and complaints
Please contact our Privacy Officer with any question, concern or complaint. We review privacy complaints promptly and will tell you the outcome. Raising a concern will not affect your care.
You may also complain in writing to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, without first completing our internal process. Complaints generally must be filed within one year of the matter coming to your attention, or within six months of a refusal of an access or correction request.
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8
Telephone: 416-326-3333
Toll-free: 1-800-387-0073
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ipc.on.ca
For matters governed by PIPEDA, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at www.priv.gc.ca.
Concerns about a practitioner’s professional conduct or competence may also be directed to the relevant regulator:
College of Chiropractors of Ontario: cco.on.ca
College of Physiotherapists of Ontario: collegept.org
College of Massage Therapists of Ontario: www.cmto.com
Changes to this policy
We review this policy periodically and update it when our practices or legal requirements change. The current version is available at curavita.com and at both clinics. This policy is available in an alternative format on request. Contact the Privacy Officer for clarification or a copy.