What is personal information?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Some examples of personal information we collect about you include:
- Name, email address, phone number, mailing address, resume, cover letter, credit and criminal history, reference check information, information from interviews, psychometric and/or behavioural assessment results, proof of eligibility to work, driver’s licence number, salary, other sensitive and demographic information, etc.
Personal information that we collect may be used for various purposes. See the Use tab for more information on how different personal information is used for different purposes.
How do we collect your personal information?
The personal information we use is collected primarily from you, past employers or other references, and third party service providers.
- From you – most of the personal information that we gather comes directly from you through our online based recruitment portal and through recruitment agencies. We may also take interview notes, and may record telephone or video interviews. We may also collect personal information that you provide in IQ, psychological and/or behavioural assessments that you may complete as part of the application process. We may also collect optional, self-identified demographic information (such as gender, age, nationality or ethnic group), which is used on an aggregated basis for the purpose of supporting our employment equity and diversity initiatives and special programs. Appropriate privacy notices will be provided and consent obtained when optional, self-identification information is collected.
- From past employers or other references – references that you provide may be contacted to gather qualitative information about your performance, skills and knowledge.
- From third party service providers – various third party service providers, such as recruitment agencies and background check firms will provide personal information relating to criminal, credit, education, employment and reference background checks. A third party application tool may also be used to record video interviews.
We may also ask for additional information to assist us with our recruitment process, and in the event that you’re offered employment with us, for employee administration and management.
How we use and disclose your personal information
We collect, use and share personal information for the purposes of considering you as a candidate for present or future employment. Your personal information will also be included in your employment records if you become our employee. Below are some examples of how we use personal information about you:
- Contact information – used to communicate with you and provide you with updates about your application.
- Prior work experience information and references – used to verify your qualifications and to assess your suitability to current or future positions.
- Proof of eligibility to work – used to ensure that you’re eligible to work in the relevant country as required by law.
We may also collect and use optional, self-identification information for the purpose of supporting our employment equity and diversity initiatives and special programs. Below are some examples of how we use optional, self-identification information:
- Self-identified sociodemographic information – used on an aggregated basis to support our employment equity and diversity initiatives and special programs.
Your personal information may also be shared with third parties when it’s necessary to facilitate the recruitment process or for you to receive other services. Below are some examples of third parties that we share your personal information with:
- Background check firms – used to perform criminal, credit, education, employment and reference checks to verify and vet candidates.
- Immigration firms – to assist with obtaining applicable work permits, or relocation if applicable, of successful candidates.
- Psychometric and behavioural assessment firms – to administer IQ, psychological and/or behavioural assessments of candidates.
Some third parties that provide services to us may be located, or may store personal information necessary to provide such services, outside Canada. Personal information stored outside Canada may be subject to the laws of the country in which the third party is located or the data is stored. That country may have laws requiring personal information be disclosed to government bodies or courts under different circumstances than would apply in Canada.
Whenever personal information is transferred to a third party service provider, we impose contractual obligations on such service provider to protect that information and to limit its use only to purposes required for the service. We perform privacy and security due diligence in respect of all third parties that are engaged to provide services to us. The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether a prospective third party service provider maintains the administrative, technical and physical safeguarding measures to protect your personal information while in the custody of such third party service provider, and otherwise assess privacy risks involved in the proposed service provider arrangement.
In some circumstances, we’re permitted by law to use and disclose personal information about you without your consent. For example, in addition to the personal information that’s required by law to administer the plan, your personal information may be used or disclosed to investigate and prevent fraud, to protect the rights, interests and property of Ontario Teachers’, its employees, and members of the plan, or if required by a court order.
Unless otherwise requested, your information will not be used for marketing, soliciting business, non-recruiting, or non-employment related activities.
We’ll obtain your consent prior to conducting any background check processes or psychological and/or behavioural assessments. However, by submitting your application through our online based recruitment portal or through a recruitment agency, you’re consenting to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information necessary to assess you as a potential candidate.
However, by submitting your application through our online based recruitment portal or through a recruitment agency, you’re consenting to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information necessary to assess you as a potential candidate.
You can choose to withdraw from the application process at any time by contacting us by phone or email. You may also request erasure of your personal information from our systems by phone or email.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Phone: (416) 228-5900
Toll Free: 1-877-812-7989
Fax: (416) 730-5349
Email: communications@otpp.com
You can correct your personal information by updating your profile through our online based recruitment portal, by phone, or in person.
You may also request access to your personal information not readily available to you at any time. However, in certain situations, we may not be able to provide access to all the personal information we hold about you. If that is the case, we’ll explain the reasons for our decision when responding to your request. For example, in some cases the information may contain details about other individuals, or there may be legal, security, or commercial proprietary reasons why information is withheld.
To request access to your personal information not readily available to you, please make a request in writing identifying yourself, the information you want to review and how we can contact you.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Fax: (416) 730-5349
Email: communications@otpp.com
Mail: 5650 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M2M 4H5
Your personal information may also be shared with third parties when it’s necessary to facilitate the recruitment process or for you to receive other services. Below are some examples of third parties that we share your personal information with:
- Background check firms – used to perform criminal, credit, education, employment and reference checks to verify and vet candidates.
- Immigration firms – to assist with obtaining applicable work permits, or relocation if applicable, of successful candidates.
- Psychometric and behavioural assessment firms – to administer IQ, psychological and/or behavioural assessments of candidates.
Some third parties that provide services to us may be located, or may store personal information necessary to provide such services, outside Canada. Personal information stored outside Canada may be subject to the laws of the country in which the third party is located or the data is stored. That country may have laws requiring personal information be disclosed to government bodies or courts under different circumstances than would apply in Canada.
Whenever personal information is transferred to a third party service provider, we impose contractual obligations on such service provider to protect that information and to limit its use only to purposes required for the service. We perform privacy and security due diligence in respect of all third parties that are engaged to provide services to us. The purpose of this exercise is to determine whether a prospective third party service provider maintains the administrative, technical and physical safeguarding measures to protect your personal information while in the custody of such third party service provider, and otherwise assess privacy risks involved in the proposed service provider arrangement.
In some circumstances, we’re permitted by law to use and disclose personal information about you without your consent. For example, in addition to the personal information that’s required by law to administer the plan, your personal information may be used or disclosed to investigate and prevent fraud, to protect the rights, interests and property of Ontario Teachers’, its employees, and members of the plan, or if required by a court order.
Unless otherwise requested, your information will not be used for marketing, soliciting business, non-recruiting, or non-employment related activities.
If you withdraw your job application or are an unsuccessful job applicant, we’ll retain your personal information for a reasonable period after your application. We retain this information for various reasons, including to consider you for other current or future positions with us, in case of a legal challenge in respect of a recruitment decision, and to help us better understand, analyze and improve our recruitment process. However, you may also request erasure of your personal information from our systems by phone or email.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Phone: (416) 228-5900
Toll Free: 1-877-812-7989
Fax: (416) 730-5349
Email: communications@otpp.com
If you’re offered and accept employment with us, your personal information collected during the application and recruitment process will become part of your employment record. In these cases, we’ll retain personal information as necessary for as long as you’re an employee and for a reasonable period thereafter.
If you have any questions about how long we’ll retain your personal information, please contact us.
Our website uses cookies, analytics tools and other similar technologies to evaluate the performance and functionality of the sites. These technologies are generally used to help improve visitors’ experience on the sites – for example, log in information, remembering preferences and recognizing that users have visited the site previously. Please review our website privacy notice for more information on the data cookies collect and how these tools are used on our website.
You’re always free to block, delete, or disable these technologies if your browser, application, or device so permits. Please review your device and browser settings to allow all, allow some, or block all cookies.
Please note that if you block cookies or other similar technologies, you may not be able to take advantage of certain site features, services, applications, or tools. You may also be required to re-enter your password more frequently during your browsing session.
We use safeguards designed to protect your personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Below are some examples of how we protect your personal information:
- Administrative – access to personal information is limited to employees on a “need to know” basis as required for their business functions, and employees are trained on our privacy practices.
- Technical – firewalls, data encryption, and information access authorization controls are used to prevent unauthorized access to information.
- Physical – production of hard copy documents containing personal information is discouraged and limited to legitimate business functions. Any hard copy documents containing personal information are expressly labeled as containing personal information and stored in locked filing cabinets that have restricted access. Documents are shredded or otherwise destroyed when no longer needed.
Safeguards are periodically reviewed to ensure they continue to be appropriate in protecting your personal information.
We’d like to remind you that messages sent over the internet, including email, are never 100% secure. You should exercise caution in deciding what information to send to us by email and how to secure it. We take necessary precautions to prevent sending sensitive personal information, such as SIN, date of birth, bank account numbers and names of beneficiaries, etc., to you via email.
We’ll never send you unsolicited email requests for personal information. Should you ever receive a suspicious email that looks to be from us, don’t click on it and contact us immediately.
If you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your personal information, please contact us:
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
Phone: (416) 228-5900
Toll Free: 1-877-812-7989
Fax: (416) 730-5349
Email: communications@otpp.com
Mail: 5650 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M2M 4H5