Privacy Policy

The British Columbia Housing Management Commission (BC Housing) is committed to maintaining confidentiality and respecting personal privacy. As a government agency, BC Housing falls under the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPP). This act is responsible for ensuring that provincial and municipal government organizations are accountable to the public while protecting people’s personal information.

Click the links below for more information:

What kind of personal information does BC Housing collect?
BC Housing only collects the personal information that we require to administer our housing programs.

Applicants
As an applicant, you will provide us with personal information so that we can evaluate your need for subsidized housing. We may share your personal applicant information with other affordable housing providers to increase your opportunities for housing.

Tenants 
Once you become a tenant, the personal information collected is required to assess your ongoing eligibility for housing and to calculate your monthly rental contribution.

Web User
When you visit www.bchousing.org, our web server automatically collects a limited amount of information essential for the operation and security of our website. Some of this information (e.g. browser type) does not identify who you are, while other information, such as your Internet domain name or IP address may identify you. The extent of personal identification depends, in large part, on the "naming standards" followed by your Internet Service Provider.

Some government websites may distribute small pieces of information (called "cookies") to web browsers to assist you when you return to specific areas on the site. If you subscribe to the email notifications on the BC Housing website, your user information is stored in a database, and is retrieved a needed to distribute email notifications. A cookie is only being used to identify you as an email notification subscriber for future sessions. There are no other cookies on the BC Housing website.

If you have concerns about this, you can change your web browser to not accept this information or display warning messages.

How does BC Housing protect your personal information?
BC Housing has safeguards in place to protect your electronic records and paper records against risks of unauthorized access. We only keep your personal information for the length of time governed by our records retention schedules and other legislative requirements and then records are destroyed.

To obtain access to your records or to request a correction to a record you must make a written request to BC Housing. Please contact the Director, Business Support Services by email at FOIPP@bchousing.org for assistance or to receive more information about BC Housing’s privacy policy. If BC Housing does not have custody or control of your records, we will provide you with the contact information of the organization that holds your records.

How do we use your personal information?
Personal information will only be used by Housing Registry members to fulfill the purpose for which it was originally collected, or for a use consistent with that purpose. We do not disclose your personal information to other public bodies or individuals except as authorized by the FOIPP Act through your consent.

If you have any questions or concerns about how your personal information is being used, please email FOIPP@bchousing.org   

Privacy Policy
Collection, use, disclosure and retention of information on www.bchousing.org complies with provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (link) Act and the Document Disposal Act. Collected personal information will only be used by authorized government staff to fulfill the purpose for which it was originally collected or for the use consistent with that purpose. 

We do not disclose your information to other public bodies or individuals except as authorized by law. We keep the information only for the length of time necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected.

When you voluntarily send us electronic mail or complete an electronic form that includes identifying information about you, we will keep a record of this information so that we can respond to you.

Requesting access to your records
To obtain access to your records or to request a correction to a record you must make a written request. Complete this form  and mail or provide the information in a letter. Please describe the records you are requesting, being as specific as possible so that we can ensure our response meets your needs.

By mail:

Director, Business Support Services
601-4555 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC  V5H 4V8

By email:

FOIPP@bchousing.org  

Questions?
If you have any questions or concerns BC Housing’s privacy policy, please email FOIPP@bchousing.org