Website Privacy Policy

Riverway Therapy is a counselling and therapy practice in North Bay, Ontario. As a health information custodian, we follow Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) and the privacy standards of our regulatory college, the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW).

Riverway Therapy is responsible for how we handle your information and is happy to answer any questions about this policy.

We only collect the information we need to support you and run our practice.

When you become a client

• Contact details: your name, phone number, email and address.
• Health information: what you share at intake and in sessions, along with your therapist’s clinical notes.
• Personal details: such as your date of birth and emergency contact.
• Billing details: such as your insurance or program information, needed to bill on your behalf and provide receipts.

When you visit our website

• Information you send us: such as your name, email and message when you use our contact form or email us.
• Booking information: the details you enter when you book through Jane or the booking tool on this site.
• Website usage data: general information such as the pages you visit, your browser and device type, and your approximate location, collected through cookies and Squarespace analytics.

• To provide counselling and related services, and to plan your care.
• To book appointments and send reminders.
• To process payments, direct-bill your insurer or program and provide receipts.
• To answer your questions and messages.
• To understand how our website is used so we can make it easier to navigate.
• To meet our legal and professional obligations.

We never sell, rent or trade your personal information, and we don’t use your health information for marketing.

We share your information only when it’s needed to care for you, with your consent, or when the law requires it.

• Service providers: trusted companies that help us run the practice, such as Jane (our booking and practice management system), Squarespace (our website host and booking tool) and Google (our email provider). They may only use your information to provide their services to us and must keep it secure.
• Insurers and funding programs: the details needed to process your claims.
• Other care providers, with your consent: for example, when you ask us to share information with your family doctor or another professional.
• When required by law: such as a serious risk of harm, a child protection concern, a court order or a request from our regulatory college. See our Client Policies for more detail.

How we protect your information

Your information is accessed only by the people involved in your care. Messages sent through our contact form or email are seen only by Riverway’s therapist and are kept in accordance with the laws that protect client confidentiality in Ontario.

How long we keep your records

Ontario law and our regulatory college set how long clinical records must be kept, and the rules can differ for adults and for people who were under 18 when they received services. We keep records for as long as those requirements say, and then securely destroy them. If you’d like to know how long your record will be kept, please contact Riverway.

A note about email

Email and website forms aren’t fully private. Please don’t send personal or clinical details this way. Save them for your session.

You may request access to your personal health information or ask that information in your record be corrected, subject to applicable legal requirements and exceptions.

If you have questions or concerns about our privacy practices, please contact Riverway Therapy using the contact information provided below.

You also have the right to make a privacy complaint to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) at ipc.on.ca.

Our site links to other websites, such as Jane and community resources. We’re not responsible for how those sites handle your information, so we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll post the new version here and update the effective date at the top of the page.