Your information, handled with care.

01Who we are and what this covers

OurCastle Inc. ("OurCastle," "we," "us," or "our") is a Vancouver-based reserve planning firm serving British Columbia, the Prairies, and the Pacific Northwest. We are responsible for the personal information we collect through this website and in the course of providing our services.

This policy applies to ourcastle.ca and to the personal information we handle when you contact us, request a proposal, or engage us for a Depreciation Report, Reserve Fund Study, Asset Management Plan, or any of our other services. It does not cover third-party websites we link to, which keep their own policies.

02The information we collect

We collect personal information in two ways: what you give us directly, and what is gathered automatically when you visit the site.

Information you give us

Contact details

Your name, role, email address, and phone number when you write to us, send a message, or request a proposal.

Building and engagement details

The strata, condominium, or HOA name, address, and the project details you share so we can understand your needs and prepare our work.

Documents you provide

Governance records, financial statements, prior reports, and other materials you send us during an engagement.

Correspondence

The content of your messages, emails, and notes from our conversations.

Information collected automatically

Device and usage data

Your approximate location (city or region), browser and device type, pages viewed, and how you arrived at the site. This is aggregate and not used to identify you personally.

Cookies and similar technologies

Small files that keep the site working and help us understand which pages are useful. See section 03.

03Cookies and your choices

We use privacy-respecting website analytics to understand, in aggregate, how visitors find and use our pages, so we can make the site clearer. This tells us things like which pages are read and which links are followed. It is not used to build a profile of you or to serve advertising.

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies in two categories:

Essential cookies

A small number of cookies needed for the site to function and to remember your preferences, including your cookie choice itself. These are always on and cannot be switched off without affecting how the site works.

Analytics cookies

Cookies that help us measure overall site usage. These are optional and are set only after you give consent.

How we ask for consent

When you first visit, a cookie banner explains these categories and lets you Accept all, choose Essential only, or Customize your choice with a toggle for analytics. Until you make a choice, analytics cookies are not loaded. We remember your decision so the banner does not reappear on every visit.

Changing your mind

You can review or change your preferences at any time by selecting Cookie Preferences in the footer at the bottom of any page, which reopens the banner. You can also set your browser to refuse some or all cookies, or to alert you when a site sets one; if you disable essential cookies, parts of the site may not work as intended. We do not run third-party advertising trackers on this site.

04How we use your information

We use personal information only for the purposes we collected it for, namely:

• To respond to your enquiries and provide the information you ask for.
• To prepare a proposal and a tailored fee for your building.
• To carry out, manage, and deliver the services you engage us for.
• To keep proper records of our engagements, as our professional standards and the law require.
• To maintain, secure, and improve our website and communications.
• To meet legal, regulatory, and insurance obligations.

We do not use your information for automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not sell, rent, or trade it.

05Consent and legal basis

Under Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and British Columbia's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), we collect, use, and disclose personal information only with your knowledge and consent, except where the law permits or requires otherwise.

By contacting us or engaging our services, you consent to the handling of your personal information as described in this policy. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual limits, by contacting our Privacy Officer (section 13). Withdrawing consent may mean we are unable to continue providing a service.

06When we share information

We treat your information as confidential and share it only in limited circumstances:

• Service providers: trusted providers who help us operate, such as secure document storage, email, website hosting, form delivery, and online scheduling. They may access personal information only to perform work on our behalf and are bound to protect it.
• Within your engagement: with the people you authorize, such as your Council, Board, or property manager, as needed to deliver the work.
• Legal requirements: where we are required to disclose by law, regulation, court order, or to establish or defend a legal claim.
• Business transfers: if our practice is ever reorganized or transferred, information may move as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for unrelated marketing.

Where your information is held

We aim to keep personal information in Canada. Some service providers may store or process data outside the province or country, in which case it is subject to the laws of the jurisdiction where it is held. We take reasonable steps to ensure providers protect it to a comparable standard.

If you are located outside Canada, including in Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, or elsewhere we serve, your personal information is transferred to and held in Canada and is governed by Canadian privacy law. While it is in Canada, it may be accessible to Canadian courts, regulators, and law enforcement under lawful-access provisions. By engaging us from outside Canada, you consent to this transfer.

07How long we keep it

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes it was collected, and to satisfy our professional, legal, insurance, and accounting obligations. Engagement records, including reports we deliver, are retained for the period our standards and applicable law require, after which they are securely destroyed or anonymized.

08How we protect it

We use safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information, including secure storage, access controls so that only those who need it can see it, encryption in transit where appropriate, and confidentiality obligations on everyone who handles it. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to limit what we collect in the first place.

09Your privacy rights

Canadian privacy law gives you meaningful control over your personal information. You may:

• Access the personal information we hold about you and ask how it has been used and disclosed.
• Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Withdraw consent to our continued use of your information, subject to legal and contractual limits.
• Ask questions or complain about how we handle your information.

To exercise any of these, contact our Privacy Officer (section 13). We will respond within the timeframe set by applicable law, usually within 30 days, and we will not charge you to make a request. If we cannot grant a request, we will explain why. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.

10Links to other sites

Our website may link to third-party sites, such as professional bodies or resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any site you visit.

11Children's privacy

Our services and website are intended for building Owners, Councils, Boards, property managers, and developers. They are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

12Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be made clear. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

13Contact our Privacy Officer

Questions about this policy, or a request to access or correct your information, can be directed to our Privacy Officer. We are glad to help.