Our Commitment to You

Ernest H. Wolkin, Chartered Accountant is committed to provide clients with the highest degree of professional services with due care and professional courtesy.  To that end, we are intent on protecting the privacy of personal information provided by clients and ensuring the information is only used for the purposes it was meant for.  This Privacy Policy, in turn, provides an outline of how the firm administers your personal information and provides you with the necessary privacy.  Please note that personal information does not include clients name, title, business address, phone number or email address.  Finally, our Privacy Policy complies with the ten principles incorporated in the Canadian Government’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).  Specifically, these principles include the following:

1. Accountability

We are responsible for all personal information under our control and have a quality control manual which deals with privacy policies which our staff comply with.  We also require that comparable policies concerning the protection of personal information is in place with any third parties used by us to process such information.

Ernest H. Wolkin, Chartered Accountant is designated as the privacy compliance individual in the firm should you have any questions or complaints related to our privacy policies, he may be contacted as follows:

Privacy Officer
Ernest H. Wolkin, Chartered Accountant
300 John Street, Suite 500A
Thornhill, Ontario
L3T 5W4

(905) 882-2100
(905) 882-2104 (fax)

2. Identifying Purposes    

The purposes for which we collect personal information will be identified prior to or at the time the information is collected.  Those purposes include:

• providing our professional services to clients;
• in order to communicate with our clients by various means including mailings, faxes, emails, etc.;
• communication on behalf of the clients with third parties outside of our organization (e.g. Canada Revenue Agency).

3. Consent

Your knowledge and consent are required before we collect, use or disclose any of your personal information, except in special circumstances.  Special circumstances could include an investigation by federal authorities or other legal investigation, where the personal information is used for that investigation, or where required by law.

Consent will be obtained, depending on the type of information, either orally or in writing.  Your consent can be withdrawn at any time.  However, such withdrawal should be done in writing to our Privacy Officer.

4. Limiting Collection

The collection of personal information will only include those necessary for our business purposes.  Where possible, we will collect the information directly from you in the normal course of providing our services.  Otherwise, we will collect the information from third parties from which you have given consent to them to provide the information to us or from past information that we have acquired from you.

5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

We utilize and disclose the personal information provided to us in order for us to provide you with the most appropriate and beneficial accounting services possible, thereby satisfying your needs.  They are also used in order to communicate effectively with you concerning the services provided.

We retain your personal information only as long as required to provide the necessary services to you and for a reasonable time thereafter in order to comply with any governmental or legal requirements.

We will not disclose your personal information to third parties in order for them to market their products or services to you.  However, we will provide your personal information in certain circumstances, for example:

• if you request that we provide the information to a third party on your behalf;
• if we engage a third party to provide services to us on your behalf;
• where it is necessary to establish or collect payment;
• if the information is already publicly available.

6. Accuracy

We are committed to ensuring that your personal information that is in our file is accurate and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.  We require your co-operation in ensuring that the information is up-to-date in our records as needed, as well as for us to advise all  third parties authorized to use the personal information.

7. Safeguards

We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that your personal information is protected, either from loss or unauthorized use.  We require any third party who are authorized to receive your personal information to protect your confidentiality in a manner consistent with our Privacy Policies.

8. Openness

You, as our client, are entitled to know how your personal information is being utilized and to whom it is disclosed.  Updated versions of our Privacy Policies, as they evolve, are posted on our website at www.wolkin.ca

9. Individual Access

If you require access to your personal information , your request will be complied with, provided we have identified that the request is from an authorized party.  To make a request, please contact the Privacy Officer by the means indicated in section 1 above.

10. Challenging Compliance

If you have any concerns about our Privacy Policy, please address them with our Privacy Officer.  We are committed to resolving issues as quickly as possible.  If we are not able to resolve your concern, or if you have any other concerns about the firm’s Privacy Policy, you may contact the office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.  Our privacy officer will provide you with the contact information upon request. 

We trust that the above privacy policies, as described, are sufficient for your purposes.  Should you have any questions, we are available to discuss them with you.